The recommended age for women to start receiving annual mammograms is the age of 40. Of course if a woman has a very strong history of breast cancer earlier screening may be recommended. At each yearly mammogram screening the radiologist reads the present films with prior films for comparison. Having that yearly mammogram screening allows the radiologist to see any changes within that one year time period. If a mammogram screening is performed in longer time increments, such as every other year, the ability for abnormalities to grow for longer periods is much greater.

The article, Annual Breast Screening More Effective than Biennial, explains that women with a family history of the disease who were offered annual mammogram screening were more likely to be diagnosed with a tumor of smaller size. On the other hand women with family history receiving mammogram screenings every other year are more likely to have a larger abnormal tumor. Abnormalities such as cancerous cells can grow very quickly.  The smaller an abnormality or a tumor the better it is for removal and survival. Like we all know, Early Detection is the Best Detection.

A yearly screening only takes minutes out of one day, once a year. Don’t you think that it is worth it to have a mammogram?