In the United States 234,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. Globally 1.7 million new cases are diagnosed accounting for 25% of all new cancer cases in women.
Only 5–10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects, whereas the remaining 90–95% have their roots in the environment and lifestyle. The lifestyle factors include cigarette smoking, diet (fried foods, red meat), alcohol, sun exposure, environmental pollutants, infections, stress, obesity, and physical inactivity. (source)
Known causes of breast cancer include radiation exposure, alcoholic beverage consumption, postmenopausal obesity, lack of physical activity, and postmenopausal hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestins. (source)
For decades it has been common cultural medical advice in America for women to start getting annual screening mammographs at the age of 40. I am four years late and have no intention of getting one until or if ever I see a real need.
I’m writing this post to give more women the information and confidence they need to back off annual screening mammograms or to not start. Many people who support annual mammograms (or annual screenings in general) often react with a “that’s irresponsible” or “you’re inviting disease” reply to skipping mammograms. Sometimes it’s hard to stand up to their projected fears so I’m writing to help you stand tall in the face of criticism, backlash, or fear-mongering.
The US Preventive Services Task Force has revised its recommendation for screening mammography stating that it is most useful to begin at age 50 rather than age 40.
Based on the latest research, annual screening mammograms have been causing women more harm than good. These screenings are not only causing damage and possible cancer, they are indicating non-cancers that are then unnecessarily treated with surgery, medication, radiation, and chemotherapy causing harm to an otherwise healthy woman.
The idea of having my breasts painfully compressed by a machine and then have radiation (a cancer risk) sent through the tissue seems barbaric, absurd, and potentially damaging. I also skip dental x-rays as often as possible and request a manual pat-down at the airport to avoid the TSA body scanners.
If I notice a change in my breast tissue (lump) or breast behavior (discharge), I would most certainly have it looked at and I would most likely use thermography before mammography. Until then I will continue not to drink alcohol or coffee, eat copious amounts of fruits and vegetables, exercise often, sleep well, get calculated sunscreen-free sun exposure, and naturally monitor my hormones.
In the case of breast cancer, each 10g per day intake in alcohol results in a 7-10% increase in the risk of breast cancer. A typical US drink contains roughly 14g of alcohol. Even low levels of alcohol intake modestly increase risk. Women who consumed an average of 3-6 drinks per week were 15% more likely than women who never drank to be diagnosed with breast cancer. Women with the highest level of alcohol intake (at least two drinks per day) were 51% more likely than never-drinkers to be diagnose with breast cancer. (source)
As someone who takes excellent care at being healthy, breastfed her baby for two years, and doesn’t take any hormonal medications or supplements (birth control or otherwise), I have full confidence that my breasts will do just fine without the risks of regular mammography screening. I hope you will join the legions of women who are bravely choosing to adjust their cancer-preventing lifestyle factors rather than risking the complications of annual mammography screening.
Here’s to turning the tide and celebrating, rather than criticizing, those who have more faith in the healing and health potential of their bodies and faith in their cancer-preventing and health-promoting self-controlled behaviors rather than continuing to numbly turn personal power over to the institutions that profit grossly from a mostly preventable disease.
Additional Resources:
• Why Mammography is Unscientific and Harmful
• How X-Ray Mammography Is Accelerating The Epidemic of Cancer
• Latest Evidence Against Mammograms Adds To Women’s Uncertainty
• Science-Based Medicine: The Mammography Wars Heat Up Again
• How to Drink Sensibly or Not at All
• The Sunlight Diet
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I just turned 71 and 3 months ago had my 2nd mammogram. The only reason I had it was because I submitted to a breast exam by my doctor and she thought there might be something suspicious in my left breast. They found nothing even doing a sonogram after the mammogram. When I was in my early 20’s I had lumps (cysts) removed 2 different times so I am aware of noticing anything unusual. Recently one of my friend who is excessively overweight noticed a lump. She had it checked out.. unfortunately it was cancer and she is in treatment right now. About the same time my aunt noticed a pain in her breast so she had it checked out.. it was cancer. Of course, she eats terrible and smoked heavily for years and years. The point is that a mammogram did not catch either of these cases. I am with you. I would rather not risk the radiation from the mammograms. When I had mine, I received a huge lecture because I must have been in my early 50’s when I had my 1st one. They made me promise to go back every year but I probably will not unless I feel or see something unusual.
Pat Moon recently posted..Are Those Aging Wrinkles Sneaking Up On You?
Kudos to you Pat! Thank you for being a pioneer in standing up for your own health. Those lectures are unfortunate, too common, and non-sensical now with the new statistics. Thank you for sharing your story and showing that we can live long, vibrant lives with regular mammograms.
Great article! My boobs hurt just looking at those pictures. 🙂 LOVE your message as always!
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Thank you Jina!
