Women Deserve to Know the Truth About Mammograms

What do only 9 in 10 women say they were never told about mammograms, even though they thought they had the right to know?

For more on this difficult-to-understand concept of overdiagnosis, please review may other mammogram videos:

Stay tuned for my last four:
Yes, I could have squeezed (no mammogram pun intended!) all this into fewer videos, but feel the women deserve to know the whole truth so they can make up their own minds. I am not opposed to mammograms. I am opposed to the patronizing attitude that women should be simply badgered into them without being fully informed about the benefits and risks. Some women will still choose to get them. Others will not. It’s up to them to decide.

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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Image credit: klbz / pixabay

[SherryT]

My mother died in 2004 at age 65 of lung cancer. She never smoked. She was however a breast cancer ‘survivor’. She had the lump surgically removed and then had radiation. The lung cancer that developed 8 years later I am 99.99% positive was caused by the radiation used to ‘cure’ the breast cancer. All of her doctors poo-poohed this and said that just wasn’t possible. The tumor in her lung was just behind the breast that supposedly had cancer. The same year my mom died I was 39 and I had my first mammogram. They found a benign fibro adenoma which they recommended I had surgically removed. I didn’t know any better. I had surgery and follow ups where they found more things ‘suspect’ with more mammograms and then I had a radio static breast biopsy which was a horrible experience, turned out to be nothing. I haven’t been back since. I switched to a whole foods-plant based diet last year and have lost 65 pounds without even trying.
We want to spend all of our time and money trying to detect cancers but why don’t we spend all of our time and money eating the right foods and reducing our risk so that maybe we don’t get cancer in the first place. It’s been said that certain kinds of cancers are hereditary but maybe what’s hereditary is bad diets that we pass on from generation to generation that cause the cancers and maybe not so much our genes.

[maryannjesuino]

What scares me is going every year for years getting breasts flattened then hit with radiation. How can this possibly be ok. 😢

[mrsresell]

I have PTSD from the trauma of having an unnecessary breast lump biopsy done 22 years ago and have only had 1 mammogram done and never will again because found that experience traumatic too and read some medical reports that mammograms were not actually saving lives and now also hearing about over diagnoses too. Both radiation and chemo are also harmful. I understand that chemo can sometimes save a life but it can also kill too so why should women who may never have needed chemo being subjected to this unnecessarily? Not to mention the unnecessary trauma as well.

There is way too much fear and anxiety generated with all these screening tests and to now discover that its not even saving lives is infuriating.

[joyfullone]

I was told I had cancer after a mammogram about 10 years ago in FL, I then did a whole lot of research on what I was told and talked to another Doctor. I did not believe what I had was an actual cancer. I declined treatment and here I am still going strong and I have not had any mammograms since then. Do research!

[Katrn]

I have never had a mammogram, and never will, after listening to Dr. Joe Mercola. Thanks Doc! I am 65.

[shellbell]

I was treated as a non-compliant patient when I declined to have a mammogram and a pap smear. Mind you I had a hysterectomy two years prior.

[veganfortheanimals]

Terrific series, Doc (and I'm a male, btw)...the problem is, unfortunately people are so heavily brainwashed that when I try to share this information with others, even family members, they think I'm some sort of conspiracy theorist....

[karenaenlle]

So why do they still harass me with getting a mammogram when I tell them I don’t want one? Maybe it’s because it’s bad for business?

[Qwazier]

Never had a mammogram ever. I refused to get one. Haven't been to the OB-GYN in over 15 years. Why go ask them to find something?

[LoNo]

Back in the 80s my mother-in-law was diagnosed with melanoma and told there was really nothing they could do for her because "chemotherapy has no effect on it and radiation tends to spread it" so when I went for my one and only mammogram in 1994 and they discovered a lump or a mass is what they refer to it as, they then sent me to have an ultrasound only to tell me that it was just fluid nothing to worry about but I was told to "keep an eye on it". But what my mother-in-law was told about radiation stuck in my head so I never bothered to go back for another mammogram because I was afraid that the radiation might create a bigger problem. And I've been criticized for many times over the years but now thanks to this video I feel like I made a good decision. So thank you very much for posting this! ❤

[maureenbomberry]

After my first and only mammogram my breasts went from feeling like part of my body to feeling like weighted objects from the excess pressure they had experienced I was then called back for an ultrasound and had the choice of being monitored which means more mammograms or having a biopsy I opted for the biopsy I was told it was minimally invasive and there might be slight bruising 80 percent of my breast was deep purple my results came back benign which was my instinctive thought all along I will never go for another mammogram without due cause for concern I feel they treat womens breasts like her enemy and the process is not healthy in itself for breasts

[nvw]

I’m a radiographer and asked a friend what she thought about mammography screening….I have missed a few appointments for my first mammogram while I was working away.
She didn’t give me any more details apart from saying that her friend, who is a mammographer, said never have a mammogram if your asymptomatic! I was a bit surprised to be honest, until I started looking into things.
I think it’s the same with prostate cancer too, many will live a full and long life living with these cellular discrepancies, just because they are there, doesn’t mean they’ll turn into a tumour and kill us.
I’m seeing a doctor for the first time in 4 years tomorrow, I will be asking them to remove my name from the register.

[terrymoore]

Women are not informed, they think it's their duty to get a mammogram..it's ridiculous. It's so painful, that you would at least wonder is this hurting me in the long run, crushing pressure that could damage tissue, radiation..that's what I wondered and that was 18 years ago..never had another.

[Hippy]

I did before at younger age being ignorant and not educated on the health subjects. I was religiously updated all procedures, yearly. My last mammogram was almost 20 years ago. It was painful, bruised for a week. My pap smear caused bleeding for many days. Scary time for me. Since I swore to never come back again. I did not do any colonoscopy in my life and will never. I wish I knew earlier to avoid all these procedures altogether for good.

[Xianne]

As a business coach, I have been shocked to see how many clients come to me who are sales people assigned by pharma and medical equipment companies to pressure doctors to buy "early diagnostic devices" under the guise of "saving more lives". However it became apparent to me that their real goal is to reap more "sales" by frightening people into costly unnecessary proceedures or medication.

I no longer accept such clients.

[karenmccann]

Thank you Dr. Gregor I never knew this. My first ever mammogram I had a few years ago and afterwards I was called after a couple days to go back the following week because they saw something they didn't like. It freaked me out. So I went back for another mammogram and I was told that what they found was a cluster of calcium deposits in one area and they had to biopsy that area. Everything came out okay no breast tissue with cancerous cells. But I'm so glad you made this video for me and all women who need to know about this. Thank You!

[estherrettig]

I can't agree with you more. Thank you for your presentation. I was corralled into over-treatment and have many regrets. Would like to see a revolution in this. Thank you for starting it.

[janetteclarke]

My mother at age 72 had a severe knock to her breast. 2 years later was diagnosed on mammogram with a DCIS and was told she needed to have it removed. Her surgeon was happy he had excised it entirely and no further treatment was required. She was then told she had to have radiotherapy "to be sure". Age 85 she past from cancer that had spread- not breast cancer I was told by her surgeon but a cancer resulting from the radiation. So sad that I didn't fight for her to be left alone. She might still be with us and not suffered horrendously.

[patty-cfjj]

I’m always curious when taking into account all this information how it would translate into a new statistic. They say 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer. Would it be more like 1 in 20? 1 in 50? Even less?

[sungheelee]

Thank you Dr. Greger for you honesty and bravery.