Top Five Science Claims We’re Not Supposed to Question

3. Mammograms

Mammograms are touted as the best way to detect breast cancer, but they appear to be based on the premise that women are too stupid or lazy to perform manual breast examinations frequently enough. Back in the 1980s, my personal physician (a brilliant brain surgeon who switched to obstetrics and family practice, and whose interest in natural cures led him on a tour of the world to discover how less industrialized societies treat illnesses and whether the treatments were effective) sternly warned me never to get one. Why? Because the compression of the breast during the procedure can rupture isolated tumors unleashing the cancer to spread. It took a few decades for some experts to realize this.

If you’re a woman over forty, be prepared for a fight with your physician when you tell him you refuse to get a mammogram. You will be called hysterical. You will be called superstitious. You will be called anti-science, even when you provide statistics showing numerous false positives and the dangers of radiation.