Barb's Daily Dose

Mammograms: Do the Math

Early Mammograms Save Lives!  16,547 to Be Exact!

 
I am trying not to scream about these new recommendations for waiting until age 50 to start mammograms. 

Here’s What the Report Said:

• Mammograms between 40-50 only save (1) women for every 1300 screened.

• That doesn’t sound like a lot until you do the Math!

• There are over 21 million in that age group.  So saving (1) in 1300 is a lot of women!!

Mammograms Save 16, 547 Women Age 40-50

So why not do mammograms?  To prevent women from worrying?  Thanks, but I’d rather be a little worried over nothing than know that over 16 thousand women won’t get diagnosed until it’s too late!

The trouble with this study is that every single woman I’ve spoken to knows at least 3-4 women who were diagnosed between 40-50  -   "wouldn’t be here"  if they hadn’t had a mammogram.

The Study is Flawed

• There wasn’t enough data in just one study, so they gathered 8 together (Meta-analysis)

• The authors concede that 6 out of the 8 studies were either “poor or flawed"

• We all know that you can crunch numbers in lots of different ways, and this way just doesn’t add up!!

Mammogram Recommendations

I Disagree With the Latest Recommendations!

Did you read the recent recommendations on when to start mammograms? Well, a recent report from the U.S. Preventive Task Force suggested that women not have screening mammograms until age 50.

I disagree, I read the report 3 times, and saw a few red key flags.  First, this was pooled data from studies that the task force labeled 6 out of 8 as flawed or poor.  Hmmm, we're making recommendations on flawed or poor studies?  Also, one estimate was that you would only save 1 life for every 1300 women screened in this age group.  That doesn't sound like a lot of women, but then I did the math.  Turns out that there are about 21 million women in the US in that age group.  So screening saves 16,457 women!

How to Create a Strong Breast Cancer Support Team

Our Featured Guest Writer Today Is:  Melanie Haiken, Senior Editor of Caring.com

To Create a Cancer Support Team, Reach Out to Medical Professionals

It takes a village to care for someone with cancer. Because the disease is multifaceted and affects so many aspects of a person's life, a number of different health professionals will be involved in the patient's care. And as time goes on, you'll need other services that can make her -- and your -- life easier. Then there are other services -- everything from a local handy person to a grocery delivery service -- that can make the job of caring for someone less overwhelming. As caregiver, you'll be like the captain of a sports team, making sure the right people are in the right positions and everyone's working together to win the game. Here are the eight steps involved in putting together a best-of-league care team.

Caffeine Might Reduce Breast Cancer?

Could it be that regular lattes and coffee can help decrease a woman's risk of breast cancer?  

 

A recent report from Harvard based on data from the Nurses Health Study, of which I'm a participant, may have found just that. The researchers looked at 1,200 and found that higher caffeine intake was associated with lowered risk of breast cancer. Hmmmm.  We know that caffeine can decrease estrogen levels, so that might play a role.  For now, I'm going to go put on a pot.  It can't hurt and maybe, just maybe will help!  

 

To read the whole report from Reuter's: 

Breast Cancer

BRCA 1 & 2 testing  

Let's talk for a moment about family history of breast cancer. 

For women with a strong family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer, there is a genetic test for the BRCA 1 and 2 genes that can help women make decisions about when to start their families, whether to have preventive surgery and whether to take medications, like SERMs to help decrease their risks.  

Having this test can be very scary. It's hard to know what to do with the results.  Many women fear that the other shoe will drop if they have a family history and feel that they are just waiting for the "news" that they have a lump and need surgery. 

Sleep and Cancer

Another report just out that less sleep increases the risk of cancer in women.

Less sleep is not good

Recently I wrote about a study that found that less sleep is associated with heart attacks. Now more data from the CDC says that it's not just heart attacks, lack of sleep is associated with a number of other health issues. Besides obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke & depression, researchers at the University of Maryland found an association with cancer.

We need 7 or more hours each night

The study looked at young women who exercise at a moderate to high level. We know from many studies that moderate to high levels of exercise helps decrease the risk of many types of cancers.  Yet, some of the women studied had higher than expected levels of cancer.  What was different in those women?  Ok, time to put on your CSI detective hat, (as I say to my students at Stanford).  

