Ladies, it’s coming.
You’re going to be under a LOT of pressure over the next month.
They will WARN you. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll BEG you. They will even WAG THEIR FINGERS at you.
And if you’re like most women, there’s a good chance you’ll give in and get your supposedly “overdue” mammogram in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
But do you REALLY need one?
It turns out the answer isn’t nearly as simple as the pink ribbon brigade makes it out to be.
There are many cases where a mammogram is not needed. As well as many situations when a mammogram is unlikely to help you… but could certainly hurt you.
Today, I want to tell you about a new study that helps sort out the confusion.
And if you’re a little older, you’ll want to make sure you’re armed with this information BEFORE you agree to another mammogram.
The TRUTH about mammograms (you may not need one)
They make mammograms sound like a one-size-fits-all solution.
EVERY woman needs one. EVERY woman needs to know her risk. And EVERY woman with cancer needs treatment.
But that’s just not that case at all.
Many breast cancers grow very slowly. In fact, some progress SO slowly that if you’re a little older and facing other health problems, you’re much more likely to die of something else long before the cancer becomes an issue.
As a result, the new study finds that women over the age of 75 with other health problems can probably skip the test.
They not only don’t need treatment for breast cancer if they have it. They don’t even need to know if it’s there!
Breast cancer deaths drop dramatically with age
Overall, the study finds, the odds of death from breast cancer sink dramatically as you grow older.
Past the age of 66, the overall risk of death from breast cancer sits at between 0.2 and 0.3 percent.
In other words, you’re 99.7 percent more likely to die of something else. SO you can see why mammograms aren’t always as straightforward as they seem.
If you have chronic health problems… including common conditions such as diabetes and heart disease… the risk of death from breast cancer could be even lower.
In fact, past 65, women are 90 TIMES more likely to die of other causes. And past 75, women are 123 TIMES more likely to die of other causes, according to the study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Now, this doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about cancer at all in every case. Or that mammograms are always a bad idea.
But it’s more proof that there’s more to cancer risk than the “screen ’em all” guidelines would suggest. So instead of automatically signing up for a painful mammogram and the radiation that comes with it, have a serious chat with your doc about whether or not you actually need it first.