Have you made your personal peace with the 2009 U.S.
Preventative Services Task Force recommendations that annual
breast screening should begin at age 50, rather than the
previously recommended age of 40? Well, not so fast. Here comes
another set of recommendations, this time brought to you by the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The
ACOG is recommending that doctors should offer all women in
their 40s the chance to get annual mammograms. The crux of the
difference between the two groups recommendations is the age at
which annual mammograms should begin - age 40 or age 50? Unlike
the ACOG, the USPSTF's recommendations are based upon a broad
comprehensive look at the numbers, numbers which clearly fire up
emotions when we inevitably associate them with our loved one's.
Dr. Michael LeFevre, from the USPSTF, breaks it down like this:
It's about balancing the benefits and the harms of a test.
LeFevre explains that of every 1,000 40-year-old women, 30 would
be expected to ultimately die