Brigid TitgemeierBeingBrigid Functional Nutrition · Transforming Women's Health Using Food as Medicine

Mammograms Aren't Breast Cancer Prevention with Dr Elizabeth Boham

7 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment Dr. Elizabeth Boham outlines the current mammography recommendation of biennial screening for women aged 45 to 75, noting that mammograms work best on older, less‑dense breast tissue. She stresses that mammography is a tool for early detection, not true cancer prevention, and points out the drawbacks of radiation exposure and limited effectiveness in younger women with dense breasts. Dr. Boham calls for the development of better, non‑radiative screening methods and encourages individuals to become familiar with their own breast tissue, sharing a personal story of discovering her own cancer at age 30—a scenario common among younger women and aggressive tumor types.

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So the general recommendation for mammography now is every other year between the ages of 45 and 75. And I think we want to remember that mammograms do a better job on the older, less dense breast tissue. So they are a better screening test for that age group. And really the answer is we just need a better screening test because that doesn't have radiation involved with it. And we want to remember that screening can be healthy. Helpful. It can save lives. It can help us find breast cancer early, but it's not really prevention. It's just early detection, right? So we want to think about all these other things we can do for true prevention. And then at the same time, you know, get to know our own breast tissue. I found my own breast cancer, you know, it was 30 and it was there all of a sudden. And that happens a lot, especially for younger women and also for more aggressive cancers.