Mammograms and Cervical Cancer

This week it has been reported that it is recommended by “expert opinion” (half being females) that women scale back and not get mammograms until the age of 50. I am completely blown away by this. Even though it’s a recommendation, the fear is that insurance companies will hop on board per these recommendations and stop paying for mammograms if one decides to get checked out before the age of 50. I completely agree with this! As someone who does not have health coverage, I understand the importance of once having it. Early detection is the key to preventing breast cancer and it would be a complete shame and downright offensive to expect the female population to not want or need these yearly checkups. Just because most of the experts on the preventative board think this is a great recommendation based on their findings, let’s remind ourselves that this is a health matter – a LIVING MATTER – and if people are going fight to get universal health care then this type of thing is equally important. I still can’t believe that women on this panel actually think this is a good idea. It seems as if these people don’t know anyone affected by breast cancer.

Now, pap smears… apparently it’s recommended women get their first exam at the age of 21. I can understand their reasoning, however if we are trying to move forward with modern medicine and technology, one would think that we are moving towards a time where we can detect cancerous cells even before they are, well, cancerous. This means as soon as women start becoming sexually active, which today is at an average age of 17.4 (livescience.com).

Anyway, I encourage everyone (including you, guys!) to get on Facebook or Google and find a petition to keep the mammogram age at 40! This would help tremendously with insurance issues and early detection especially.