I am 41 yrs old and I have yet to have a mammagram done after reading
All of this I don’t plan on getting one. It is not easy for me eat healthy I drive
A semi truck but when my husband and I get home I try to fix healthy meals
Thank you for all the info
Good for you Angela! If you are able to stop at grocery stores when on the road, here are some healthful food travel tips: https://www.carlagoldenwellness.com/2012/10/29/11-healthful-foods-to-nealty-take-in-the-car/
Thank you for doing this. I had to have 2 mammograms while working for the State Dept. the first one the tech pushed the wrong peddle and squashed my breast so bad I screamed until she finally hit the right one. Worse though due to this they still took an x-ray after and it was sore and swollen and they informed me I had breast cancer. Had a sonogram done later and I was fine but I went totally frantic for 3 weeks thinking I had cancer. The second one that i fearfully had to do also said I had a suspicious mass but again my breasts were dense and it couldn’t really be read so another sonogram to clear up that I didn’t have cancer. I requested that they only do sonograms on me since they can’t read my x-Rays due to my dense breasts and they said no that I still had to have a mammogram first. Needless to say I retired 10 years ago and have not had a mammogram since and never will.
Gosh, what awful experiences. Thank you for sharing them here so that others can learn their options and what to avoid.
YES! But I want to add some important added information. I had my first breast biopsy surgery at the age of 27. I was also diagnosed then with “fibrocystic breast disease.” The lump was “benign” but it was a very emotional and scary time. Over the years I had to go in and have many cysts drained. Even the annual day of mammography was very traumatic for me and it was very clear to me how barbaric mammography is. Because of my issues, it always took a long time for them to come in and say I could go – which they RARELY did. I would watch women come and go, and the more this happened, the more frightened I became. then they would come in and say I needed a sonogram. More waiting and worry.
Then when I was 44, they found some “suspicious cells” so I had to have a steriotactic needle biopsy. then they said these cells could be pre-cancerous and needed to be removed. No one prepared me for what this entailed. They told us to be at the center at 7 AM and we had a four year old who was non-verbal after having had a stoke after vaccines years before. We had no one who could keep him.
Our plan was for me to be admitted and then my husband would go with my son to keep him occupied until he got the call I was in recovery. We got to the breast surgery center at the appointed time and had to wait in the hall for TWO HOURS. Then when they opened, we waited at least another two hours. Then they finally got me back, and THAT is when they inform me that while STANDING, they used a NEEDLE attached to a GUIDE WIRE and they used X-RAY to stab this needle deep into my breast WITHOUT ANY NUMBING MEDICATION OR PAIN MEDICATION at all.
Then the anesthesiologist came in and I tried to explain to him my concern about how in the past I had become conscious under sedation. I asked if he could use a local anesthetic rather or in addition to general. He got ANGRY at me and said “he” was not going to let a patient tell him what to do.
At the same time, I also had an adenoma under my arm (Yes, right where I was daily putting aluminum-contain antiperspirant), so they were also going to remove and biopsy that.
Needless to say, I got no local anesthetic where they CUT. I DID become conscious during anesthesia, and I could FEEL them cutting on me. I SCREAMED, “You’re hurting me! You’re hurting me!’ and I got no response. That is when I realized I only THOUGHT I was screaming, though I was “conscious” and could feel what they were doing to my body, they could not hear me, and I could not move.
I got through it and the biopsy only revealed that “these cells may or may not be pre-cancerous.” Wasn’t that what they were saying BEFORE all this trauma and expense?
After this I became pro-active and I was lucky to meet a very holistic and progressive physician, who taking all my health complaints into consideration, told me she thought I was IODINE DEFICIENT. Of course, insurance doesn’t cover iodine loading tests, but I spent the money,and it was well worth it! Going on iodine supplementation turned a lot around.
Iodine supplementation improved my hypothyroidism. The “Fibrocystic Breast Disease” DISAPPEARED. I felt no more lumpiness in my breasts. In addition to this, I THREW OUT all coated cooking pans, stopped using aluminum-containing antiperspirants (LAFES makes a very good natural deodorant), Stopped storing food or cooking it in aluminum foil, drastically reduced suing any foods from cans, and of course, avoid x-rays as much as possible, and I take my iodine EVERY day.
I believe aluminum exposure is a risk factor that was left out on this list, and IODINE DEFICIENCY is a major cause of breast cancer. I urge women to read Dr. Browstein’s book (http://www.drbrownstein.com/Iodine-Why-You-Need-It-p/iodine.htm) on the need for iodine supplementation and to reduce as much exposure to aluminum as they can.
The article is on target about x-ray exposure. Mammography also practically CRUSHES breast tissue, and thereby damages it and makes it vulnerable. It is a BARBARIC practice, and thermography should be substituted as a COVERED preventive procedure. The medical mainstream is way late in ending this barbaric practice, and all women should be proactive in their own health and opt for thermography instead (so that they will get the message we are not going to pay to be tortured!). It makes NO SENSE to do something harmful to your body in the name of health, and if the medical mainstream is worth their salt, they will opt for less invasive barbaric tools, and insurance will be required to pay for these preventative measures.
