More than just a pain—the dangers of mammography

Q: My daughter will be turning 40 this year, and her gynecologist has started pushing for yearly mammograms. What can I tell her about the risks?

Dr. Wright: There are plenty of reasons to avoid that annual mammogram. Studies have shown they only detect about 25% of breast cancers. And because they involve radiation, each mammogram increases your risk of breast cancer by 1%...follow that "expert" recommendation for one mammogram a year and the risk adds up quickly. One study even showed that women aged 40-50 who've had annual mammograms actually had a slightly higher death rate from cancer than women who only underwent manual breast exams. But then, of course, the question is—what can you do instead?

In the November 2008 issue of Nutrition and Healing, I wrote about thermography, a technique that only misses 5- 10% of cancers and comes with a low incidence of false positives. You can read about it in the online archive at www.wrightnewsletter.com.

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