Are there issues with having a mammogram right after a vaccine? Is there a list of vaccine ingredients — some people say they're scary. Also: My pooch loves to sniff discarded masks. Should I worry?
Artificial intelligence is now being brought to bear on mammograms and could improve the accuracy of diagnoses. But previous computerized technology to do that didn't live up to the hype.
Nearly half a million English women around age 70 did not get notified that they were due for a mammogram because of a "computer algorithm error," the health secretary says.
Updated guidelines on mammograms from the nation's gynecologists are intended to incorporate recommendations from three other medical societies and consider women's preferences, too.
Research from Denmark suggests about one-third of lumps detected by routine mammograms would never have become dangerous. That puts women at risk of needless surgery, radiation or chemotherapy.
Many women have dense breasts, and they may benefit from other forms of cancer screening beyond mammograms. But none of the options is ideal, and the available data don't make the decision easier.
Half of states require that women who get mammograms be notified if they have dense breasts because they increase cancer risk. But the letters are often jargony and hard to understand, a study finds.
Low-income women were 25 percent more likely to get screened for breast cancer in states that expanded their Medicaid programs early under the Affordable Care Act.
An online tool asks the right questions to put a woman's breast cancer risk in perspective. It also addresses the emotions that surround cancer screening.
The four major advice-givers can't agree on when to start or how long to continue. That leaves women understandably confused. And that doesn't make it easy to decide.
Mammograms often find spots that turn out to be nothing serious. But cancer worries can start with the phone call about a follow-up test. Letting women know how common callbacks are could help.
A comparison of women in 547 U.S. counties found that getting more women in for screening mammograms didn't lower death rates from breast cancer. More small cancers were found.
Dr. Michael LeFevre, who stepped down as chairman of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in March, describes how the health law changed how the group works and communicates its findings.
Women with dense breasts are more likely to get cancer and less likely to catch it early on a mammogram. But degree of density matters too, a study finds, as do other factors like family history.
In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said the benefits of mammograms for women under 50 were small at best. A firestorm ensued. Now the organization is back with the same message.
Nearly half the states in the U.S. require that women be notified if mammograms detect that they have dense breasts. Critics say the information raises anxiety more than it improves care.
Each year the U.S. spends billions of dollars on unnecessary tests and treatments that result from inaccurate mammograms, some scientists say. They're calling for more selective screening.
