2. 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 (𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬)
• Women with dense breast tissue — a large percentage of younger, thinner, or hormonally active women — are up to 6x more likely to have a cancer missed by mammogram.
• On a mammogram, dense tissue and tumors both appear white, making it hard to distinguish between normal fibroglandular tissue and dangerous growths.
• Shockingly, many women are never informed of their breast density, even though this dramatically reduces the sensitivity of the test.
📌 As a result, women walk away with false reassurance — or unnecessary fear.
3. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬
• Mammograms often detect non-aggressive lesions like:
– DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), often labeled “stage 0”
– Small calcifications or fibrous nodules that never progress
• These may never cause harm, yet many women undergo:
– Chemotherapy
– Radiation
– Mastectomy
– Hormonal suppression therapy
• This phenomenon is called overdiagnosis — and some studies estimate that 20–40% of all mammogram-detected cancers fall into this category.
🎗️ This means many women are aggressively treated for “cancer” that might never have grown, spread, or harmed them.
4. 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞
• Each mammogram delivers a small dose of ionizing radiation — equivalent to about 2 months of natural background radiation.
• But over decades of annual screening, this accumulates — and can actually increase lifetime cancer risk, especially in younger women or those with BRCA mutations.
• Ionizing radiation is a Class 1 carcinogen, and is known to damage DNA, generate free radicals, and increase oxidative stress — especially in delicate glandular breast tissue.
📌 This cumulative radiation exposure is rarely discussed in detail by practitioners.
