Screening mammograms could be doing more harm than good according to an article published in the British Medical Journal in December of 2011. The benefits of mammograms were not so apparent because of the risk for overtreatment. Data showed that for every 2000 women taking a mammogram throughout 10 years, one will have her life prolonged, and 10 healthy women who would not have been diagnoses if they had not been screened will be diagnosed and treated unnecessarily. The harms from false-positive results and unnecessary surgery reduced the benefits of screening by about half.
