Task Force Suggest NO Self Exam or Mammogram Before 50

After decades of being admonished to do breast self exams & having the mantra of MAMMOGRAM drummed into every female head in America, the announcement from the Preventative Services Task Force this week was a shock. The USPSTF released a body of findings that included the suggestion that women under 50 without indications of risk for cancer should not consider a mammogram nor should they perform breast self exams. They also indicate that insisting on these practices creates a higher incidence of false positives and raises unnecessary anxiety (Various, 2009). The medical community has in general dismissed these findings. According to Central Florida News 13 reporter Christine Webb, "The government's task force recent reversal of guidelines for mammograms, which says for people to wait until age 50, has many outraged (Webb, 2009).Personally, I have mixed feelings. Cancer has killed my maternal grandmother and my father. My mother had a benign tumor removed from her digestive tract when I was a child. I had a scare with ovarian cancer in my early 20s. I would never forego self exams for lumps and anomalies in my breasts and I have encouraged my own daughter to check herself every week. It occurs to me that the time I spent wondering if the squamous cells from my post pregnancy pap smear would be cancer or not -8 months all told- could have been far less strained if I hadn't had the possibility hanging over me. But I have known the possibility is there most of my life Cancer after all, runs in the family. So to hear a government agency advise women against even checking, gives me pause. I am glad I had the screenings when I did. There are those who don't have access to the same level of health care for whom 50 would be too late, and in more serious cases, even 40 is too late. I am 34 years old and I have religiously checked my breasts since I was 14. I will continue to do so. I am not in the group the USPSTF meant these suggestions for however. I am not among those women who have no indication of an elevated risk for cancer (Various, 2009). For those women, this recommendation can only be taken as many other controversial medical reports have been. Research it, check with your doctor and your family but the decision can only be yours.