Health News
- E. Ky. Women Pass Up Breast, Cervical Cancer Screenings Due To Embarrassment, Misinformation; Fatalism May Play A Role
Appalachian Kentucky women often don't get available screening test for breast and cervical cancer because of embarrassment, lack of accurate information about availability and guidelines, and lack of encouragement from their doctors to get these...
- Some Women May Not Need Annual Pap Smears
by Holly Hosler In case you missed it in the big news about the recent USPSTF mammography recommendations, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has also revised guidelines, specific to when women should get Pap smears. The ACOG...
- Most Women In Their 40s Will Continue To Get Mammograms
Now that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says that most women do not need mammograms until they are 50, will American women heed the USPSTF?s advice? A recent survey indicates that over two-thirds of women aged 40 to 49 say they will...
- Surgeon Responds To Mammogram Controversy
by Holly Hosler By now, you have likely heard about the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force?s controversial new recommendation on Monday that most women should refrain from getting mammograms in their 40s. Their rationale is that most breast cancer...
- Cases Of Breast Cancer Among Younger Women Rising
By Deb Kirkland, RN, BSN, MPH Nurse Navigator, Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Center at Northwest Hospital This year over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and of those 11,000 will be under the age of 40. This...
Health News
Most women over 65 don't need annual Pap smears anymore
Many women over the age of 65 no longer need to get an annual Pap smear in order to detect cervical cancer, the American Cancer Society, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force agree. For low-risk women in that age bracket, there is no additional benefit to routine yearly screening, reports Paula Span for The New York Times.
"In women who have had normal annual Pap tests for many years and are in monogamous relationships, the risk of cervical cancer is very low," said Dr. Sarah Feldman, a gynecologist oncologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
However, there are some exceptions. If a woman received a Pap for reasons other than a routine screening, she should continue to be tested. She should have received three normal tests in the past decade; if not, she should get a Pap whether she's over 65 or not. And a woman should still have discussions with her doctor about any problems she might be having.
Though studies show the Pap test is not necessary for women over 65, it may be difficult for women, and their doctors, to agree to stop getting it. "People have gotten comfortable with that annual Pap smear," Feldman said. "They don't want it to stop." "It's a habit that might prove difficult to break," Span reports. (Read more)
- E. Ky. Women Pass Up Breast, Cervical Cancer Screenings Due To Embarrassment, Misinformation; Fatalism May Play A Role
Appalachian Kentucky women often don't get available screening test for breast and cervical cancer because of embarrassment, lack of accurate information about availability and guidelines, and lack of encouragement from their doctors to get these...
- Some Women May Not Need Annual Pap Smears
by Holly Hosler In case you missed it in the big news about the recent USPSTF mammography recommendations, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has also revised guidelines, specific to when women should get Pap smears. The ACOG...
- Most Women In Their 40s Will Continue To Get Mammograms
Now that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says that most women do not need mammograms until they are 50, will American women heed the USPSTF?s advice? A recent survey indicates that over two-thirds of women aged 40 to 49 say they will...
- Surgeon Responds To Mammogram Controversy
by Holly Hosler By now, you have likely heard about the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force?s controversial new recommendation on Monday that most women should refrain from getting mammograms in their 40s. Their rationale is that most breast cancer...
- Cases Of Breast Cancer Among Younger Women Rising
By Deb Kirkland, RN, BSN, MPH Nurse Navigator, Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Center at Northwest Hospital This year over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and of those 11,000 will be under the age of 40. This...