screening

Mammogram Advice: Older Women Aren’t Convinced

Posted on 04/22/2013 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthMore than three years after a federally appointed panel of experts said most women don’t need annual mammograms, a new study of mammogram rates shows that older women have pretty much ignored the advice. According to an analysis of data from nearly 28,000 women, women over 40 continue to get the yearly screening, apparently unconvinced they should do it less often. In fact, mammogram rates slightly increased overall, from 51.9 percent in 2008 to 53.6 percent in 2011, even though …

Mammogram Debate: Is Screening Overdone?

Posted on 11/27/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health“Screening saves lives” has long been the mantra of breast cancer groups and doctors. But a longtime critic of Americans’ zeal for screening says new research shows that up to a third of cancers detected through routine mammograms may not be life-threatening. The study, which looked at three decades of government data on early-stage breast cancer in women over 40, found that 70,000 women a year may have been overdiagnosed for breast cancer and needlessly treated. “It’s a lot of …

Escape Endless Airport Security Lines

Posted on 10/24/2012 by David Porter | AARP Blog Author | Comments

TravelI don’t know about you, but we absolutely hate standing in massive TSA airport security lines during busy vacation and holiday seasons. We’re lined up like cattle for slaughter. People are tired, kids are screaming, and worst of all, the whole thing moves like molasses in Antartica because people refuse to come to these security lines prepared. Come on, you’ve seen the guy who steps up to the security belt and then decides to remove his belt, empty the 15 …

Dangerous Caregivers: Few Agencies Screen Workers

Posted on 07/11/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | CaregivingThe person you hire from an agency to take care of your ailing, aging family member — shouldn’t that caregiver have passed a federal background check? Or drug testing? Or be screened for skills and training? Unfortunately, the chances are the agency did none of those things. A troubling new national study finds that nearly half of the agencies that send caregivers to help vulnerable seniors do a poor job of recruiting, screening, testing and training the caregivers they hire. …

Is 75 Too Old For Routine Screening Tests?

Posted on 12/19/2011 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthIf you’re 75 or older, you don’t need routine screening for breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. If you’re a woman age 65 or older, you don’t need to be tested for cervical cancer (the Pap test or Pap smear). These are the current guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force, but a new study finds that many older Americans are being routinely screened for these diseases — something experts say is unnecessary, costly for our health care system, and …