What was different, is that the women who slept less than 7 hours each night had higher rates of cancer!

So, my besides resolving to get my iPod and my water bottle and hit the gym, I'm going to hit the hay a little earlier and stop running on 6 hours of sleep/night.  

Breast Cancer, Exercise & Diet

For a long time, we've known that by increasing exercise, in general women could decrease the likelihood that they would have breast cancer.  We didn't know why, but there was an association.  

My mom had breast cancer

I knew I was at higher risk for developing breast cancer and I had read enough of the studies to know that the more I exercised, the more I'd decrease my chance of hearing that the mammogram was worrisome or that the biopsy was not good. So, I dragged myself out to jog, or to spin class or to the gym.  

What every woman should know about Breast Cancer

1 in 8 women

I think first, every woman should know that breast cancer affects about 1 in 8 women at some time in their lives. The vast majority of breast cancers that are detected early are NOT fatal. It’s important to remember that diagnosis and treatments have advanced in the last few years and have helped us find cancers earlier and earlier. 

Earlier Detection = Better Survival

The earlier they are detected, the better. Also, yearly mammograms after age 40, combined with a breast exam by your health care provider are still the best way to detect breast cancer and improve survival. Women who have breast cancer have many more options than they did just 5 years ago. 

Can we prevent Breast Cancer?

I wish I could give you a 100% guarantee that if you did all of the following that a woman would not develop breast cancer, but what I can say, is that there's strong evidence that our choices may help decrease our chances. 

Exercise 

Study after study has shown that regular exercise decreases the risk of breast cancer by 23-30%. And the good news is that you don’t have to run a marathon or be ready for Olympic trials. 

Exercise = Activity  

It means walking, or getting to the gym, sitting on your stationary bike, or rocking out on the elliptical for at least 30 minutes each day, or for 3.5 hours/week. 

Order the Virgin.....Margarita that is. 

Or, only have 1 and then switch to water. Sad, but true, women who drink more than one glass of wine, beer, or mixed drinks per day have a higher risk of breast cancer. The type of alcohol doesn't matter, it's the quantity. If you're worried, limit your alcohol intake to no more than 3-4 drinks/week or avoid it completely. 

Trim the fat   

There's a link between weight gain after menopause and breast cancer. It's thought that the estrogen that's stored in those irritating midlife bulges that Spanx was invented to hide, contribute to our breasts being bathed in too much estrogen. There is an association between estrogen exposure to the breasts over our lifetime and breast cancer risk. 

So, it seems that our grandmothers were right. Eat right, exercise more, and don't drink too much. It's good advice for all aspects of our health. 

My mom had breast cancer at 33! I was 8 when she had a radical mastectomy. She's still alive and as ornery as ever.

I’ve been living with the idea that someday I would hear those dreaded words and then have to deal with the next set of challenges. So far so good, knock wood. I have had a biopsy, which was negative, and I do limit alcohol and exercise for 1 hour at least 5 days each week.

Advances in Breast Cancer

This is the first in several posts on Breast Cancer. We'll talk about prevention, treatment, diagnosis and what friends can do when someone is diagnosed.  

I was just interviewed on this topic for the Examiner's Work-Life blog with Karen Leland.  You can read about breast cancer awareness, prevention and treatment there too.

Recently, I was asked what I think are the most important advances in treatment and prevention of breast cancer.  We're so fortunate to be living now when breast cancer survival has improved dramatically.  It was only a few decades ago that we had far fewer survivors of breast cancer, and many more deaths.  

We've come a long way and yet, there are constant improvements in diagnosis and treatments that have given us a greater than 98% survival rate if found early.  (Based on data from the National Institutes of Health).

     One development that I want to talk about today is the discovery of the HER2/neu (Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2).  This led to the development of Herceptin, a novel and multi-pronged treatment that helps destroy breast cancer cells. This link will take you to a video explains how it works. 

 There are more exciting advances and we'll talk about them right here.  Let me know what you think are the most important developments.

Here's a fantastic way to get involved to help prevent Breast Cancer with Dr. Susan Love's Army of Women.