Are Breast Self-Exams Bad for Your Health?
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| Breast Self Exam (BSE) National Cancer Institute |
Take a deep breath - a new study says that doing regular breast self-exams does not "reduce breast cancer deaths." That's right - your breast self-exam, like your annual mammogram, is not a treatment for breast cancer. Breast self-exams, as well as mammograms and clinical breast exams, are preventative measures. Excuse me, but what happened to "Early Detection Saves Lives" - a mantra that we've used since the 1960's? Breast cancer deaths are reduced by better treatments and more accurate detection and diagnosis.
I was without health insurance for about a year and a half, and skipped mammograms. I likewise blew off doing breast self-exams, feeling incompetent about searching for irregularities, not knowing one bump from another. Only when I was back on insurance, and pestered my nurse about a painful, persistent breast lump was I sent for the mammogram that changed my life! Yes, I had to insist on a mammogram! My lump was found during a casual breast self-exam, but it was unmistakable. I had waited until I had stage 2 breast cancer before I would become a convert to being more than "breast aware" as it is now called in the U.K.
Women are now being told to just be aware of their breasts - that would be hard to avoid in our present culture - which may lead to skipping other health screenings: mammograms, pap smears, pelvic exams. The researchers who did this study felt that women who had to undergo a biopsy to determine the actual nature of a breast lump were somewhat traumatized by the experience - no argument there - and so everybody should just go hands-off the bosoms unless there's a problem. Huh? That impresses me as a way to generate another study about a year from now: "Breast Cancer Routinely Diagnosed at Later Stages, Doctors Are Puzzled".
Here's the truth: anyone with breast tissue (male and female) can get breast cancer. About 1 in 8 women will develop it, even if there's no family history of breast or other cancers. Early detection still helps save lives, and many times results in easier treatment. Promise me you won't stop doing your breast self-exams - if you need help doing it properly, go see a nurse and get a lesson. Your life really is in your hands.
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Together we can stop the war. The war is a spirit cancer. Chimia nu este nici COMUNISTA, nici CAPITALISTA. Chimia inseamna VIATA SI MOARTE, PACE SI RAZBOI. In scoala romaneasca am invatat sa aparam VIATA SI PACEA. In Romania sunt foarte multe femei frumoase si destepte. Ma ocup de EDUCATIA SI PREVENTIA CANCERULUI, inclusiv a CANCERULUI SPIRITUAL. V-ati gandit ca
se poate ca medicul sa greseasca atunci cand pune diagnosticul BREST CANCER sau alt diagnostic? Oare nu este mai bine sa vedem cat de pregatiti sunt profesorii universitari care pregatesc viitorii medici? « Un diagnostic corect si integral este conditia SINE QUA NON a unui tratament rational si eficace. Iata pricipalele etape de elaborare a diagnosticului :1.anamneza ; 2.examenul fizic ; 3.invetigatiile de laborator (hematologice, biochimice, morfologice etc.) ; 4.integrarea datelor obtinute prin metodele de mai sus (rationamentul clinic).Despre erorile de diagnostic ar trebui sa se vorbeasca mai mult ; aceasta problema ar trebui dezbatuta in reuniunile stiintifice medicale si ar putea constitui tema unor monografii sau articole de revista. Ne vom referi la cateva din principalele cauze ale erorilor de diagnostic. Majoritatea cazurilor tin de medic ; intr-o mica masura exista unele cauze ce tin de bolnav sau chiar de boala (bolnavi necooperanti, boli despre care stim foarte putin etc.) 1.O prima cauza este reprezentata de pregatirea medicala insuficienta , care imbraca fie aspectul ignorantei grosolane (lipsa unor cunostinte esentiale, fundamentale, pentru care medicul nu are nicio scuza), fie aspectul necunoasterii achizitiilor recente , ca urmare a unei plafonari si suficiente.2.doua cauza principala a erorilor de diagnostic este reprezentata de examenul clinic defectuos.3. O cauza relativ frecventa a erorilor de diagnostic este strans legata de problema –relativ complexa – a investigatiilor de laborator. Medicul poate gresi , astfel , in cazul in care investigatiile de laborator vin sa completeze un examen clinic deficitar. 4.O alta cauza –ce tine tot de medic – a erorilor de diagnostic o constituie deficientele rationamentului clinic (« erorile de judecata », cum le numeste Martinet). Lipsa simtului autocritic mandria exagerata a unor medici ii poate face sa greseasca si, ceea ce este mai grav , sa persiste in gresala lor ; bineinteles , aceasta atitudine este condamnabila si total necorespunzatoare, atat din punct de vedere medical, cat si moral. »St.Suteanu, in colaborare cu E.Proca, I.Stamatoiu, A.Dimitrescu – « Diagnosticul si tratamentul bolilor interne », Ed. Medicala Bucuresti, 1982, p.8. With kind regards, professor+chemist+officer Cornelia Vodoiu Timisoara -Romania.
