What is the reason being for Debate on breast screening overblown?
Debate on breast screening overblown By DAVID SERVAN-SCHREIBER, LORENZO COHEN and DONALD I. ABRAMS HOUSTON CHRONICLE The debate about how often and at what age women should have mammograms or men PSA tests has become a national conversation. A major issue is being missed, however, in the back-and-forth argument about costs and individual medical freedom. The reason the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued new guidelines is because of a ground shift in the very understanding of cancer. Cancer is not the ominous downhill process it has been feared to be for several decades. Yes, cancer starts with genetically abnormal cells that begin to grow wildly. The evidence now shows, however, that many small collections of cancer cells may be perfectly well contained by our body’s natural defenses, and often even disappear on their own. Cancer, we now know, is not a one-way street. In some cases, small tumors may appear, grow a bit, and then stop, or even go away. What this means is that lif
The debate about how often and at what age women should have mammograms or men PSA tests has become a national conversation. A major issue is being missed, however, in the back-and-forth argument about costs and individual medical freedom. The reason the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued new guidelines is because of a ground shift in the very understanding of cancer. Cancer is not the ominous downhill process it has been feared to be for several decades. Yes, cancer starts with genetically abnormal cells that begin to grow wildly. The evidence now shows, however, that many small collections of cancer cells may be perfectly well contained by our body’s natural defenses, and often even disappear on their own. Cancer, we now know, is not a one-way street. In some cases, small tumors may appear, grow a bit, and then stop, or even go away. What this means is that lifestyle choices that weaken or strengthen the natural defenses that protect us against cancer may play a major role in
The debate about how often and at what age women should have mammograms or men PSA tests has become a national conversation. A major issue is being missed, however, in the back-and-forth argument about costs and individual medical freedom. The reason the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued new guidelines is because of a ground shift in the very understanding of cancer. Sources: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6755592.
