Breast Self-Exams: Do They Cause More Harm Than Good?
Today breast cancer is undeniably one of the most pressing health issues facing women in the United States. Statistics show that one in seven U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. In fact, women in the U.S. are more at risk of developing breast cancer than any other cancer.
Kosters and Gotzsche's report claims that breast self-exams do not necessarily contribute to a decrease in the onset of terminal breast cancer. Breast cancer deaths turned out to be comparable regardless of whether or not women performed breast self-exams.
The concern is that women who perform such exams may be more likely to undergo a biopsy for a detected lump, which often turn out to be harmless. The biopsy, however, is an invasive, not to mention costly, procedure that therefore was completely unnecessary.
Should You Continue Your Breast Self-Exams?
With breast cancer rates on the rise, it would seem all the more important to follow the self-care instructions given to women by doctors for decades: perform regular breast self-examinations to aid in early detection.
Flying in the face of the established beliefs about self-care and early detection, an evaluation of recent research on breast cancer has led some scientists to conclude that breast self-examinations may actually do more harm than good. According to a study in the most recent issue of The Cochrane Library, "regular breast self-examination does not reduce death from breast cancer and may actually have a harmful effect by increasing the number of biopsies performed for benign disease."
The researchers, Doctors Jan Peters Kosters and Peter C. Gotzsche from the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen, analyzed data from clinical trials of more than 388,000 women and reported in Reuters Health that "promotion of breast self-examination as a single screening method cannot be recommended."
In fact, the doctors explained, "This is particularly true because there is good evidence of harm and there are also considerable costs related to general screening."
Breast Self-Exams: Do They Cause More Harm Than Good?
There is established, widespread promotion of breast self-examination as a method to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages and thus reduce the risk that the disease will progress undetected into a more advanced stage. However, Kosters and Gotzsche claim that the self-exam method is not based in proof of effectiveness, and that, in fact, "the possible benefits and harms remain unclear."
Are breast self-exams causing women to undergo unnecessary biopsies?
The general conclusion among experts turns out to be that breast self-exams are optional. But what is not optional is "breast awareness," or simply being familiar with the normal feel of your breasts.
Your breasts, for instance, can normally vary in sensitivity and texture at different times in your menstrual cycle and different life stages. By examining your breasts regularly in a way that's comfortable for you, you'll be able to spot anything out of the ordinary right away.
Should you decide to do a breast self-exam, The Mayo Clinic offers several methods to do so. Here are their tips for a breast self-exam using a "clock pattern":
Many women are replacing breast self-exams with "breast awareness" -- a general knowledge of how YOUR breasts feel at different times of your life.
· Visualize your breast as the face of a clock.
· Place your left hand behind your head and examine your left
breast with your right hand.
· Place your right hand at 12 o'clock -- at the very top of your breast.
· Press the pads of your three middle fingers firmly on your breast
