Mammography Wars

Mammography Wars

Author: Asia Friedman

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2023-06-16

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 1978830653

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Mammography is a routine health screening performed forty million times each year in the United States, yet it remains one of the most deeply contested topics in medicine, with national health care organizations supporting conflicting guidelines. In Mammography Wars, sociologist Asia Friedman examines cultural and medical disagreements over mammography. At issue is whether to screen women under age fifty, which is rooted in deeper questions about early detection and the assumed linear and progressive development of breast cancer. Based on interviews with doctors and scientists, interviews with women ages 40 to 50, and newspaper coverage of mammography, Friedman uses the sociology of attention to map the cognitive structure of the “mammography wars,” offering insights into the entrenched nature of debates over mammography that often get missed when applying a medical lens. Friedman’s analysis also suggests the sociology of attention’s unique potential for analyzing cultural conflicts beyond mammography, and even beyond medicine.


The Breast Cancer Wars

The Breast Cancer Wars

Author: Barron H. Lerner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2001-05-31

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 0195349563

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In this riveting narrative, Barron H. Lerner offers a superb medical and cultural history of our century-long battle with breast cancer. Revisiting the past, Lerner argues, can illuminate and clarify the dilemmas confronted by women with--and at risk for--the disease. Writing with insight and compassion, Lerner tells a compelling story of influential surgeons, anxious patients and committed activists. There are colorful portraits of the leading figures, ranging from the acerbic Dr. William Halsted, who pioneered the disfiguring radical mastectomy at the turn of the century to George Crile, Jr., the Cleveland surgeon who shocked the medical establishment by "going public" with his doubts about mastectomy, to Rose Kushner, a brash journalist who relentlessly educated American women about breast cancer. Lerner offers a fascinating account of the breast cancer wars: the insistent efforts of physicians to vanquish the "enemy"; the fights waged by feminists and maverick doctors to combat a paternalistic legacy that discouraged decision-making by patients; and the struggles of statisticians and researchers to generate definitive data in the face of the great risks and uncertainties raised by the disease. As easy as it is to demonize male physicians, the persistence of the radical mastectomy and other invasive treatments has had as much to do with the complicated scientific understandings of breast cancer as with sexism. In Lerner's hands, the fight against breast cancer opens a window on American medical practice over the last century: the pursuit of dramatic cures with sophisticated technologies, the emergence of patients' rights, the ethical and legal challenges raised by informed consent, and the limited ability of scientific knowledge to provide quick solutions for serious illnesses. A searching and profound work on an emotionally charged issue, The Breast Cancer Wars tells a story that remains of vital importance to modern breast cancer patients, their families and the clinicians who strive to treat and prevent this dreaded disease.


The Big Squeeze

The Big Squeeze

Author: Handel Reynolds

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2012-08-07

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 0801466008

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In 2009, an influential panel of medical experts ignited a controversy when they recommended that most women should not begin routine mammograms to screen for breast cancer until the age of fifty, reversing guidelines they had issued just seven years before when they recommended forty as the optimal age to start getting mammograms. While some praised the new recommendation as sensible given the smaller benefit women under fifty derive from mammography, many women's groups, health care advocates, and individual women saw the guidelines as privileging financial considerations over women's health and a setback to decades-long efforts to reduce the mortality rate of breast cancer. In The Big Squeeze, Dr. Handel Reynolds, a practicing radiologist, notes that this episode was only the most recent controversy in the turbulent history of mammography since its introduction in the early 1970s. In a book written for the millions of women who face the decision about whether to get a mammogram, health professionals interested in cancer screening, and public health policymakers, Reynolds shows how pivotal decisions made during mammography's initial launch made it all but inevitable that the test would be contentious. He describes how, at several key points in its history, the emphasis on mammography screening as a fundamental aspect of women's preventive health care coincided with social and political developments, from the women's movement in the early 1970s to breast cancer activism in the 1980s and '90s. At the same time, aggressive promotion of mammography made the screening tool the cornerstone of a huge new industry. Taking a balanced approach to this much-disputed issue, Reynolds addresses both the benefits and risks of mammography, charting debates, for example, that have weighed the early detection of aggressively malignant tumors against unnecessary treatments resulting from the identification of slow-growing and non-life-threatening cancers. The Big Squeeze, ultimately, helps to evaluate the ongoing public health controversies surrounding mammography and provides a clear understanding of how mammography achieved its current primacy in cancer screening.