To all women who wish to avoid breast cancer: GET YOUR IODINE LEVELS CHECKED using an IODINE LOADING TEST. This WILL save far more lives than wearing pink ribbons.
Thank you for adding your story and your advice. This is very important information!!!
Coming up on 46, never had one, never will! Thank you (and all who commented) for sharing this information, your stories and experiences!!
Before I became a homeopath, I began having mammograms every 2 yrs (following my doctor’s advice). When a lump was found, the specialist told me it was crazy to have mammograms at my age! He said the breast tissue was too dense, which made it impossible to detect most cancers. He recommended mammograms begin after the age of 55. thankfully, the lump was not cancer, and it went away on its own. My family doctor disagreed with this specialist’s advice and continued to recommend mammograms every 2 yrs. I would literally become ill after a mammogram (nausea, bone aches, and exhaustion) that lasted up to 4 days.
During my studies in homeopathic medicine, I decided to stop having mammograms. Someone from the mammogram dept at the hosptial called me EVERY year to remind me that I was not having regular mammograms. Her voice was loud, threatening, and she tried to shame me into having the test.
As a homeopath who specializes in treating difficult chronic diseases (and electrosensitivity), I know that diseases can have many causes. although diet and movement are important, there are many more causes of disease. One important cause of disease that is rarely mentioned are shocks to our system from emotional trauma. It could be a divorce, abuse, job loss, and even a cancer diagnosis that creates a shock. Advanced Causative Homeopathy identifies the causes and removes the shocks (using homeopathic remedies) caused by those traumas.
German New Medicine also explains how sudden emotional shock can affect our health. http://newmedicine.ca/breast.php In my practice, when emotional shock is identified as the cause of disease, the appropriate emotional remedies are given as well as remedies for the organ, cell, gland, or body system that is affected by that shock. I’ve seen amazing results when the causes/ shocks are reversed with advanced homeopathic treatment (this is different from classical homeopathy).
There are many causes of disease: diet, emotional/physical shocks and traumas, lifestyle,side effects of pharma drugs, vaccines, environmental toxins, and EMFs (electromagnetic fields). I often hear people say, “I never smoked in my life, my diet is very healthy,and normal body weight….how did I get lung cancer??
Homeopathy provides an answer to this question: there are individuals who are more susceptible than others to lung cancer. This is also the case with breast cancer and other diseases. I’m using lung cancer as an example. Each of us is born with a constitution. A constitution is who we are in a state of health: our body type, personality, preferences, likes and dislikes. Our consitution also has inherent organ/body system susceptibilities. For example, one constitution has the lungs as the organ that is most vulnerable to disease. This individual must be careful about exposure to tobacco smoke (including second hand smoke) as well as enviro toxins. Knowing these facts about an individual’s constitution, we can then give the constitution remedy + organ remedy (in this case the lung) and provide them with devices that neutralize the effects of environmental toxins on the body (as a preventative measure). Of course the individual is treated “wholistically”, and that means nutrition, lifestyle factors, and the chronic miasms (in homeopathy) also have to be addressed.
Another example is addressing the causes of throat cancer: for one individual the cause may be an HPV infection. Throat cancer in another individual may be caused by emotions with an inability to speak out, “not having a voice”, or feeling that he/she is not being heard.
In the case of breast cancer, and as with any disease, there can be more than one cause. Breast cancer in one woman may be caused by a combination of the effects of electricity and emotional issues in the relationship with her husband. Breast cancer in another woman may be caused by emotional issues with her mother.
Well, I got off on a tangent! It’s just that I am very passionate about addressing the causes of disease, and frequently read hear that health is all about diet and exercise, when that is only part of the big picture. In fact, something other than diet and exercise may actually be the cause of a particular disease.
Thanks to all of the women who shared their thoughts and experiences in this forum. I’m truly grateful. Thank you, Carla, for speaking out. It takes a lot of courage to do so.
Wow, thanks for all this fascinating and useful information Nancy! Our emotional and spiritual health must be given just as much importance and attention as our physical health, I agree!
20 October 2015 on CNN Breaking News: New breast cancer screening guidelines from the American Cancer Society say women should start screening later — age 45 instead of 40 — and everyone can skip routine doctor breast checks.
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Never a comfortable experience for me and I don’t think it could be for anyone. Still, you gotta do what you gotta do!
For me it’s not so much a matter of physical comfort or discomfort, it’s a matter of research, statistics, and science. Dr. Greger, who I trust, writes often about the unclear safety or efficacy of mammograms. https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=mammogram
Now the FDA has approved a new technology for use in addition to mammograms, which may allow doctors to catch breast cancer earlier and more effectively.
What new technology is that Kristy?