Big news this week as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a new set of guidelines for how often and when women should undergo mammograms to screen for breast abnormalities. The controversy, in short, is this:

Current recommendations state that women should start having yearly mammograms at the age of 40, and should be educated about performing regular self breast exams.
New recommendations propose that women begin having mammograms at the age of 50, every two years rather than annually. They also claim there is not sufficient evidence that self-exams save lives.

The task force’s report has alarmed many people both inside and outside the medical community. One thing we at the Center would like to emphasize is that these recommendations are not directed at women at high risk due to genetic predisposition and family history.

ABC News and The New York Times have been covering this story very closely since it broke. Watch this video interviewing Chicago-area physicians about their take on the new recommendations.

Those interested in the original text of the recommendations can read them at the Annals of Internal Medicine and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (which includes PDFs and supporting documents). Medpage Today offers physician reactions, as well as a more detailed explanation behind the rationale from the task force. For the non-physician, Dr. Errington Thompson has a great rundown of the science behind mammography and the changing needs of women as they age.

On the political side, the Obama administration has distanced itself from the guidelines, saying they do not reflect government policy regarding women’s health. Congress has announced that it will conduct hearings into the findings, as it gears up for votes both on health care reform and the EARLY Act, a national breast cancer education bill. (Read more about the EARLY Act.)

So far insurance companies have stated that they will not be pulling back on covering mammograms for women under 40.

The debate over the frequency of mammograms for low-risk women has been ongoing for at least 40 years. Women at high risk, again, are not addressed by these new recommendations, and should continue working with their physicians as they feel is most necessary.

Keep watching this space for more discussion of the new guidelines as the story develops. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment, or write to jewishgeneticsctr@juf.org to continue the conversation.