Another study out- this one by Harvard. In 1974 president Gerald Ford announced on national TV that his wife, Betty Ford, had Breast Cancer. She survived, and became one of the most famous early advocates of Mammogram Screening for Breast Cancer.
But the Harvard study says that the benefits of Mammogram screening are overstated and the harms downplayed. Every year 60% of women will have a false positive reading- this leads to physical, emotional and economic drain. But many survivors say that their early detection and subsequent survival started with a mammogram- and this should be their choice.
In 2009 a Government task force changed the recommended age of a first mammogram from 40 to 50 years old. And Heredity and women without children have a greater risk.
The take away message here should be that ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. Women should talk to their doctors. There are always pros and cons and with any test there is an upside and a downside.
With my family history (Mother, Aunts, Grandmother) I had my first mammogram at age 35 and have had one yearly. My Breast Cancer was luckily found from a mammogram at Age 50 still at Stage 1- and I am now at my 3-year survival point.