I've seen a small flurry of articles online over the past few months about the American tendency to over-mammogram. In America, doctors and authorities like the American Cancer Society recommend that women over 40 go in for a mammogram every year. However, in Britain for example, women are advised to get mammograms starting at age 50, and even then only every third year. There are three factors that weigh against over-frequent mammograms: 1. The radiation risk, while small, is still very real. (Ironically, the radiation from too frequent mammograms can actually cause cancer.) 2. False positives can occur with any test. Out of every 100 mammograms, between 5 and 15 will give a false positive result. A false positive can be, in the words of one article, "disruptive." At the very least! 3. There are three kinds of cancers: the kind that moves so fast that an annual mammogram isn't likely to catch it, the kind that moves so slowly that a mammogram which detects it isn't doing the patient any favors, and the kind that moves at just the right speed to be caught by a mammogram in time to save the patient's life. For every woman whose life is saved by a timely mammogram, 10 women are diagnosed with the second kind of cancer. The most common culprit is ductal carcinoma in situ, a cancer which moves so slowly that it poses virtually no health risk. Many women live long and healthy lives with untreated ductal carcinoma in situ. It just kind of sits there. However, if a woman is identified as having ductal carcinoma in situ, doctors are not inclined to say "Aw, it's fine, don't worry about it." Between the specter of malpractice suits, and because it's what they have been trained to do, doctors treat ductal carcinoma in situ just as aggressively as they would any other cancer. Typically the lump is excised, a physically traumatic event that can leave significant scarring, and chemotherapy may be assigned as well. Doctors tend to treat every cancer as aggressively as possible, and who can blame patients for being in favor of this? At the same time, an independent study by a group in Copenhagen found that for every 2,000 mammograms given, a woman's life will be saved. Who can argue with those kinds of numbers? A final factor in the American tendency to go crazy with the mammograms is our health care system. To put it bluntly, for every mammogram, people get paid. From the doctor who recommends it, to the tech who administers it, to the radiologist who reads it, the annual insurance payout for all of the mammograms administered in the United States must be staggering. These costs may seem invisible to you and me - but they aren't, of course. They're bundled into your monthly health care payment, which for many people is simply staggering. Mammograms are clearly a valuable tool in the fight against cancer. Early detection of cancer saves lives. But considering that our health care system has spun completely out of control, perhaps it behooves us to get mammograms less frequently.