Do you want to have a mammogram shortly after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine? Be aware that the vaccine can cause the lymph nodes to swell, which can be confused by a sign of breast cancer.
“Getting the COVID-19 vaccine can cause a temporary enlargement of the lymph nodes and cause a‘ false positive ’mammogram,” explains Lisa Ann Mullen, MD, in an article published by Johns Hopkins Medicine on the subject. Enlargement can make “your mammogram look abnormal even when you’re fine and there are no signs of cancer.”
Although the reaction has nothing to worry about and is a common effect of all vaccines, it has caused an increase in the swollen lymph nodes in the armpit in multiple types of breast images, which has led to many women to perform additional tests and sometimes even on biopsies, as well as “unnecessary stress and anxiety,” Penn Medicine wrote in a publication.
To avoid unnecessary testing or anxiety, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to ask their doctors how long they should wait before getting a mammogram after the vaccine. “Some experts recommend getting a mammogram before getting vaccinated or waiting four to six weeks after the vaccine,” the CDC adds.
The reason for the vaccine-induced inflammation is quite natural.
“The purpose of the vaccine is to get your immune system to respond to whoever the vaccine agent is,” diagnostic radiologist Laura Dean, MD, told Cleveland Clinic’s nonprofit academic medical center for a article on possible side effects. Therefore, it is known that the lymph nodes, which are part of the body’s immune system, swell in response to each and every one of the vaccines, although there are more reports suggesting that the coronavirus trait is causing “a more robust inflammation in the lymph nodes ”than others. The symptom appears to subside in “a few days to a few weeks,” Dean noted.
When not induced by a vaccine, swollen lymph nodes in the armpits can be a sign of breast cancer.
“If breast cancer moves out of the breasts, it tends to go to the lymph nodes under the arms because this is the natural pattern of lymph fluid drainage within the breast tissue,” Dean said. “It’s a very integrated system, so it’s one of the areas we’re looking at closely.”
The situation is very predictable, but the fact that the authorities and medical professionals do not inform the public about this means that there are many people in conviction who have cancer after what they expected to be routine check-ups.
Jezabel reporter Shannon Melero’s mother was left “mentally planning her own funeral” after being told she was “found” to be “probably benign” after a recent mammogram. The scare, however, turned out to be a false flag caused by having received his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine days earlier, Melero reported.
The impact of the vaccine on mammograms is not the only issue on which the medical industry has barely warned the public. Many also report that the vaccine caused them heavier and, in some cases, unexpected periods.
“It wasn’t a symptom on the list,” Katharine Lee, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Washington who had an unusual menstrual cycle shortly after receiving the vaccine, told researcher Katharine Lee. In response, it launched a formal study on the impact of COVID-19 vaccines on the menstrual cycle.
“They’re not things some people think of,” he said. “It is not part of their daily experience. I think a lot of it is related to this story and the bias around who can decide what is important to consider as a side effect. ”