Do Mammograms Harm Women?

I've been arguing for years that mammograms may be doing women more harm than good. This point of view is based on hard research that is growing more compelling with each year.

Here are some of the articles I have written over the years on this topic

Mammograms: http://blog.garymoller.com/search/label/mammograms

Xray Risks: http://blog.garymoller.com/search/label/x-rays

There have been many times over the years that women have sought my help. Typically, after she sits down, there is a flood of tears as she tells me she has had a suspicious mammogram. It is heartbreaking and sometimes infuriating for me. Especially when I know that there is a good chance that the mammogram has got it wrong, the lump may be benign (but they can't tell that from a mammogram), or else the diagnosis has been left a bit too late. She's on the cancer treatment conveyor belt.

Breast Mammography: Institutional Terrorism of Women

If the mammogram is not a false positive (or a false negative!), but correct, it has probably left things late, forcing the woman into invasive treatment beginning with biopsies and possibly chemotherapy, radiation therapy and mastectomy - and years to come of costly and exhausting treatment.

If we are really serious about winning the war on cancer then we would be dealing with what comes way before the cancer - not the cancer once it has appeared and of such an extent that it shows on a mammogram. Before getting the dreaded diagnosis of cancer there may be years - even decades - of quiet percolation/festering deep within before things finally get out of hand. If we know what comes before a cancer, then surely we have years in hand to prevent the cancer from developing? If not, then by the time the cancer has developed and is detected by a mammogram, it is possible that the horse has well and truly bolted.

We have known for a very long time what comes before cancer but little to nothing has been done about it by those in charge of our health care system and who control where and how the health dollar is spent.

What comes before most cancers?