Breast Exams On The Decline

By fitsnews • on May 14, 2007

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR MAMMOGRAMS

FITSNews – May 14, 2007 - Some of the more cynical among you might assume that someone on our staff was just looking for an excuse to post a picture of Salma Hayek’s gargantuan sweater monkeys, but as it turns out this time our intentions are pure. Dare we say noble. That’s because according to this morning’s Washington Post, fewer women are getting mammograms these days. Sadly, we’re not kidding. Quoting from the article:

The overall rate at which women are undergoing regular mammograms fell 4 percent between 2000 and 2005, marking the first significant decline since use of the breast X-rays started expanding rapidly in 1987 … Most alarming, the drop was greatest — 6.8 percent — among women ages 50 to 64, the age group most likely to benefit.

Come on ladies, this is our health. Fortunately, there’s a highly informative website, BreastCancer.org, that features some excellent tips on prevention. You can also access the National Cancer Institute’s prevention page by clicking here. Finally, an imaginary panel of experts agrees that we are angels here at FITSNews for nippling this important Hooter to your attention.

Comments

By Kristin on May 14th, 2007 at 6:21 pm

It’s because mammograms don’t necessarily have a high rate of effectiveness, Will. The average woman with a high risk breast cancer has had it metastasize rapidly before a mammogram identifies it as cancerous.

That’s what happened to my mom, atleast.