{"id":1267,"date":"2019-11-12T03:55:25","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T19:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/?p=1267"},"modified":"2019-11-12T03:55:25","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T19:55:25","slug":"common-mammogram-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/?p=1267","title":{"rendered":"Common Mammogram Myths"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-693370158.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"blog-inline-image aligncenter wp-image-1268\" src=\"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-693370158.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been told you need\u00a0a mammogram, you may have questions. There\u2019s a lot of misinformation circulating, and some of it may lead you to believe that you shouldn\u2019t get a mammogram\u00a0because\u00a0it\u2019s not important\u00a0or even dangerous. Here, we look at some common mammogram\u00a0myths, so that we can debunk them with the truth.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Myth #1: Mammograms aren\u2019t important if you have no family history of breast cancer.<\/b>\u00a0Whether or not you or anyone in your family has ever had symptoms of breast cancer, if you\u2019re over 40 years old you should be getting an annual mammogram. Mammograms\u00a0are used for early detection, which means they find cancer before you can even feel a lump. When you catch breast cancer in the early stages, your chances of survival are significantly higher than if you wait. How significant? Early detection leads to a survival rate of 99 percent, as opposed to late-stage discovery of breast cancer, which gives you only a 27 percent chance of survival. Consider this fact:\u00a075 percent of women with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.<\/li>\n<li><b>Myth #2: The radiation used in mammograms is unsafe.<\/b>\u00a0It\u2019s true that mammograms use radiation, but\u00a0it\u2019s a very small amount. Mammography is a highly regulated screening tool, under the supervision of the Food and Drug Administration\u00a0and other regulating agencies. As long as you go to a facility certified by these agencies,\u00a0there\u2019s no cause to question the safety of the procedure. In fact, the dose of radiation that you receive from a mammogram is about the same as radiation you\u2019d get from just living everyday life for two months.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><b>Myth #3: A traditional mammogram is just as good as a 3-D\u00a0mammogram.<\/b> The 3-D mammogram is much more advanced than the traditional 2-D mammogram, displaying more images of the breast\u00a0that can be viewed by the\u00a0physician\u00a0radiologist from different angles and depths. This provides greater clarity, which allows doctors to more accurately distinguish\u00a0between\u00a0normal tissue and cancer. The most modern diagnostic tool available for early detection of breast cancer,\u00a0the data provided by\u00a03-D mammography\u00a0is\u00a040 percent more effective in detecting early cancer, with a 40 percent decrease in false alarms.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Myth #4: A screening mammogram will find any type of cancer present in breast tissue.<\/b>\u00a0There are limitations to mammograms, and when breasts are very dense, cancer is often hidden\u00a0by the tissue. Sometimes, normal breast tissue doesn\u2019t just hide cancer, it mimics it. That\u2019s why doctors\u00a0additionally\u00a0use other tools\u00a0such as\u00a0breast ultrasound or a breast MRI, for women with dense breast tissue.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><b>Myth #5: If your mammogram is normal, you can skip the next year\u2019s mammogram.<\/b>\u00a0Mammograms are not preventative, so a clear mammogram does not guarantee that future mammograms will be normal. When you have a mammogram every year,\u00a0you increase the chances that any cancer will be detected when it\u2019s small and easily treatable.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><b>Myth #6:\u00a0A referral from your doctor is necessary for a mammogram.\u00a0It is preferred that you receive an order from your provider in coordination with a physical breast exam; however,\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0the federal government allows women\u00a0the option\u00a0to\u00a0self refer\u00a0for a screening mammogram.\u00a0\u00a0A referral from your doctor is not absolutely necessary but is recommended.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s smart to be proactive\u00a0with your breast care\u00a0and schedule a mammogram every year.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If it\u2019s time for you to schedule a mammogram, Salem Radiology can help. Established in 1974, we are the largest radiology group in the\u00a0area\u00a0and offer a depth of specialization among our doctors that you would expect to find only at major university medical centers. To learn more or schedule an appointment, call\u00a0(503) 399-1262 or\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.net\/contact\/\">contact us<\/a>\u00a0through our website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve been told you need\u00a0a mammogram, you may have questions. There\u2019s a lot of misinformation circulating, and some of it may lead you to believe that you shouldn\u2019t get a mammogram\u00a0because\u00a0it\u2019s not important\u00a0or even dangerous. Here, we look at some common mammogram\u00a0myths, so that we can debunk them with the truth. Myth #1: Mammograms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salemradiology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}