@wingman
Re Dense Breasts - is there any research on women who've never been pregnant/had children vs women who've had children? Does having children CHANGE the breast tissue to more or less dense? Does this density lessen as they get older due to breast feeding? I am the former (no kids.) In the old days, breast cancer was also known as the Nun's Disease (as it is assumed that nuns never got pregnant) - and there was a highish number of nuns who developed BC.
To be honest, I find the Breastscreen statement (about NOT informing women of their dense breast tissue)
to be very condescending. We are not fools - we can make our own decisions, if we are given the facts.
As it stands today - women with dense breast having a 2 yearly mammogram gives them a totally false sense of security. Most women, given information on their Dense Breast tissue, I would assume, would willingly have the extra tests done, as it sure beats being diagnosed with Stage 3 & 4 cancer or worse still, mets BC.
They MUST be given the choice.
If it was relating to men's testicles - I am sure the info would be passed on to them, quick smart!
It actually says it that it aims to avoid 'unnecessary harms and anxiety' - yet by not advising them, they are actually increasing not only their long term anxiety, but their risk of developing a terminal illness (vs early treatment) as well. WTF?
Who are they, to decide that my Invasive Lobular Cancer was not worth being found early enough to treat - which it was, luckily due to the skill of my GP. It is not a slow growing one that they think we should be happy to live with!
QUOTE:
Currently, BreastScreen Australia does not endorse notifying women of their breast density because of the following concerns:- More scientific evidence is needed to guide decision-making around how to measure breast density.
- It is unclear what women with high breast density, and their doctors, should do to manage their breast cancer screening and breast cancer risk once they have been notified.
- More evidence is required to tailor screening programs to benefit the individual woman. Tailored screening might include more intensive screening of women with higher breast cancer risk, and reduced frequency of screening of women with lower breast cancer risk.
- The program aims to avoid unnecessary harms. Potential harms of breast density notification might include unnecessary anxiety, costly supplementary testing for some women potentially leading to false positives, and finding a slow-growing cancer which would not be harmful during a woman’s lifetime (leading to unnecessary treatment).UNQUOTE
They MUST allow us to make our own decisions re our health!
