The Truth About Mammograms and How the Major Media Missed It

A suprising and controversial move by the U.S. government has led to much confusion about a healthcare issue that had been cemented for decades. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Preventive Services Task Force changed the routine mammogram recommendation by 10 years, from 40-years-of-age to 50-years-of-age. That started a firestorm of controversy on all sides of the issue. Much of what has come from that firestorm, and from media reports, has led to confusion by the people who need to know the truth.

So, what are the facts about mammograms and other forms of medical radiation? Health expert and best-selling author K.C. Craichy has been sharing the truth about this important issue on his weekly online LivingFuel TV program for many weeks.

“I personally am outraged at the way the media has covered this story lately regarding medical radiation,” Craichy told his online audience today. He quoted from extensive research by Dr. Jon Gofman, Professor Emeritus, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Gofman wrote the textbook on medical radiation procedures in 1999.

“One thing he points out is that most of these medical procedures can be done at dramatically lower doses of radiation and still give the same clinical benefit,” Craichy said in talking about Dr. Gofman’s research. Dr. Gofman estimated that a major shift in the way the medical community in the United States used x-ray imaging could prevent about a quarter-of-a-million deaths every year.

“...a very great deal of future cancer and ischemic hearet disease (IHD) could be prevented by reducing the dose-levels customarily administered during x-ray imaging procedures.” (Dr. Jon Gofman, M.D., Ph.D., Radiation from Medical Procedures in the Pathogenesis of Cancer and Ischemic Heart Disease: Dose-Response Studies with Physicians per 100,000 Population, 1999)

Concerning the controversy about the newly changed government recommendations for routine mammograms, Craichy had this to say to his online audience today: “Many of the people I very much respect in the news have taken a really bizarre position on this matter because somehow mammography has become a staple, a right, a basic human right... My contention is that the recommendation for mammography was changed from 40 to 50 because of the risk associated with the procedure itself.”

Craichy said the reason mammograms have not been recommended in the past for women under 40 was because of the increased radiation load for women over a lifetime. “The change to 50 is a positive step.”

Craichy closed his LivingFuel TV online broadcast by telling the audience, “Be well informed and make your own decisions. It is time to take charge of your own healthcare.”

Craichy’s comments and a large number of links to online research about medical radiation are available at http://www.livingfuel.com/medical_radiation.aspx.

K.C. Craichy is available for media and press interviews by calling LivingFuel TV (http://www.youtube.com/LivingFuelTV) at 813-375-9895.

More About K.C. Craichy:
K.C. Craichy is Founder & CEO of Living Fuel, Inc. and best-selling author of Super Health 7 Golden Keys to Unlock Lifelong Vitality. He is a leading health advocate and expert on natural health and specializes in performance nutrition. K.C. frequently writes for and serves on the nutrition advisory boards of TPI (Titleist Performance Institute), Golf Fitness Magazine and S-5 Bands. He lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife Monica and their five children.

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