Breast Self-Exams are Ineffective
Almost all women know that they are supposed to go in for their Pap smear once a year. When they do, they are reminded that they should be doing monthly self-exams in search of lumps for breast cancer. However,
new studies indicate that doing these exams has little to no effect on reducing the number of deaths caused by breast cancer.
In addition to being ineffective in preventing death by breast cancer, the breast self-exams may actually be a problem in society today. That's because women who falsely identify lumps in their breasts frequently get biopsies that weren't necessary.
This doesn't mean, of course, that breast cancer screening should not be done. It remains highly important that women get regularly screened in order to have early detection of the disease in order to prevent death. This just means that the screening should be done by professionals who are trained to do so. The mammogram - and increasingly often, the breast MRI - are more effective methods of screening for breast cancer.
Question of the Day: Should doctors stop recommending the use of monthly self-exams for breast cancer since they appear to be ineffective and possibly even harmful?photo link
