Dangers of Mammography Mammograms expose your body to radiation 1,000 times greater than a chest x-ray. Alternative Medicine magazine says, “Their ionizing radiation mutates cells, and the mechanical pressure can spread cells that are already malignant (as can biopsies).” Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a type of cancerous cell present in 10% of all women and in 15-60% of women in their 40’s. A mammogram might pick this up, but, as Dr. Michael Cohen of Sloan-Kettering says, “It may stay there a women’s whole life and never invade surrounding tissue…we don’t know how to tell the one that won’t spread from one that will.” It’s treated as if it will. Surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, chemotherapy…a host of invasive and dangerous steps are taken to treat abnormalities that might never have progressed. Since mammography screening was introduced, DCIS has increased by 328% and some believe that 200% of these findings are due to the radiation and pressure to which women are subjecting during mammograms. Mammography screenings induce a lot of unnecessary anxiety and unnecessary procedures. A large-scale Swedish study has found that 726 of 60,000 were referred to oncologists for treatment, but 70% were actually cancer-free! The Lancet reports that of the 5% of referrals after mammograms, 93% are false positives. 90% of false positives are due to unclear readings because of breast density. The creator of the mammogram proclaimed that only about six radiologists in the US could read them correctly.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 13:38:16 +0000
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