When should women begin getting mammograms?

THAT SHE GOT SCANNED. MOM MEGAN SANDERSON JUST TURNED 40 WHEN SHE WENT IN FOR HER FIRST MAMMOGRAM. I STARTED TO DO THE SELF CHECKS IN THE SHOWER, FELT A LITTLE SOMETHING IN MY LEFT BREAST AND I SAID IT, YOU KNOW, I WAS 40, I WAS A AND SO I MADE MY APPOINTMENT TO COME IN TO SEE, YOU KNOW, TO GET MY MAMMOGRAM DONE. THE NEWS. NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR HER DOCTOR SENT HER, SHE MADE THE APPOINTMENT. FIRST MAMMOGRAM EVER, AND HER CANCER WAS PICKED UP ON SCREENING MAMMOGRAM. UM, IS SHE SHE MENTIONED THAT SHE KIND OF FELT SOMETHING, BUT SHE CAME FOR A SCREENING MAMMOGRAM, ACTUALLY, BREAST RADIOLOGIST DOCTOR EVELYN MAY AT MERCY MEDICAL CENTER SAYS IT WAS CANCER STAGE ONE. HAD SHE NOT COME FOR TEN YEARS AND STARTED AT 50, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE, RIGHT? DOCTOR MAY SAYS SHE’S SEEING YOUNGER WOMEN COME IN WITH BREAST CANCER, SO SHE’S GLAD THE U.S. PREVENTIVE SERVICES TASK FORCE NOW SAYS WOMEN SHOULD BE SCREENED FOR BREAST CANCER EVERY OTHER YEAR, STARTING AT AGE 40. THE OLD RECOMMENDATIONS STARTED AT AGE 50, AND IT’S GOING TO HELP A LOT OF WOMEN, YOU KNOW, BE DETECTED SOONER AT EARLIER STAGES WHEN THE CANCER CAN EVEN BE CURABLE, THE TASK FORCE EXPLAINS. THE REASON BEHIND IT HAS TO DO WITH NEW AND MORE INCLUSIVE SCIENCE ABOUT BREAST CANCER AND PEOPLE YOUNGER THAN 50, AND KNOWING THAT SCREENING FOR BREAST CANCER SAVES LIVES LIKE MEGAN’S LIFE. IT WAS. IT WAS STAGE ONE, EASILY TREATED. AND YEAH, I WAS, YOU KNOW, VERY LUCKY. AND I’M SO THANKFUL THAT FOR THE SCREENINGS, BEING AT 40, MEGAN IS NOW TWO YEARS CANCER FREE AND GOES IN FOR IMAGING EVERY SIX MONTHS. SHE HAD NO FAMILY HISTORY OF BREAST CANCER AND IS GLAD SHE CAN LIVE HER LIFE WITH HER FAMILY AND YOUNG DAUGHTER. REPORTING IN BALT

When is the right time to start getting a mammogram?For women who are 40, now is the time.Megan Sanderson just turned 40 when she went in for her first mammogram. After getting a surprise no one wants, she's thankful she got scanned."I started to do the self-checks in the shower (and) felt a little something in my left breast, and I started, you know, I was 40. And so, I made my appointment to come in to get my mammogram done," Sanderson said. The results were news that no one wants to hear. Mercy Medical Center breast radiologist Dr. Evelyn May delivered the news that Sanderson had stage-one breast cancer."Her doctor sent her. She made the appointment. First mammogram ever and her cancer was picked up on screening mammogram. As she mentioned that she kind of felt something, but she came for a screening mammogram, actually," May said.May said she's seeing younger women come in with breast cancer, so she's glad the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends women be screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40. The old recommendations started at age 50."It's going to help a lot of women be detected sooner at earlier stages when the cancer can even be curable," May said. "Had (Sanderson) not come for 10 years and started at 50, that would have been a lot worse."The task force explained its reasoning behind the new recommendation, saying it has to do with new and more inclusive science about breast cancer in people younger than 50 and knowing that screening for breast cancer saves lives — just like Sanderson's."It was stage one, easily treated. And, yeah, I was very lucky, and I'm so thankful with the screenings being at 40," Sanderson said. Sanderson is now two years cancer-free and goes for imaging every six months. She had no family history of breast cancer and is glad she can live her life with her family and young daughter.

When is the right time to start getting a mammogram?

For women who are 40, now is the time.

Megan Sanderson just turned 40 when she went in for her first mammogram. After getting a surprise no one wants, she's thankful she got scanned.

"I started to do the self-checks in the shower (and) felt a little something in my left breast, and I started, you know, I was 40. And so, I made my appointment to come in to get my mammogram done," Sanderson said.

The results were news that no one wants to hear. Mercy Medical Center breast radiologist Dr. Evelyn May delivered the news that Sanderson had stage-one breast cancer.

"Her doctor sent her. She made the appointment. First mammogram ever and her cancer was picked up on screening mammogram. As she mentioned that she kind of felt something, but she came for a screening mammogram, actually," May said.

May said she's seeing younger women come in with breast cancer, so she's glad the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends women be screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40. The old recommendations started at age 50.

"It's going to help a lot of women be detected sooner at earlier stages when the cancer can even be curable," May said. "Had (Sanderson) not come for 10 years and started at 50, that would have been a lot worse."

The task force explained its reasoning behind the new recommendation, saying it has to do with new and more inclusive science about breast cancer in people younger than 50 and knowing that screening for breast cancer saves lives — just like Sanderson's.

"It was stage one, easily treated. And, yeah, I was very lucky, and I'm so thankful with the screenings being at 40," Sanderson said.

Sanderson is now two years cancer-free and goes for imaging every six months. She had no family history of breast cancer and is glad she can live her life with her family and young daughter.

When should women begin getting mammograms?

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