Mammography

If self-diagnosis of mammary glands increases the likelihood of early detection of a tumor, then what can a mammogram?
Although mammography is not a perfect method of research, a mammogram can detect cancer two years before a patient or doctor can do it. It is imperfect. If the tissue of the breast is very dense, the woman or her doctor can test the tumor before it becomes visible on the mammogram. And yet it's just amazing what a mammogram can do.

The fact is that half of all cancerous tumors contain accumulations of calcium salts formed as a result of the decay of cells, which manifest themselves in the form of white dashes, visible even against the background of dense tissue of the mammary gland. If the neoplasm develops near the edges of the breast, or if the reaction does not include the formation of fibrous tissue, or if the breast tissue is denser than usual, the mammogram may not show the presence of the tumor.

Whatever it was, a mammographic examination increases the survival rate of women over 50 with breast cancer by 30 percent.

But what if your mammogram showed a deviation from the norm? Deviations from the norm - regardless of whether the neoplasm becomes benign or malignant - causes severe anxiety, - doctors agree. It was found that about 40 percent of women whose mammograms caused suspicion were very worried at the time until the final diagnosis was made. About 25 percent of them said that the news of a suspicious mammogram affected them depressingly. And 20 percent of women reported that everything fell from their hands.

However, unlike those who detected suspicious changes in the process of self-diagnosis, women with "bad" mammograms were more likely to report for repeated studies than women whose mammograms did not show abnormalities.

Not always women avoid regular passage of mammography due to fear and anxiety. Often the cause is ignorance. Thirty-five percent of women interviewed who only once underwent mammograms believed, for example, that if it turned out to be "good", they do not need to repeat the research. The survey also showed that more than 25 percent of women who had never undergone mammography believed that they were not at risk of developing breast cancer. And about 40 percent believed that they could not have breast cancer on the grounds that in their family no one was sick. They completely did not suspect that about 80 percent of cases of breast cancer are observed in women whose families did not have this disease.

The survey also showed that women who had never undergone a mammographic examination were more likely to believe that it was only necessary for those who discovered a tumor or symptoms of breast cancer.

However, if you wait until the doctor advises you to undergo a mammogram, you will have to wait a very long time. Despite the recommendations, one of the studies showed that almost half of the women who never did mammograms had their doctors never offered to undergo this procedure. All the same, when doctors advise to go through a mammogram, most women follow the advice.

When does the tumor cause fear?

This happened. You, or the doctor, or the mammogram found something suspicious. This is a case that every woman is afraid of and faced by thousands of women every year.

There are women who fall into a state of shock and become unable to perceive anything. Their brains can not withstand overload. Whatever they say, they do not hear.

Most often, women behave staunchly and react in a businesslike way. They say, "Okay, tell me what I should do, and I will do it."

Procedure:

• A woman should visit a surgeon,
• The surgeon will appoint a day when it will be possible to make a biopsy (a biopsy will be done under general or local anesthesia). Biopsy will help to establish a diagnosis with high enough accuracy

To visit a surgeon, you need to have copies of mammograms and other test results for the surgeon.