{"id":10360,"date":"2024-11-20T13:20:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T12:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=10360"},"modified":"2024-11-22T13:28:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T12:28:40","slug":"periodic-mammogram-screenings-do-not-cause-tumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2024\/11\/20\/periodic-mammogram-screenings-do-not-cause-tumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Periodic Mammogram Screenings Do Not Cause Tumors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Original article<\/em><\/a> (in Albanian) was published on 19\/11\/2024; Author:<\/em> Pustina Patris<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claim: Mammograms should be avoided because they cause breast cancer in women
Verdict: False<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A video<\/a>, which has gained more than 3,000 likes on Instagram, advises women to skip mammograms, alleging that the procedure causes breast cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman speaking in the video is Jennifer Simmons, a doctor who also founded a breast screening company<\/a>, which she markets as an alternative to mammograms. This screening costs $550 and utilizes quantitative ultrasound (QT), a method approved<\/a> by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a complementary<\/a> tool to mammography, not as a replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that Simmons could profit if people believe mammograms cause cancer, this raises concerns about the goals and accuracy of her statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breast cancer is a significant public health issue. In Europe, it is the most frequently diagnosed cancer<\/a> and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Mammograms<\/a> are an essential screening tool for the early detection of breast cancer, as they help identify potential problems before they become noticeable or symptomatic. They use X-rays to examine the breast tissue for signs of abnormalities, such as tumors or calcifications. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation<\/a> regards mammograms as the ‘gold standard for breast cancer detection’.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation,<\/a> which means that repeated exposure to sufficiently high doses can lead to genetic mutations that may result in cancer.  However, the doses of X-rays used in mammography are low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According<\/a> to the American Cancer Society, the average radiation dose for an annual mammogram is 0.4 millisieverts<\/a> (a sievert is a unit of radiation dose). In comparison, a person in the U.S. is exposed to 3 millisieverts of radiation each year due to natural sources in the environment<\/a>. This means that, on average, a woman in the U.S. is exposed to a radiation dose seven times higher than the dose used in mammography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is estimated<\/a> that a woman who undergoes annual mammograms from age 40 to 49 would develop a fatal breast cancer caused by radiation, on average, once every 76,000 to 97,000 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the American Cancer Society <\/em>states<\/a>: ‘The benefits of mammography far outweigh any potential risks from radiation exposure.’<\/em>Similarly, the U.S. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering explains<\/a>: ‘For most women, the benefits of regular mammograms are greater than the risks posed by this level of radiation.’<\/em>Faktoje.al has also highlighted the advice of Albanian doctors<\/a> on the advantages of mammography screenings in previous fact-checks<\/a> of false claims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original article (in Albanian) was published on 19\/11\/2024; Author: Pustina Patris Claim: Mammograms should be avoided because they cause breast cancer in womenVerdict: False A video, which has gained more than 3,000 likes on Instagram, advises women to skip mammograms, alleging that the procedure causes breast cancer. The woman speaking in the video is Jennifer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10360"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10364,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360\/revisions\/10364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}