New York, Nov 17 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A government task force said on Monday that most women don’t need mammograms in their 40s at all, and should get one every two years when they hit the half-century mark, which is in effect quiet a shocking reversal and a definite castaway situation with the American Cancer Society’s long-standing position.

Even more stunning and shocking was the other fact that, the panel said breast self-exams do no good, and women shouldn’t be taught to do them at all, as they are totally useless. This is quiet a contradiction of what the world over, doctors suggest to the women in order to spot the early occurrence of tumors and cancers in the breast.

“I’ve never had a scare, but isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?” asked Beth Rosenthal, 41, sitting in a San Francisco cafe on Monday afternoon with her friend and their small children. “I’ve heard of a lot of women in their 40s, and even 30s, who’ve gotten breast cancer. It just doesn’t seem right to wait until 50.”

The American Cancer Society has been preaching annual mammograms beginning at 40, since the last two decades and it suddenly reiterated that position on Monday. “This is one screening test I recommend unequivocally, and would recommend to any woman 40 and over,” the society’s chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, said in a statement.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government panel of doctors and scientists, also jumped into the debate and they also concluded that such early and frequent breast examinations and screenings are a cause of false alarms and unneeded biopsies. “The benefits are less and the harms are greater when screening starts in the 40s,” said Dr. Diana Petitti, vice chair of the panel.