Professor Anthony Miller, Toronto National Cancer Institute, says cancer cells may be squeezed into the bloodstream under the pressure of the mammographic plates. Screening mammograms are unsafe other ways, too: they expose sensitive breast tissues to radiation, and they increase your chances of having a biopsy and being over-treated for carcinoma in situ.

RADIATION DANGERS

Scientists agree that there is no safe dose of radiation. Cellular DNA in the breast is more easily damaged by very small doses of radiation than thyroid tissue or bone marrow; in fact, breast cells are second only to fetal tissues in sensitivity to radiation. And the younger the breast cells, the more easily their DNA is damaged by radiation. As an added risk, 1% of American women carry a hard-to-detect oncogene which is triggered by radiation: a single mammogram increases their risk of breast cancer by a factor of 4-6 times.

The usual dose of radiation during a mammographic x-ray is from 0.25 to 1 rad with the very best equipment - that's 1-4 rads per screening mammogram (two views each of two breasts).

And, according to Samuel Epstein, M.D., of the University of Chicago's School of Public Health, the dose can be ten times more than that. Sister Rosalie Bertell - one of the world's most respected authorities on the dangers of radiation - says one rad increases breast cancer risk 1% and is the equivalent of one year's natural aging.

If a woman has yearly mammograms from age 55 to age 75, she will receive a minimum of 20 rads of radiation. For comparison, women who survived the atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima or Nagasaki absorbed 35 rads. Though one large dose of radiation can be more harmful than many small doses, it is important to remember that damage from radiation is cumulative. Many women born in the 1930s and '40s - who are now considering the benefits of postmenopausal mammographic screening - have already absorbed quite a bit of radioactivity into their breast tissues from fallout from the atomic bomb tests of the 1950s.

The American Cancer Society claims that the radiation danger from a screening mammogram is no more than that caused by natural radiation in the environment. Not so. The amount of radiation from even one breast x-ray is 11.9 times the yearly dose absorbed by the entire body, according to Diana Hunt, former saleswoman for an x-ray manufacturing company, UCLA Medical Center graduate, and senior staff x-ray technologist for 20 years. (See page 18 of Breast Cancer? Breast Health the Wise Woman Way for a list of rads absorbed while skiing in Denver, flying in an airplane, and other activities often cited as comparable to mammographic screening.)

A study published in the October 20, 1993 issue of Journal of the National Cancer Institute found a statistically significant increase in the incidence of breast cancer following radiation treatment of various benign breast diseases even among women older than 40 at the time of the first treatment.

TREATMENT DANGERS

You increase your risk of being over-treated for breast cancer whenever you have a screening mammogram. Eight out of ten masses detected by screening mammograms are false alarms, but if something is seen in your mammogram you'll be urged to undergo a biopsy.

Screening mammograms lead to over-treatment. Many of the "cancers" found by mammographic examination are carcinoma in situ. At least 75% of these will remain non-invasive and can be removed surgically, if desired, at any time, or simply left alone. Of the 25% of in situ cancers that do become invasive, the number that metastasize is quite small (and unmetastasized breast cancer rarely kills).

Early detection of tiny in situ tumors often leads to orthodox treatments which do not prolong life and which can cause immune system suppression, severe drug reactions, even death. Of course, early detection can also lead to life-enhancing wholistic treatments.

Green Blessings.

Susun Weed
PO Box 64
Woodstock, NY 12498
Fax: 1-845-246-8081

Visit Susun Weed at: www.susunweed.com and www.ashtreepublishing.com
For permission to reprint this article, contact us at: susunweed@herbshealing.com

Vibrant, passionate, and involved, Susun Weed has garnered an international reputation for her groundbreaking lectures, teachings, and writings on health and nutrition. She challenges conventional medical approaches with humor, insight, and her vast encyclopedic knowledge of herbal medicine. Unabashedly pro-woman, her animated and enthusiastic lectures are engaging and often profoundly provocative.

Susun is one of America's best-known authorities on herbal medicine and natural approaches to women's health. Her four best-selling books are recommended by expert herbalists and well-known physicians and are used and cherished by millions of women around the world. Learn more at www.susunweed.com