Mammograms: Why?

Did you know that a routine mammogram screening typically involves 4 x-rays, two per breast which amount to more than 150 times the amount of radiation used for a single chest x-ray?Translation -- screening mammograms send a strong dose of ionizing radiation through your tissues. ONE dose of ionizing radiation is capable of contributing to cancer and heart disease.

There's more. Dr Ben Kim wrote an interesting article regarding other facts to consider before your next mammogram screening. Find out more at:
http://drbenkim.com/articles-mammograms.html

I hope that Dr Kim's thoughts on mammograms will encourage you to think about the difference between SCREENING and PREVENTIVE measures.

Many diagnostic tests that are performed on a routine basis in industrialized countries are touted as being preventive measures when they are nothing more than screening measures. In other words, they do nothing to actually prevent disease. They are only capable of detecting disease. And in the case of mammograms and other tests that utilize ionizing radiation, they can actually contribute to disease.

Disease prevention and education should be the top of the priority list in order to build a successful and complete health care plan. When we educate people how to prevent disease (and it all starts with the individual), medical costs drop, and we live healthy and well by making high quality lifestyle choices a part of our daily routine.

LNH