Dear AuntMinnie Member,
In a blow to mammography advocates, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) yesterday changed its recommendations on mammography screening to advise that women begin screening at age 50 rather than 40.
For nearly the past eight years the USPSTF had been recommending that screening start at 40, but it rescinded that advisory this week following what the agency said was a review of the scientific evidence behind five breast screening modalities.
Mammography advocates have been quick to criticize the decision. Learn more about the controversy by clicking here, or visit our Women's Imaging Digital Community at women.auntminnie.com.
Echo and heart screening
In other news, we're featuring coverage from this week's American Heart Association (AHA) meeting in our Cardiac Imaging Digital Community, including an article that also addresses the screening issue -- this time, for heart problems in children.
Recent research -- including this article from the AHA conference -- suggests that using tools such as echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG) can help find heart abnormalities in young athletes before a serious cardiac event can occur.
But a new study from Texas researchers suggests that perhaps all middle-school-aged children should get screened with ultrasound and ECG. Is it a smart move to catch disease earlier or does it represent preventive medicine gone too far? Get more information by clicking here, and visit the community for more reporting from AHA at cardiac.auntminnie.com.
