Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Give Me a Mammogram and Give Me, Cancer?

In case I haven’t mentioned it, I’m in dire need of a mammogram. I have a painful and palpable lump in my left breast. Cancer, I’m sure. My doctor has repeatedly refused me a mammogram, despite my many demands, and today I’m thanking the good lord that she did.

After reading this article, a mammogram is the last thing I need. The crux of the article is this:

A study of 1,600 women with BRCA 1 and 2 mutations, defective genes linked to breast cancer, found they were 54 per cent more likely to suffer the disease if they had ever had a chest X-ray.

For women given chest X-rays before the age of 20, the risk of developing breast cancer before their 40th birthday more than doubled.

Can you say, “close call?”

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh great. I had one when I was 17 due to my mother's friend having TB. And I loathed her (the friend not my mother).

I didn't realise a mamogram was an X-Ray.

Hope your throat is better.

Lacy said...

are you kidding me? That's an insane statistic! I can't believe the number is doubled.

Anonymous said...

What a cruel irony; the very people who need monitoring are susceptible to the most common test. Of course, it's just one study; we'll be hearing more about this.

Leila V. said...

Heather:
Yikes! I didn’t realize a mammogram was an X-Ray either. If I had, I wouldn’t have been so keen on getting one.

***
Lacy:
That is a significant increase! Most studies point to 10-20 percent increases at most, but DOUBLED? That's insane.

***
Trish:
I definitely think this study warrants another one. Hopefully it’s not true, but just to be sure, I’ll quit asking for a mammogram until we find out more!