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Silver Tabby
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16-06-2018, 04:41 PM
1

Why do mammograms ...

... have to hurt so much?

I just bet that machine was designed by a man. Anyway 4 weeks to wait now for the result ... unless they find find something sinister.

The radiographer told me they are allowed only 6mins per patient - given that we are not all as flexible as each other and some are better endowed than others - this does seem a bit unachievable. I asked what would happen if time ran out before ones xray was finished. Without even raising an eyebrow she replied that we would all turn into pumpkins!
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16-06-2018, 06:11 PM
2

Re: Why do mammograms ...

Originally Posted by Silver Tabby ->
... have to hurt so much?

I just bet that machine was designed by a man. Anyway 4 weeks to wait now for the result ... unless they find find something sinister.

The radiographer told me they are allowed only 6mins per patient - given that we are not all as flexible as each other and some are better endowed than others - this does seem a bit unachievable. I asked what would happen if time ran out before ones xray was finished. Without even raising an eyebrow she replied that we would all turn into pumpkins!
Hi

They don't have to.

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ocedure-change

In some other Countries they use mammopads to minimise discomfort.

It is just our NHS being the NHS.
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16-06-2018, 06:20 PM
3

Re: Why do mammograms ...

Originally Posted by swimfeeders ->
Hi

They don't have to.

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ocedure-change

In some other Countries they use mammopads to minimise discomfort.

It is just our NHS being the NHS.
I didn't know this Swimmy. I had a lump removed years ago, so I am always being sent for them. I nearly cry, they hurt so much!
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16-06-2018, 06:32 PM
4

Re: Why do mammograms ...

Exactly the same research that is currently being done at Salford University by my wife's boss (prior to her retirement) and others. If I remember correctly, they are liaising with a university in Sweden, but I don't know which.

Apparently, 'mammopads' (radiolucent pads of soft material) make little difference.

Another possible option which I suggested to them some time ago would be to invite the patient to determine the level of compression on the grounds that if you are putting yourself under some pain you are more likely to be able to stand more if you are doing it yourself rather than the feeling of lack of control if someone else (the radiographer) is doing it.

Anyway, the perceived advantage of compressing the breast as much as possible is to make the thickness of the area of interest more even.

One important thing to realise is that the radiographers are concerned about the patients' well-being and, just because the powers that be demand they fit a quart into a pint pot, they do the best they can under the circumstances.
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16-06-2018, 11:40 PM
5

Re: Why do mammograms ...

I would advise against Mammograms. All you are doing there is harming yourself. Firstly you are flattening breast tissue cells, increasing their surface area and then giving them a blast of radiation.

The problem then is that they are so unreliable so you're risking actually giving yourself cancer via repeated radiating mammograms whilst not getting a reliable result.

There are alternatives these days. Thermography for example. Of course, don't expect the Big Pharma people to endorse alternatives that eat into their establish profit streams.

It would be ironic wouldn't it if 30 years down the line it was revealed that most breast cancer came from women being irradiated by mammograms !

Radiation is very harmful to the body. It is imho stupid to irradiate ones body.
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17-06-2018, 12:00 AM
6

Re: Why do mammograms ...

Originally Posted by Realist ->
I would advise against Mammograms. All you are doing there is harming yourself. Firstly you are flattening breast tissue cells, increasing their surface area and then giving them a blast of radiation.

The problem then is that they are so unreliable so you're risking actually giving yourself cancer via repeated radiating mammograms whilst not getting a reliable result.

There are alternatives these days. Thermography for example. Of course, don't expect the Big Pharma people to endorse alternatives that eat into their establish profit streams.

It would be ironic wouldn't it if 30 years down the line it was revealed that most breast cancer came from women being irradiated by mammograms !

Radiation is very harmful to the body. It is imho stupid to irradiate ones body.
You are giving some dangerous advice here, Realist.

No-one is making anyone have a mammogram, but if a patient refuses to have it she (or even he - yes, they are sometimes done on men) runs the risk of ignoring the possible presence of a tumour which, if it continues to the next stage, can spread and become life threatening.

With all due respect, I'd suggest that in making statements such as "risking actually giving yourself cancer via repeated radiating mammograms" you are showing your lack of knowledge and understanding of the procedure. In addition, I should mention that 'big pharma' has nothing to do with mammography.

The radiation dose received is far less than that we are all receiving every day from background radiation and which most people are unaware of, and how frequently do you imagine these examinations are carried out on any individual anyway?

I don't want to argue further for obvious reasons, but I will repeat that if anyone doesn't want a mammogram they have every right to refuse one. In fact, in doing so they would be doing others a favour by releasing appointments to those who do.
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17-06-2018, 01:06 AM
7

Re: Why do mammograms ...

