Women's Health

With Mammograms, Timing May Matter

Timing of Mammograms: Second Opinion

"It's intriguing and makes a lot of clinical sense," Denise Sur, MD, vice-chief of staff at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, Santa Monica, Calif., says of the finding for repeat patients.

But ''they are saying 'may' benefit," says Sur, who is also clinical professor and vice chair of family medicine at the University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. She reviewed the findings for WebMD.

Before making any recommendations, she says, "someone [else] has to look at the data to be sure it's strong."

She adds that scheduling precisely during week one of the menstrual cycle may be logistically difficult, due to availability of appointments, a woman's work or family obligations, and other factors.

Some women don't have predictable cycles, she says, so they might have difficulty deciding when to schedule.

Overall, however, she calls it ''a reasonable suggestion."