Today in Research: An Argument for Getting Mammograms at 40

Discovered: Science's cruel joke on arachnophobes, a case for early mammograms, man will not go extinct, surgeons make bad health decisions.

• The benefits of mammograms for 40- to 49-year-old women. Remember all that talk about pushing mammogram testing to 50, up from 40? Well here's something for the other side. Women between the ages of 40 and 49 who had mammography-detected breast cancer had better prognoses. "In our study, women aged 40 to 49 whose breast cancer was detected by mammography were easier to treat and had less recurring disease and mortality, because their cancer was found at an earlier stage," explains researcher Judith A. Malmgren. So, yeah, just a data point for that debate. [Radiology]

• Surgeons make bad health decisions, too. Like, worse health decisions than the general population. About 15 percent of surgeons have alcoholic dependency issues, which is higher than the rest of the population, finds a new survey. "Surgery is a stressful business. There are people who turn to alcohol to help deal with their stress," says Dr. Edward Livingston. We get that. But, it's worse because these people supposedly care about health and stuff, right? [Reuters]

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.