Published: November 19, 2009 09:11 pm         

TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: A common-sense approach to recent health news

TERRE HAUTE — This week’s news about new recommendations concerning screening for breast cancer sent shock waves of concern, confusion and apprehension through a population that has grown accustomed to the practice of routine mammograms for women over 40. The study by medical experts found that those routine mammograms really aren’t warranted for the majority of women until age 50 and recommended such.

The government panel of doctors and scientists concluded that getting screened for breast cancer so early and so often leads to too many false alarms and unneeded biopsies without substantially improving women’s odds of survival.

But the new recommendations are proving controversial in the medical community, as well as among groups that deal with cancer treatment issues.

The American Cancer Society has voiced criticism of the panel’s recommendations and says it will continue the practice of advising women over age 40 to get yearly mammograms and do self-exams. Other groups are doing likewise. Even Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services, advised people to take a cautious approach to the panel’s recommendations and use it only as one element in the medical decision-making process.

Sebelius’ approach is the right one.

The new recommendations, it should be emphasized, are just that. They are NOT rules. They should be viewed in their proper context. As health-care consumers, we should keep an open mind about these recommendations. But decisions about care strategies such as breast-cancer screening should continue to be made by individuals in close consultation with their physicians.