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July 20, 2008, 9:47 am
Flag as Inappropriate skatss  

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Self Breast Exams Do More Harm Than Good! 

There's a new study that now says that self breast exams don't help women find and stop breast cancer early. That they only double the number of unnecessary biopsies in women. The study even says that breast exams by professionals don't really help.

"The current review included two studies of almost 400,000 women in Russia and China. Women who did self-exams had 3,406 biopsies compared with only 1,856 biopsies in the group that did not do the exams. Differences in biopsy rates did not translate into differences in breast cancer mortality. "

Here's the link to the full story:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/publicsite/news/view.aspx?id=617471&cen=--ALL--&pd=07/16/2008&xid=nl_EverydayHealthWomensHealth_20080718

I personally don't know what to make of this story. If even the American Cancer Society tells you not to bother doing the self exam, why did they tell us to make certain to know our breasts to be able to tell if something different is going on?

Are we all supposed to just get mammograms every year?


 

July 20, 2008, 1:49 pm
Flag as Inappropriate ken7700 says...

Wow I though all doctors recommended breast exams now they are changing the rules. For women this must be confusing. 

July 20, 2008, 2:39 pm
Flag as Inappropriate lilbit says...

I don`t agree with the article. Who but us women know when something feels different. I check all the time. 

July 20, 2008, 5:16 pm
Flag as Inappropriate 2Ronnies says...

Given how fast a cancerous tumour can grow, an annual exam seems to not be enough. I do not think I am ready to stop my self exams-it was through those that I found my own benign lump. Sure I went through worry for nothing, but what I found was small-had it been cancerous, it would have had a good chance of a cure. 

July 20, 2008, 7:36 pm
Flag as Inappropriate mikey says...

I don't think its so much about checking as it is when a female finds something and over worries, then the extra testing is done. That part does make sense, and I don't know many females that would be wanting to have a mammy every year. 

July 20, 2008, 9:43 pm
Flag as Inappropriate BabeRuth says...

I have mammograms every three months, since a previous problem, pre cancerous lump. As uncomfortable as it is, I am happy to know that it's being taken care of.  

July 21, 2008, 5:11 am
Flag as Inappropriate Louise31 says...

I think all woman still need to check them selves and woman usually know their own bodies. 

July 21, 2008, 7:20 am
Flag as Inappropriate Upstairs_Mommy says...

Maybe in a woman over the age of 40 or 50 who is getting a yearly mammogram. But what about in a 25 or 30 year old woman? There is NO WAY for her to know except by doing a self-exam or her doctor doing one. On my job I do health research, and believe me I read lots of stories of young women with breast cancer who "found the lump" themselves and otherwise would be dead now! 

July 21, 2008, 8:26 am
Flag as Inappropriate Sierra says...

I don't agree with this article. I have heard overwhelming support that self breast exams do save lives, and I know they saved my cousins life. She felt a lump and immediately had it checked by her doctor to find out it was breast cancer. 

July 21, 2008, 8:51 am
Flag as Inappropriate CallieO says...

The article isn't really saying that self exams are useless. It's saying that more biopsies are done by those who do self exams than not - those are the rates that are unequal. Perhaps the problem is doctors who skip right to a biopsy instead of exploring less invasive methods first? 

July 21, 2008, 2:50 pm
Flag as Inappropriate lylas says...

The first response to a lump does seem to be to want to cut it out, but that is pretty even across the cancer board. They cut it out and then nuke the spot to prevent growth and spread. So yeah the more self exams, the more lumps found the m,ore biopsies are done.