Originally Posted by JBR ->
if a patient refuses to have it she (or even he - yes, they are sometimes done on men) runs the risk of ignoring the possible presence of a tumour which, if it continues to the next stage, can spread and become life threatening.
I did not at any stage suggest that patients don't get tested. What I said was I would advise against getting tested via a Mammogram. There ARE alternatives that don't involve radiating your body. They WILL become the norm.

Originally Posted by JBR ->
With all due respect, I'd suggest that in making statements such as "risking actually giving yourself cancer via repeated radiating mammograms" you are showing your lack of knowledge and understanding of the procedure. In addition, I should mention that 'big pharma' has nothing to do with mammography.

I understand it perfectly thanks JBR.

The typical claims that mammograms are merely 0.4 miliservets of radiation and that this doesn't matter are not something that sways me.

An entire year's worth of background radiation for someone in the US is 3 mSv per year. Hence every mammogram represents about 1/7th of your yearly background dose.

The crucial difference however is that your body is NOT being ultra compressed when you are walking, sitting and sleeping. Your body cells are in the normal shape and form.

With a mammogram you are doing 2 specific things.

Firstly you are massively compressing the breast tissue and cells, changing their shape and form

Secondly you are concentrating the full dose of that radiation solely to one part of the body, unlike background radiation which is spread across the entire body.

It's not a healthy procedure to have and it is sold/marketed/promoted solely on the basis of risk avoidance and the fact that the damage you are doing to yourself is worth the benefit of finding early any cancers.

People do need to do their research here as always and that means having a healthy dose of scepticism at any info the health industry itself puts out.

Women SHOULD get themselves checked but there ARE alternative procedures which do not irradiate you.

Mammograms generate a lot of false-positive results. In many cases this results in women heading down the cancer treatment route completely unnecessarily.

Mammograms will be ditched in the near future imho and rightly so.

Some research for you:

https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/news/target.cfm?id=401

"Low-dose radiation from annual mammography screening may increase breast cancer risk in women with genetic or familial predisposition to breast cancer, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)."


https://articles.mercola.com/.../exp...ammograms.aspx

"According to updated guidelines set forth by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, women in their 40’s should not get routine mammograms for early detection of breast cancer."

"The group's previous recommendation was for routine screenings every year or two for women age 40 and older. They now recommend that before having a mammogram, women ages 40 to 49 should talk to their doctors about the risks and benefits of the test, and then decide if they want to be screened."

"While roughly 15 percent of women in their 40’s detect breast cancer through mammography, many other women experience false positives, anxiety, and unnecessary biopsies as a result of the test, according to data."

• "In July 1995, The Lancet again wrote about mammograms, saying "The benefit is marginal, the harm caused is substantial, and the costs incurred are enormous ..."

• "Dr. Charles B. Simone, a former clinical associate in immunology and pharmacology at the National Cancer Institute, said, "Mammograms increase the risk for developing breast cancer and raise the risk of spreading or metastasizing an existing growth.”

• "The high sensitivity of the breast, especially in young women, to radiation-induced cancer was known by 1970. Nevertheless, the establishment then screened some 300,000 women with Xray dosages so high as to increase breast cancer risk by up to 20 percent in women aged 40 to 50 who were mammogramed annually,” wrote Dr. Epstein. "


https://www.healthimaging.com/topics...xperts-explain

"According to study results, although the women received mammograms every other year, researchers instead found that the mammograms led to overdiagnosis 60 percent of the time."

"I don't think the accumulating data shows that continuing mammography screening is a good solution," lead researcher of the study Phillippe Autier from the University of Strathclyde Institute of Global Public Health in Glasgow, UK told TIME."


Each to their own but I realised quite some time ago that, like it or not, we ARE engaged in a war on our health. We are being purposely made ill on multiple angles and using a wide variety of methods, all to keep us using expensive treatments and buying pharma drugs. We have to wake up to this.
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17-06-2018, 06:18 AM
8

Re: Why do mammograms ...

I agree ST, they do hurt, quite a lot in fact. I thought I was the only person to find them painful as none of my pals agree with me. I've stopped having them now.
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17-06-2018, 06:52 AM
9

Re: Why do mammograms ...

Yes, they hurt, it is called the Tit Squash machine here

Just another procedure to be endured but, as uncomfortable as it is, it does save lives, so I think it's a small price to pay.

That doesn't stop it hurting though
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17-06-2018, 07:00 AM
10

Re: Why do mammograms ...

Originally Posted by eccles ->
I agree ST, they do hurt, quite a lot in fact. I thought I was the only person to find them painful as none of my pals agree with me. I've stopped having them now.
I came away feeling quite bruised, Eccles. The only reason I went was I had found a small lump and wanted it checked. Wouldn't have gone near the place otherwise.
 
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