What do you think?
The Big Squeeze: A Social and Political History of the Controversial Mammogram
In 2009, an influential panel of medical experts ignited a controversy when they recommended that most women should not begin routine mammograms to screen for breast cancer until the age of fifty, reversing guidelines they had issued just seven years before when they recommended forty as the optimal age to start getting mammograms. While some praised the new recommendation as sensible given the smaller benefit women under fifty derive from mammography, many women's groups, health care advocates, and individual women saw the guidelines as privileging financial considerations over women's health and a setback to decades-long efforts to reduce the mortality rate of breast cancer.
In The Big Squeeze, Dr. Handel Reynolds, a practicing radiologist, notes that this episode was only the most recent controversy in the turbulent history of mammography since its introduction in the early 1970s. In a book written for the millions of women who face the decision about whether to get a mammogram, health professionals interested in cancer screening, and public health policymakers, Reynolds shows how pivotal decisions made during mammography's initial launch made it all but inevitable that the test would be contentious. He describes how, at several key points in its history, the emphasis on mammography screening as a fundamental aspect of women's preventive health care coincided with social and political developments, from the women's movement in the early 1970s to breast cancer activism in the 1980s and '90s.
At the same time, aggressive promotion of mammography made the screening tool the cornerstone of a huge new industry. Taking a balanced approach to this much-disputed issue, Reynolds addresses both the benefits and risks of mammography, charting debates, for example, that have weighed the early detection of aggressively malignant tumors against unnecessary treatments resulting from the identification of slow-growing and non-life-threatening cancers. The Big Squeeze, ultimately, helps to evaluate the ongoing public health controversies surrounding mammography and provides a clear understanding of how mammography achieved its current primacy in cancer screening.
In The Big Squeeze, Dr. Handel Reynolds, a practicing radiologist, notes that this episode was only the most recent controversy in the turbulent history of mammography since its introduction in the early 1970s. In a book written for the millions of women who face the decision about whether to get a mammogram, health professionals interested in cancer screening, and public health policymakers, Reynolds shows how pivotal decisions made during mammography's initial launch made it all but inevitable that the test would be contentious. He describes how, at several key points in its history, the emphasis on mammography screening as a fundamental aspect of women's preventive health care coincided with social and political developments, from the women's movement in the early 1970s to breast cancer activism in the 1980s and '90s.
At the same time, aggressive promotion of mammography made the screening tool the cornerstone of a huge new industry. Taking a balanced approach to this much-disputed issue, Reynolds addresses both the benefits and risks of mammography, charting debates, for example, that have weighed the early detection of aggressively malignant tumors against unnecessary treatments resulting from the identification of slow-growing and non-life-threatening cancers. The Big Squeeze, ultimately, helps to evaluate the ongoing public health controversies surrounding mammography and provides a clear understanding of how mammography achieved its current primacy in cancer screening.
136 pages, Hardcover
First published August 7, 2012
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 30, 2013
I would highly recommend that anyone with breasts, or knowing anyone with them, read the book "The Big Squeeze: A social and political history of the controversial mammogram" by Handel Reynolds, MD.
It's been kind of a stiff read for me filled with names and dates I will likely never remember because my brain doesn't like to retain such things, but for a 94 page book plus 18 pages of notes/bibliography it is informative and well written and a topic we should all have at least a little time for. Remember, you don't always get what you really need when politics take over a scientific topic and set mandates, but sometimes you do. Read for yourself and make up your own mind.
It's been kind of a stiff read for me filled with names and dates I will likely never remember because my brain doesn't like to retain such things, but for a 94 page book plus 18 pages of notes/bibliography it is informative and well written and a topic we should all have at least a little time for. Remember, you don't always get what you really need when politics take over a scientific topic and set mandates, but sometimes you do. Read for yourself and make up your own mind.
August 22, 2019
This is an important and even-handed little volume of serious non-fiction, a necessary genre that seems to be disappearing.
Mammography enthusiasts (the American Cancer Society/radiologists) launched the practice (for women under 50) without adequate evidence of benefit, then fought against rigorous evaluation or consideration of adverse effects. Then politicians got involved. The result is mass confusion, a lot of fear and a lot of money spent without much discernible net benefit to public health. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated story.
Mammography enthusiasts (the American Cancer Society/radiologists) launched the practice (for women under 50) without adequate evidence of benefit, then fought against rigorous evaluation or consideration of adverse effects. Then politicians got involved. The result is mass confusion, a lot of fear and a lot of money spent without much discernible net benefit to public health. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated story.
September 17, 2012
This was an interesting little book. I enjoyed it more in light of just having finished "The Panic Virus." It is amazing how passionately held opinions can crowd out actual scientific evidence. Books like these are the things we need to read more of to get at the background and politics of health issues.
January 1, 2020
Interesting and important concept but the execution is a bit dry.
Mammography false positives and false negatives. The politics vs the science. Use of fear to push a moment.
Screening mammography not so advantageous for under 50. Misunderstanding of risk - not 1/9 for this year but lifetime risk. Over diagnosis of duct only which may or may not have grown. Dense breasts increase risk of false negative and young breaths are more dense. Litigious society leads to increase in additional testing.
Mammography false positives and false negatives. The politics vs the science. Use of fear to push a moment.
Screening mammography not so advantageous for under 50. Misunderstanding of risk - not 1/9 for this year but lifetime risk. Over diagnosis of duct only which may or may not have grown. Dense breasts increase risk of false negative and young breaths are more dense. Litigious society leads to increase in additional testing.
February 13, 2017
Heavy on acronyms. Very informative.
February 20, 2014
Well researched and well written book by Dr. Handel Reynolds.
It was so refreshing to actually see his desperation to have the healthcare industry remain transparent with us, the consumers.
This was a no-holds-barred book.
Dr. Reynolds earned the prestigious award of Book of the Year within 6 months of publication.
Online news indicate that Dr. Reynolds will not be writing any other books. Sadly, he died on June 14, 2013.
A transparent, dedicated, compassionate, researcher, speaker, author and doctor, gone just when the industry could benefit most from someone like himself.
It was so refreshing to actually see his desperation to have the healthcare industry remain transparent with us, the consumers.
This was a no-holds-barred book.
Dr. Reynolds earned the prestigious award of Book of the Year within 6 months of publication.
Online news indicate that Dr. Reynolds will not be writing any other books. Sadly, he died on June 14, 2013.
A transparent, dedicated, compassionate, researcher, speaker, author and doctor, gone just when the industry could benefit most from someone like himself.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews