Health Watch: Mammogram Decline
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Elizabeth Edwards, who died Tuesday from breast cancer, admitted she sometimes skipped getting a mammogram.
She's not alone. Startling new research says half of all women are not getting mammograms as recommended.
While not perfect mammograms are the best way to find breast cancer, and when detected early it's very curable. But the new research says way too many women aren't getting screened when they should.
Three years ago Reri Pumphrey got news she didn't expect to hear.
"I was diagnosed with stage two Breast Cancer," said Reri.
The then 55-year old, working mother, was diagnosed through a mammogram. And like Elizabeth Edwards, who admitted she sometimes skipped mammograms because she was too busy, Reri she wasn't always diligent about her check ups.
"I was sporadic. I'd go for a mammogram, and once I got the clean bill of health I felt healthy. I would let it lapse two to three to four years," said Reri.
A new study shows Reri is not alone. Only half of women over 40 are getting annual mammograms. For women between the ages of 50 and 65, they study found only 65 percent had gotten a mammogram within the last two years.
"If women stop taking care of their breast health we're going to see cancers present at more advance stages like we used to in the dark days," said Dr. Jorge Pardes, a Radiologist.
The American Cancer Society still recommends starting annual mammograms at 40.
Despite her missed mammograms, Reri is cancer free today.
"Don't feel you are cancer immune, you are not," said Reri. And she says she now is vigilant about annual checkups.
Last year a Government Task Force recommended women in their 40's, with an average risk for cancer, don't need yearly mammograms.
Doctors say that's created more confusion, which could be why the numbers are dropping.
RELATED LINKS:
Breast Cancer Information - http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast and http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/index
Mammogram Information - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mammography.html and http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/mammograms
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Reported By: Stephanie Stahl, CBS 3
