Say goodbye to mammography. Here’s the safer and better screening method that will replace it…

This is goodbye

Someday, mammography equipment will be piled up behind radiology clinics like rusted out cars in junkyards.

Unfortunately, we won’t see that for a while. But in a logical world, that junk would already be piling up.

The new “advancement” of 3-D mammography is a sham. As I mentioned in yesterday’s e-mail, it has dazzle. But under that high tech newness it’s even WORSE than the older mammogram method.

Meanwhile, there’s a much better breast cancer screening technique available right now. It’s called Automated Breast Ultrasound System (ABUS). And eventually it will bury mammography.

So hard to let go

Last year, the FDA approved ABUS for women with dense breasts. ABUS can spot dense breast tumors with far greater accuracy than a mammogram.

But agency officials just can’t let mammography go. After all, it makes hundreds of millions every year. That’s the kind of Ka-ching! that gets plenty of FDA attention.

So in the agency’s approval of ABUS, they claim that doctors should use it in combination with standard mammography.

The approval also tries to sell this worthless guideline… “A physician determines if a woman has dense breast tissue with a mammography exam.”

Ridiculous. I promise you, any doctor can examine your breasts and tell you in five seconds if your tissue is dense.

And even though the approval is specifically for women with dense breasts, I’m certain FDA officials know that ABUS can screen any breast type.

But here are the two ABUS details the agency would rather not shout from the rooftops…
There’s no breast compression, and radiation exposure is ZERO.

And right there — wham! — ABUS slams the door on 3-D mammography.

Then, for good measure, it goes one better…

ABUS doesn’t just spot dense breast tumors. With a new technique called elastography, ultrasound technicians can identify which tumors are actually malignant.

That reduces the rates of false positives and biopsies.

That means greater safety and peace of mind for ALL women.

And THAT is why ABUS is the screening method that will send mammography to the junk heap.

Not today. But someday.

Sources:
“FDA approves first breast ultrasound imaging system for dense breast tissue” FDA News Release, 9/18/12, fda.gov

“Merck says pill tames allergic response to ragweed” Ransdell Pierson, Reuters, 3/4/12, reuters.com