Americans Puzzled Over New Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

Boston (DbTechNo) - Doctors across the country are scratching their heads after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new recommendations related to breast cancer and mammograms.

Mammograms are one of the best methods of detecting breast cancer in its earliest stage, thus offering the patient the best chance of survival.

The task force states that in America, 10% of mammograms result in false-positive results, meaning that a patient actually tests positive for the disease even when they do not have it.

This can lead to unnecessary worry and unnecessary furthered invasive testing, resulting in stress, and financial strain on the patient or Medicare.

Up until now, it has been recommended that women over 40 years of age have a mammogram each and every year.

Now, the task force is recommending that women can hold off on these yearly mammograms until they turn 50.

Another shocking recommendation put forth by the task force is the one that states that breast self exams are not worth doing, because they do not increase risk of breast cancer detection.

Each year an estimated 43,000 American women die from breast cancer.