Currently doctors relay on a triple level testing for breast health- breast examination, mammography with or without ultrasounography and biopsy. There are a number of questionable factors in mammography. First is the issue of false positives. According to a New England Journal of Medicine study, published in 1998 on 4,319 women the rate of false positives for a woman 50 years old or older was 24% after five screenings and 47% after ten screenings for younger women the risks are 30% and 56%.
Secondly, there is has been a few different studies which show that while mammograms have been able to detect breast cancers when the tumors were smaller, they have had no effect on the survival rates. In fact, even the National Cancer Institute admits that monthly breast self examination following a brief training combined with annual clinical breast examination by a trained health care professional is at least as effective as mammography.
