Most health professionals conclude that the risk associated with breast cancer in females less than 35 years old, is not important enough to take the chance with radiation. Likewise, the odds for breast cancer in women over 55 warrants.
There is disagreement regarding mammography statistics for women from age 40 to 45. In 1992 a Canadian National Breast Cancer Study gave the impression that mammography does not do anything to prevent the death of women between 40 to 50 years old. The study implies women in that age group who are screened regularly, are more likely to die from breast cancer.
Alternative Medicine, a book by Burton Goldberg, states that women under the age of fifty should not have screening mammograms. This is in contrast to advice from the American Cancer Society, which recommends bi-annual mammograms for women between the ages of forty to forty-nine. A consensus panel that was appointed by the NIH in 1997, stated that no evidence was in existence to support the notion that mammograms could save the lives of women in this age group. In fact, the panel found that mammograms might be detrimental rather than helpful. The panel suggests that patients discuss the risks with their doctors and then decide.