Breast Screening

From BBC News:

Swedish researchers looked at some 42,000 women in a breast screening trial from 1976 to 1986.

The scientists, writing in the British Medical Journal, accept screening can reduce deaths, but say "over-diagnosis" is a problem.

But a spokeswoman for the NHS screening programme said the benefits outweighed the risks.

Over-diagnosis is defined as cases of cancer that would never have come to the attention of doctors during a woman's lifetime if it were not for screening.

This can result in invasive treatment such as surgery and radiotherapy which might never have been necessary had the woman had not attended for breast screening.

And the debate continues on...

Medicine Tag
Health Tag