This Tool Is Helping Women Decide When to Start Getting Mammograms

With conflicting advice from medical groups, it’s not easy to decide when to start mammograms – or how often. Some women will want to start in their 40s while some may wait until they are 50. Then there’s the decision of having them once a year or every other year.

Now there’s an online tool to help women make the right choice for herself, without feeling the external pressures of what different expert advisors say. Breast Screening Decisions, started by gynecologist Margaret Polaneczky, is a website specifically for women ages 40-49. It is designed to give you unbiased information that can help you and your doctor decide when you should start and how often you should have screening mammograms.

 

The website assesses our individual risk to help you decide when to start having mammograms and how often. A personally informed decision is important when there are pros and costs to consider. While mammograms are useful tools in saving many lives, it can also come at the cost of false positive results. The idea of this online tool “isn’t to drive women toward or away from mammography, but to help them make an informed choice.”

Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock.

By Rachel Shippee on November 12, 2015
Rachel Shippee is a writer, editor, and coffee enthusiast. Her most recent work can be found at Your Coffee Break, with previous bylines at Her Campus and College Lifestyles. With an international affairs background, she has a global journalistic view on women's rights and aspires to write on the intersections of gender, social justice, and the media. Follow her on Twitter."