When It Comes to Breast Cancer, Are We Asking the Right Questions? [VIDEO]

ORIGINALLY BROADCAST ON PAUL'S PERISCOPE 10/15/2015

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When is the time to question and when is the time to trust?

That's the fine line we all must walk when considering our own health. Relying on anyone besides ourselves puts the ball in someone else's hands.

The number of breast cancer cases are rapidly rising (with a corresponding rise of many other cancers in men and women as well). The amount of women being diagnosed with breast cancer has skyrocketed since just 40 years ago.

Here's the thing—your doctor is bound by the numbers that the research supports. They are still recommending that mammograms start at 40 years old, but we keep hearing that more and more women that are much younger than that are being diagnosed.

Doctors don't make recommendations based on 'we keep hearing'. They have to stick to data. That's how it is with doctors, and I think it's how it should be. That's where we have to rely on ourselves.

We have to read the proverbial writing on the wall. So, here are a few questions that breast cancer awareness month has made me want to ask.

• Is the age of exams correct? We are hearing that women who are younger and younger are being diagnosed. Is 40 still the right age? Or should we be making a strong effort toward having women younger than that start exams.
  • Perhaps we should shift the idea from breast cancer awareness month, because I don't like saying that word in my imaging and positioning statements, to something like Body Awareness Month.
• Are mammograms really the way? Information is starting to circulate suggesting the radiation involved could be affecting women negatively who are at high risk for breast cancer and have a lot of mammograms. When that type of writing is on the wall, does it suggest that we look for an alternative that is as good at detecting breast cancer, but not as dangerous?
• Can our diets be a huge part of this? We take in so much sugar and so many other things that are converted to sugars. The increase in diagnoses has been, excuse my language, pretty goddamned horrifying. It's coming from something. Isn't it time to look at sugar and bad diet as the culprit? Is it terrible to think that the things we allow to go into our body could be putting us at very high risk?