That's Fit

It's unfortunate that the small medical insurance copay cost of a mammogram is causing some women to forgo it. According to a recent study of Medicare customers, though, this is what is happening in many cases.

The $10 amount was the smallest amount found that would cause a woman (an older woman in most cases) to avoid the potentially life-saving test.

In the study, the mammogram screening rate was about eight percent lower when there was any type of customer payment involved when compared to those women having the test who have the entire cost provided for through full coverage insurance.

If you're 40 and have never had a mammogram, what's holding you back? For your health's sake, hopefully it's not a small, out-of-pocket expense.

Imagine a world with no boob-smooshing mammograms, no feeling guilty about forgetting to do your self-exam, no worry over is-it-or-isn't-it, a world where screening for breast cancer is as easy as putting on your bra. That world doesn't exist yet, but at least someone envisions it. Researchers from the UK have developed a bra with an embedded microwave antennae that scans the breasts to detect breast cancer at the earliest stages, when it's most curable.

Of course, there's no word yet on whether the device actually works or is even safe, so don't go holding out hope just yet. In the meantime, keep up with those self-exams and mammograms and other good prevention habits!

Just yesterday, a German researcher concluded than mammograms are not as effective as spotting precancerous growths compared to the magnetic resonance scan (MRI).

Mammograms, which are suggested for all women starting in their 30s, have been a staple of breast cancer screening for quite a long time. Is it time to do away with them?

Hardly -- but it is nice to see that MRIs offer a better look at possible precancer conditions. The main problems is that MRI scans are quite a bit more costly than a standard mammogram, but after looking at how much more effective the MRI was at spotting an aggressive form of breast cancer development, it's worth the price.

Technology took a hit today when it was discovered that once again computers can't always do it better than humans can. The latest example is how well computers recognize and diagnose abnormal mammograms -- instead of the expected idea that they might miss things a human eye would catch, computer-read mammograms actually find too much -- they increase the risk of a "false positive."

So, all kinds of poor women have undergone unnecessary biopsies, along with the horrendous anxiety and stress that goes along with waiting and wondering if you have cancer. Thanks, technology.

If you were unsure before whether you needed a yearly mammogram or not, a recent recommendation by the American College of Physicians just may have made the issue a little murkier. The physicians group recently announced their new guidelines that recommend yearly mammograms for women 50 and over, but not necessarily for younger women. Women age 40 to 49, says the group, should discuss their own personal risk of developing the disease with their doctor every 1 to 2 years, and decide for themselves whether to get the screening.

The group maintains that while mammograms have been proven to prevent breast cancer deaths in women over 50, it hasn't shown as much success with women in younger age groups. They say younger women should consider the risks of false positives, false reassurance, and radiation exposure. The group isn't saying women under 50 shouldn't get mammograms, only that they should consider whether the benefit outweighs the potential risk.

The American Cancer Society disagrees, calling the recommendation a "step backwards," and saying that current recommendations were developed with years of research in mind. With the most current guidelines being challenged, I'm sure this isn't the last we'll hear on this topic.

The American Cancer Society is announcing new guidelines in breast cancer detection, and it may mean that more women will be getting MRIs in addition to their mammograms.

Women who have a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes (which can indicated an increase risk for breast cancer), women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, women who've undergone treatment for Hodgkin's disease, and women with a strong family history of the disease may be adding an annual MRI to their breast cancer prevention efforts. The reason behind the change the finding that MRIs can spot early changes in the breast -- such as abnormal blood flow -- that indicate breast cancer. MRIs can also better detect the disease in dense breast tissue.

Experts urge women to continue to get their yearly mammograms, which are better at detecting calcium deposits than MRIs. Mammograms are also significantly cheaper than MRIs, and MRIs have a higher false positive rate. Mammography is still the appropriate test for most women, but women in certain groups may benefit from having an MRI in addition to their mammogram.

For more information on whether you need to add an MRI to your yearly check-up, read this Q & A on the subject.

Despite the fact that the number of women who should be getting mammograms (over age 40) has increased over recent years, surveys show that the number of women who actually had mammograms dropped slightly in 2005. This has health officials both concerned and a little confused, wondering why exactly this is. The most likely reason is the very fact that so many women are getting older and needing mammograms the resources and clinics are getting stretched to the max, or possibly that finances and personnel issues are causing complications.

Regardless, women are encouraged to continue to treat breast cancer as a serious risk and put mammograms at the top of their priority list, as often and their doctor recommends. And hopefully, now that this problem is out in the open, the health industry can make some moves to fix it.