Mammography Screening

Mammography Screening

Author: Peter Gotzsche

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2021-06-29

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1000477096

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'This book gives plenty of examples of ad hominem attacks, intimidation, slander, threats of litigation, deception, dishonesty, lies and other violations of good scientific practice. For some years I kept a folder labeled Dishonesty in breast cancer screening on top of my filing cabinet, storing articles and letters to the editor that contained statements I knew were dishonest. Eventually I gave up on the idea of writing a paper about this collection, as the number of examples quickly exceeded what could be contained in a single article.' From the Introduction The most effective way to decrease women's risk of becoming a breast cancer patient is to avoid attending screening. Mammography screening is one of the greatest controversies in healthcare, and the extent to which some scientists have sacrificed sound scientific principles in order to arrive at politically acceptable results in their research is extraordinary. In contrast, neutral observers increasingly find that the benefit has been much oversold and that the harms are much greater than previously believed. This groundbreaking book takes an evidence-based, critical look at the scientific disputes and the information provided to women by governments and cancer charities. It also explains why mammography screening is unlikely to be effective today. All health professionals and members of the public will find these revelations disturbingly illuminating. It will radically transform the way healthcare policy makers view mammography screening in the future. 'If Peter Gotzsche did not exist, there would be a need to invent him ...It may still take time for the limitations and harms of screening to be properly acknowledged and for women to be enabled to make adequately informed decisions. When this happens, it will be almost entirely due to the intellectual rigour and determination of Peter Gotzsche.' From the Foreword by Iona Heath, President, RCGP 'If you care about breast cancer, and we all should, you must read this book. Breast cancer is complex and we cannot afford to rely on the popular media, or on information from marketing campaigns from those who are invested in screening. We need to question and to understand. The story that Peter tells matters very much.' From the Foreword by Fran Visco, President, National Breast Cancer Coalition.


Mammography and Beyond

Mammography and Beyond

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2001-07-23

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 0309072832

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Each year more than 180,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women in the U.S. If cancer is detected when small and local, treatment options are less dangerous, intrusive, and costly-and more likely to lead to a cure. Yet those simple facts belie the complexity of developing and disseminating acceptable techniques for breast cancer diagnosis. Even the most exciting new technologies remain clouded with uncertainty. Mammography and Beyond provides a comprehensive and up-to-date perspective on the state of breast cancer screening and diagnosis and recommends steps for developing the most reliable breast cancer detection methods possible. This book reviews the dramatic expansion of breast cancer awareness and screening, examining the capabilities and limitations of current and emerging technologies for breast cancer detection and their effectiveness at actually reducing deaths. The committee discusses issues including national policy toward breast cancer detection, roles of public and private agencies, problems in determining the success of a technique, availability of detection methods to specific populations of women, women's experience during the detection process, cost-benefit analyses, and more. Examining current practices and specifying research and other needs, Mammography and Beyond will be an indispensable resource to policy makers, public health officials, medical practitioners, researchers, women's health advocates, and concerned women and their families.


Mammography and Early Breast Cancer Detection

Mammography and Early Breast Cancer Detection

Author: Alan B. Hollingsworth, M.D.

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-08-22

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1476666105

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Early detection of breast cancer is critical. Yet efforts to cut back on mammography or even stop screening altogether have been gaining ground in the medical community's decades-long debate over testing and treatment. It is not a purely scientific debate--back-room politics and hidden agendas have played as much a role as clinical data, leading to some surprising conclusions. Written by one of the first physicians in the country to specialize in breast cancer risk assessment, genetic testing and high-risk interventions, this book focuses on the screening controversy and explains the arguments used on both sides. The author covers the history of screening, from the first mobile unit on the streets of Manhattan to the cutting edge imaging technology of today.


Mammography

Mammography

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13:

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The Breast Test Book

The Breast Test Book

Author: Connie Jones

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0190677058

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This book is a common sense guide for women undergoing mammograms and other breast tests for general screening purposes or for specific problems, both benign and malignant. Women will gain a clear understanding of what to expect during and after testing, thus making the process less emotionally charged and equiping women to more fully cooperate with their own care. In the event that the final diagnosis is cancer, the journey to the diagnosis is clearly outlined for the reader.


Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer

Author: László Tabár

Publisher: Thieme

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 9781588902597

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Early detection is our most effective means for reducing the number of unnecessary deaths caused by breast cancer; however, the lack of skilled mammographic readings, especially in early stage breast cancer, makes this a less effective tool than it could be. In this book, one of the world's most renowned mammographers shares his decades of experience in the analysis and interpretation of mammographic images. With Dr. Tabar's clear procedures and expert guidance, you will learn to discern the most subtle of pathologic changes to ensure that patients receive optimal and timely treatment. You will also improve your ability to recognize the full range of normal anatomic variability, avoiding unnecessary additional imaging and interventional procedures. This book contains more than 1,600 high-definition images, many in full-color, to demonstrate anatomic structures, variations in normal tissue, and difficult-to-identify abnormalities. You will also appreciate clear photographs of pathologic specimens, including subgross 3-D, and large, thin-section histologic sections, correlated with mammographic images. The result of more than two decades of intensive clinical experience, this is the ultimate mammographic atlas for developing expert interpretive skills. No radiologist or breast imager should be without this highly instructive professional reference.