Annual mammography does NOT lower the total risk of death notes Joel Kauffman, PhD

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Tuesday, November 08, 2011 10:21 am Email this article
"Annual mammography to detect breast cancer is a needless expense and pain with no effect on all-cause mortality rates," writes Joel M. Kauffman, PhD, the author of Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year, and How to Protect Yourself. Mammography’s Effect of Death from Breast Cancer

Mammography reduces death from breast cancer by 20%, but this may be due to the low-dose radiation

And it only reduce the risk of death from breast cancer by 20% at best Kauffman also notes.

“Other imaging methods have their advantages, especially when breast cancer is detected initially some other way, which can be by means of palpation or a simple AMAS test on a blood sample.

“The case is made that treatment of breast cancer does not change the all-cause death rate and may change the cause of death to heart failure or something else other than cancer,” Kauffman finishes.

 

Thermography Better Than Mammography notes Dr. Mercola

Thermography Better Than Mammography notes Dr. Mercola

Comment: I realize that women are scared of breast cancer and may be scared to forgo a mammogram because of this fear.

(My mother had breast cancer, so I understand that many women are afraid of this.)

There is a great article on Mercola.com about using thermography rather than mammography to detect breast cancer.

Dr. Mercola notes that “[A] study published in 2009 in the Journal of Medical Systems and the National Institutes of Health’s PubMed reported that thermography aided by the latest analytical software sensors is 94.8 percent accurate – or nearly twice as effective as mammography!”

Dr. Mercola noted that:

• “mammograms miss up to a third or more of all breast cancers, as reported by Medscape”
• ”[the U.S. Preventive Task Force] certainly found that mammography and its subsequent tests, such as MRIs and stereotactic biopsies – actually can CAUSE cancer”
• “false positives from mammograms – a diagnosis of cancer when it turns not to be cancer – are notorious in the industry, causing women needless anxiety, pain and, often, invasive and disfiguring surgical procedures”
• “what the U.S. Preventive Task Force evidently saw, is that mammography not only is sadly lacking in accuracy, but it can be dangerous as well”
• “Radiation risks from routine mammography pose significant cumulative risks (over time) of causing breast cancer , according to the Cancer Prevention Coalition”
• “Lower-energy X-rays provided by mammography result in substantially greater damage to DNA than would be predicted, and suggests that risk of breast cancer caused by exposure to mammography radiation may be greatly underestimated, the BreastCancerFund.org reports”
• “Several researchers have argued that trauma to the breast – including compression from a mammogram—can rupture cysts that can disseminate invasive cancer cells – Bnet.com”
• “the FDA, as usual, is taking its time reviewing thermography’s new evidence as a first-line defense against breast cancer. Currently the FDA classifies thermography only as a Class I medical device that can be used as an adjunct to mammography.”
• “As a result, insurance companies and Medicare have refused to endorse and pay for thermography for breast cancer screening.”
• “thermography is an extremely safe and useful tool, particularly in women with dense breasts”

 

Kauffman’s Journey Began in 1999

In 1999, Kauffman’s started researching the truth about aspirin

Kauffman notes that:

“Beginning in 1999 the conflict between recommendations on long-term use of aspirin to prevent heart attacks was so striking that I dug into the medical journals to find out the truth about aspirin.

“The result became Myth One in my book Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year, and How to Protect Yourself.

 

Until 1990, Kauffman Believed the Medical Literature and Diet Advice

Until 1990, Kauffman believed the medical literature and diet advice, believing that most medical and diet advice was reliable

Early, Kaufmann noted that:

“Until about 1990, like most people, Kauffman believed that most medical and diet advice was reliable, especially from government agencies we pay so much to take care of us.

 

Until 1990, Kauffman Took a Baby Aspirin, Had is Cholesterol Measured, Etc

Until 1990, Kauffman took a baby aspirin, had is cholesterol measured, drank fluoridated water, etc, believing that medical journal articles were honest and complete

“He took baby aspirin, ate trans fat, drank fluoridated water and had his cholesterol measured in the belief that others were looking out for us by basing their recommendations on the best evidence from trials.

“When medical brochures and advertisements referred to papers in peer-reviewed medical journals, I assumed that these papers were honest and complete, based on my own experience as the author of 80 journal papers myself, which were subject to rigorous peer review.

 

Medical Abstracts Often Incomplete and Misleading

Kauffman found that medical abstracts were often incomplete and misleading, often leaving out all-cause mortality and side-effects

Kauffman goes on to say:

“Determined to understand medical papers, Kauffman struggled with jargon and slowly caught onto the tricks of the trade, such as incomplete and misleading abstracts.

“The abstract of a paper is supposed to summarize the purpose, choice of subjects, trial protocol, and results.

 

When Abstracts Are Incomplete, This Information is Left Out of Media Stories

When abstracts do not mention all-cause mortality and side-effects, the media never does not include this in their coverage

“When key results are left out of the abstract, such as all-cause mortality and side-effects, they remain left out of any press release, newspaper article and sales literature.

 

When The Whole Paper Is Examined, Shocking Cover Ups Come To Light

When the whole paper is examined, shocking cover ups come to light such as excess cancer deaths

He continues, saying:

“When the whole paper is examined, shocking cover ups come to light, in many cases, such as excess cancer deaths even when some easily measurable stuff, like cholesterol, is lowered, which is supposed to be a benefit, but is not.

“People who would most benefit from a diet intervention are often excluded from the chosen subjects.

 

High Dropout Rates Often Left Out of Abstracts

Very high dropout rates due to drug side-effects usually left out of abstracts

“Very high dropout rates because of treatment side-effects usually do not find their way to the abstract.

 

Article

This myth his from an article by Kauffman

This medical myth is from an article by Joel Kauffman posted on the very interesting website SpaceDoc.com in an article titled Malignant Medical Myths in which he briefly describes the eleven (11) medical myths he writes about in his book.

 

Other Kauffman articles

Other Kauffman articles are posted here

Other articles by Joel Kauffman, PhD are posted here:

• Typical background radiation is not only harmless, but actually beneficial notes Joel Kaufmann, PhD
• EDTA chelation retards or reverses atherosclerosis notes Joel Kaufmann, PhD
• Extreme exercise can cause heart failure and other injuries notes Joel Kaufmann, PhD
• No proof that red wine reduces the risk of death notes Joel Kaufmann, PhD
• Low cholesterol levels are dangerous, high ones usually are not, Joel Kaufmann, PhD
• Advice to eat diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol are not based on science, Joel Kaufmann PhD
• Daily aspirin does not reduce mortality in men, and increases mortality in women, Joel Kaufmann, PhD
• Statins INCREASE the risk of dying by 1% over 10 years

AUTHOR’S CORRESPONDENCE

Joel M. Kauffman, PhD
Professor of Chemistry Emeritus
University of the Sciences of Philadelphia
65 Meadowbrook Rd
Wayne, PA 19087-2510 USA
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
(215) 596-8839 phone

 

About Kauffmann

About Joel Kauffman, PhD

Joel Kauffman, PhD is Professor of Chemistry Emeritus from the University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Book - Malignant Medical Myths

• Cancer

• Cancer screening (Does it do any good?)

• Cancer, Breast

• Doctor - Joel Kauffman, PhD (author of Malignant Medical Myths)

• Mammography

• Myths, Medical Myths

• Thermography