I will start National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) by telling you the truth about mammograms.

Roughly two-thirds of African-American women report getting a mammogram in the last two years. However, we may not get screened as often as we say. Our cancers are still found at a later stage than white women. We are more likely to die from breast cancer. We also die from breast cancer at a younger age than whites. This may be because we wait longer between mammograms and dont quickly follow up when something is found. We can do better.

Mammograms Are Not Perfect (No Test Is)

Mammography will not find every cancer. It will also find things that prove not to be cancer.

False Positives Happen

Some women will be asked to come back for another test to confirm or rule out cancer. If that test rules out cancer, many call the result of the first mammogram a false positive. Some say this process and anxiety we may feel as a result is a reason to not screen women for breast cancer (or not start at age 40).

As the infographic below from MammographySavesLives.org shows, such risks have been overplayed.