Not only is breast cancer a nasty word to hear it is a painful condition and frightening, it gets even nastier sounding if your doctor has diagnosed you with the disease. Sadly, although scary, women still choose to avoid initiating a self breast examination on them self. Why do women ignore cancer awareness alerts which point out the vital concerns of catching cancer in its early stage when they know breast cancer can be a fatal condition?

There can only be one reason why decisions of denial that they are cancer free are made and that is because they are too scared that they may actually detect a lump in the process. Is it not best to find a lump the size of pea than that of one which has developed greater in size? Not all breast lumps are cancerous, breast abnormalities should be checked out sooner than later. "Later is a death sentence". Some women in their seventies said they don't have much road ahead so why the need for a self breast examination. Hey blue rinse gals it is very important for your grand kids have you stick around longer and what of your happy birthday 100th telegram off the Queen. Breast screening regardless of age saves lives (70 years plus). Dutch research of over 860,000 women voiced breast screening decreased the number of deaths by 30% after the upper age limit was extended. Cancer risks increase with age so they say; medical experts have been at odds over whether the over-70s should be checked. UK plans involve raising the upper age limit for routine screening from 70 to 73 by 2012. The Netherlands extended its programme to cover women up to 75 in 1998.

Researchers are continuously and tirelessly looking for answers, e.g. Is breast cancer a hereditary issue or an actual cancer having a specific associated link? (Like Lung cancer in relation to smoking) Overcome your panic thoughts of resistance in finding a lump and it may well save your life.

If you are afraid of the unknown as to what is involved with breast screening then there is nothing to worry over. A mammogram is an X-ray of the breasts. The NHS in the United Kingdom breast screen women aged between 50 and 70. A mammogram will be requested if you have breast cancer symptoms, such as a lump. What you can expect when a mammogram is performed is having a radiographer present. He/she will help you to position one breast at a time on a small flat plate, with an X-ray plate under it. Another flat plate will be placed over the breast. Once the machine is activated, the breast is slightly compressed between the two. Compression of the breast makes it easier for the doctor to see things more clearly. A Mammogram in the UK consists of two snapshots: one from above and one from the side. This is a precaution method to ascertain that nothing is missed. Research opinion says taking a 2 view mammogram can increase breast screening cancer detection rate by 25% or more. Simple explained means every 100 cancers picked up with single view mammograms doubles that to 125 with the double view.

Do mammograms cause pain, well uncomfortable is more the word to depict, however this will depend on breast size and pain threshold of the patient. A mammogram will only take a couple of minutes, so any discomfort will not have to endured for long, unlike the pain caused by breast cancer (physical and mental).

Once a mammogram test is complete the doctor will check for any signs of cancer. Results of the mammogram are normally delivered a week or two later, sometimes longer. Developed breast cancers will more times show up clearly on mammograms. However it is not rare for one to go unnoticed because the x-ray showed no sign. Infancy breast cancer may not involve having a lump, patterns yes, which on a mammogram may suggest breast cancer. The medical term calcification means tiny regions of calcium within the breast tissue. Cancer can be detected through the calcium which creates spots and patterns which suggest disease presence. Breast changes are normal but only your doctor is in the position to say these changes are of the non-cancerous pattern type.