The government wants more women to die of breast cancer…..or something

[chrissmari]

Obviously my subject line is full of hyperbole but there’s something very End of Days about this breaking news alert I received this evening. Isn’t there? Early detection means an early cure, right? So wtf?

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Mon, November 16, 2009 - 5:00 PM ET
--

In Reversal, U.S. Guidelines Urge Mammograms at 50, Not 40

Comments

[jette]

No, mammograms actually miss breast cancer sometimes anyway, plus you're getting exposed to all those xrays and plus it's fear mongering to send you at forty if you have no risk factors.

I'm stoked, I think it's stupid for me to get it done annually as I have zero family history.

[jakshadows]

I suspect too that since the cost of healthcare is probably going to hit all sorts of new highs in the years to come, they're trying to trim as much as possible.

[leota]

This pisses me off, the day after this they said you don't need a pap smear every year either. Don't think it's a coincidence they decided this right as they're working on universal health care. I personally could care less if I get one every year or not, but you know that they're going to use these recommendations to decide how many your insurance will cover you for. If this was based on some kind health promoting theory I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I know it's just dollars and cents. Even teaching women not to examine their breasts... it reduces unnecessary testing for them if it ends up not being cancerous, but it also reduces the chance of women finding their own tumors that aren't going to be found by the mammograms they're not getting.

What REALLY pisses me off about this is that so far this is all aimed at women's health issues. There is already less money spent on medical research aimed at women than at men, now they'll be spending less on screening too.