Ne dorim o lume mai frumoasa pentru noi si copiii nostri. Consider ca femeia reprezinta sanatatea fizica si psihica a unei natiuni. Tara care investeste in EDUCATIE, investeste in EDUCATIA SI PREVENTIA CANCERULUI, inclusiv a CANCERULUI SPIRITUAL.Cred ca pregatirea profesionala a medicului care stabileste diagnosticul este foarte importanta. Pentru noi profesorii exista “des livres de chevet” pentru a ajunge la sufletul si la mintea oamenilor atunici cand avem argumente.“Riscul diagnostic. In general , nicio investigatie paraclinica nu este total inofensiva si fiecare dintre ele poate fi asociata de un factor de risc. In functie de o tehnica, mai putin sau mai mult complicata, orice investigatie constituie , intr-un anumit grad , un factor de stress, o agresiune psihosomatica asupra bolnavului. Si, intr-adevar , diferitele investigatii sunt susceptibile de a provoca , in anumite conditii, un accident sau o complicatie de gravitate variata si de cauze diverse. In acest context, progresele tehnicii exploratorii si utilizarea pe scara larga a diferitelor metode de investigatie paraclinica., au generat o notiune noua in medicina : RISCUL DIAGNOSTIC. Au aparut accidente si boli consecutive explorarilor in scop diagnostic -mai ales prin abuz si exces de investigatii –care au imbogatit patologia iatrogena ; unii autori descriu chiar existenta unei « patologii a diagnosticului Riscurile metodelor de investigatie sunt multiple si numarul lor sporeste cu cat investigatiile sunt mai complexe».Viorel Gligore « Semiologie Medicala », Ed.Didactica si Pedagogica, Bucuresti 1977, p.87.
I had a normal mammogram in 1998 and two months later found a half dollar size lump in the lower part of my breast. I was only 44 and my doctor assured me that it was nothing but it turned out to be breast cancer that had spread throughtout the breast. Additional mammograms still did not pick it up. A year later a large lump came up under my arm and I sought out the attention of my surgeon who once again said it’s nothing but a slight infection. Wrong again. Breast cancer had spread again. My surgeon nows frequently refers to these events as “US” getting snake bit so he checks out everthing now. LADIES! DO YOUR BREAST EXAMS!! IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE! IT DID MINE.
BSEs can save your life. I’m 50 years old and have had annual mammograms for years – I doubt that I’ve ever missed one. Two years ago, I had my annual mammogram and it was considered normal. Barely six months later, I discovered a lump that was malignant. Early detection is key and BSEs are essential to early detection!!
Not doing BSE’s is ridiculous…. I’ve had breast cancer three times, and I found each one through self exams. Glad they didn’t come out with this hogwash back in 1996 before I found the first lump. Check them ladies………
I found a small lump on my left breast
close to my armpit, right under the skin,
while taking a shower. I went to my female
gynecologist & she suggested we do a “watch
on it”, but if I wanted to, we could check
it out. She thought it was a cyst. I felt
it needed to be checked out. And in doing so,
we found it was an aggressive type tumor,
definitely malignant. Surgery followed and
it was caught early, with no spread. I dread
to think of what would have happened it we
would have waited. Because of the type of
tumor, I had chemo and radiation. Not much
fun, but seven years later, I am cancer free.
I frequently do a breast check while in the
shower, and would advise others to do the
same.
I have never found a lump myself….my breast are very fibrous. But my gyn found one in 1981 that was a calcified fibroadeoma. Not cancer. In 2003, calcifications were found on mammogram…I was diagnosed with lobular carcinoma in situ in one breast and ductal dysplasia in the other. I enrolled in the STAR study and am in my last year taking Tamoxifen. But I would NEVER stop doing SBE
nor advised anyone to stop.