Isn’t the Xray in mammogram dangerous?
Women are often told not to worry about the Xray in mammogram because it is “low dose”, “less than you would get walking through the screening device in an airport”; however research shows that the very low dose Xray used in mammography carries up to 5 times the risk of higher dose Xrays that we might receive to evaluate a broken leg, for instance. (see risks of mammography). Why is this? The body recognizes the higher dose Xray as an insult, or injury to the body. It sends in the immune system to clean up damaged tissue and DNA. The low dose Xray is so low and diffuse that the body does not recognize it as an injury and so this repair does not take place. In addition, these damaged cells, create more damaged cells when they replicate. They pass it on. Therefore even breast cells that were not initially irradiated are still harmed by the Xray and the effect is cumulative each time a woman has a mammogram.
