VOA标准英语2009-US Government Task Force Issues New Guidelin

By Carol Pearson
Washington
18 November 2009
 
According to a new task force report, most women should start mammograms at age 50 rather than 40 as previously¹ recommended
A U.S. government task force has released new guidelines on how often women should get mammograms to test for breast cancer. The task force says for most women, mammograms should start at age 50, not at the previously recommended age of 40. Not everyone agrees with the new guidelines.

Breast cancer survivor² Nancy Gaul is among those who take issue with the new U.S. government guidelines for women to begin routine mammograms at age 50, rather than age 40. "I am shocked by these guidelines because if I had not had a mammogram at age 40, I would not be here today," she asserts.

Mammograms are credited with helping³ to decrease the death toll⁴ from breast cancer. But the task force says its new recommendations will benefit women more -- cutting back on unnecessary tests and painful biopsies, and reducing over exposure to radiation.

"When screening beginning at 40 to 49, the benefits are smaller, the false positive rates are higher, than when screening at older ages," Dr. Diana Petitti explains. She is on the task force.

That is because younger women's breasts are more dense⁵ than older women's breasts and finding tumors in younger women is more difficult. The task force also recommends less screening -- every two years for most women after age 50 instead of every year starting at age 40. "Screening every two years captures most of the benefit in terms of reducing breast cancer mortality, while decreasing the harm," she states.

Specialists are split on the new guidelines which also recommend that doctors stop teaching women how to do self exams.

As for mammograms, Dr. Marissa Weiss says she will continue to tell her patients to have annual mammography starting at age 40. "The reality is breast cancer is the most common cancer to affect women. And mammography is the only test proven to save lives," she adds, "So I believe these guidelines are not an improvement, they're neglectful."

Dr. Susan Love is a prominent breast cancer specialist. She says mammography has never been shown to find breast cancer in a significant number of women under the age of 50.

"What we need to be doing is not using a test that doesn't work and has risks, but finding something that really does work or finding the cause of breast cancer and stopping it," Dr. Love said.

Groups such as the American Cancer Society disagree with the new guidelines. The society says it reviewed the same data the task force reviewed, plus data the task force did not consider, and will continue to recommend mammograms for women starting at age 40.

The American Cancer Society and other advocacy groups say they are concerned that in the U.S., at least, insurance companies will stop paying for mammograms for women under age 50.

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。