mammography

[Guest guest]

Daily Dose

 

February 17, 2004

 

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Mammograms: The breast defense?

 

If you've been reading the Daily Dose or my newsletter for any

length of time at all, you already know how I feel about

mammograms. They don't save lives, and they're hazardous to a

woman's health on many levels. And since I haven't talked about

this for a while, it all bears repeating. To recap what I've

said before...

 

First, the idea that " early detection " of breast cancer will

spare a woman's breast (or breasts) is erroneous. Despite the

mainstream's droning on about the need for regular mammograms as

an aid to the detection of cancerous tumors, the notion that

such advanced warning will lead to a cure for the disease is

SIMPLY FALSE. Yet survey data indicates that a huge percentage

of at-risk women believe just that. This is really tragic, since

the only tumors mammograms can reliably detect are those that

indicate a relatively advanced stage of metastasized cancer.

 

Second, the act of getting a mammogram itself may actually CAUSE

the spread of diseased cells and the development of cancerous

tumors within an otherwise healthy breast. In what I call the

" compression syndrome, " the act of squeezing and compressing the

breast in order to get good images during mammography may

activate and spread an otherwise contained or localized mass of

cancerous cells. In one 90,000-woman Canadian study (published

in a 1992 issue of The Lancet, my favorite medical journal),

subjects between 40 and 50 who had yearly mammograms showed a

36%-52% INCREASE in breast cancer mortality. But have we heard

about this in USA Today, or on NBC news?

 

Third, conventional medicine is COMPLETELY IGNORING a perfectly

safe, non-invasive alternative cancer test called the AMAS

(Anti-Malignan Antibody Screen). AMAS is a simple and amazingly

accurate (95%+) blood test for detecting cancer cells of any

type originating anywhere in the body. And false positives for

the AMAS test are less than 1%, which compares very favorably to

the...

 

MORE THAN 73% FALSE POSITIVE RATE OF MAMMOGRAMS AND PHYSICAL

EXAMINATIONS!

 

That's right: According to the Breast Cancer Detection

Demonstration Project, a 5-year study of more than a

quarter-million women between 35 and 74, only ONE IN SIX

biopsies performed on the basis of a positive mammogram (or

physical exam) revealed cancer. Yet millions of women rush into

lumpectomies and mastectomies based on these results. If the

mainstream would just follow these tests with the AMAS, they'd

be saving a lot of women the physical and psychological damage

that goes hand-in-hand with these procedures. Keep reading...

But chances are they won't even mention the AMAS.

 

Why? Because there's simply too much money to be made as a

result of the irrational fear mammograms (and physical exams,

for that matter) spread. Lots of lumpectomies and mastectomies

equals lots of cash in doctors' and hospitals' pockets.

 

The bottom line is this: Today, conventional mammograms most

often lead to risky, extreme, and expensive TREATMENTS for

breast cancer - but not necessarily to cures or even an

increased lifespan. And in a scary number of cases, those

treatments (see also: surgery) are completely unnecessary.

 

If you're concerned about it, or have been on the receiving end

of a " positive " mammogram, ask your doctor to follow up with an

AMAS test before you decide on any options, surgical or

otherwise. If he (or she) isn't familiar with this test or won't

perform it, find a doctor who will before you submit to the

scalpel.

 

And keep in mind, too, that not all cases of breast cancer cases

require surgery or treatment of any kind. About one in four

modern breast cancer diagnoses fall into the category of

slow-to-develop ductal or lobular carcinomas " in situ " - which

only become malignant in about 2% of cases. Yet women are often

mislead and panicked into an unnecessary mastectomy in these

cases that can simply be closely monitored over time. Would you

part with your breast (or a potion of one) for a 2-in-100 long

shot? Probably not. But that won't stop doctors and hospitals

from urging you to go under the knife...

 

After all, they've got bills to pay.

 

 

Giving you the full story,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD