SCH’s Hall backs early mammogram screenings

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Despite recommendations by the U. S. Preventive Services Task Force that women don’t need regular mammograms until age 50, the American Cancer Society continues to recommend screenings begin annually at age 40, and South County Hospital Breast Health Coordinator Susan Hall agrees.
Hall said that she has seen too many women in her practice develop breast cancer between the ages of 40 and 50 – or earlier.
While Hall recommends annual mammograms, there is one screening she says is as important and sometimes more important: self-screening. Primary care physicians, as well as gynecologists, should urge every woman in their practices to self-exam their breasts monthly, Hall said.
Hall recently saw two women in their 30s who discovered lumps in their breasts long before any health organization would recommend a routine mammogram. •

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