We often think about breast cancer screenings as a women's health issue. After all, it's usually our bodies in which the cancer grows -- it's our health and our lives that are at risk. Recently, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care published new breast cancer screening guidelines recommending that early detection methods like routine mammograms for women in their 40s and breast self-exams and clinical exams for women with no symptoms be dropped, as well as that older women undergo mammograms less frequently. It's not surprising Canadian women were as upset as we American women were two years ago when a U.S. task force made similar recommendations.

You know that look that people give new moms who are clearly having a hard time? That tilted head with the poor you pout. After I gave birth, I got that look -- a lot. People lowered their tone when speaking to me and asked me if I was OK -- a lot. Looking back, I was a mess. But what working-mother-of-a-newborn-colic-baby-with-reflux-who-doesn't-sleep-ever isn't, right? I was tired, I was angry, I was gaining weight, I was crying, I was forgetting everything. People started asking me do you think maybe, maybe you have postpartum depression. Even the OB was suggesting I should just talk to someone. What was actually happening to me is that my thyroid levels were dropping, causing symptoms like depression (as well as a whole host of other physical things like constipation and hair loss, fun!).

Another day, another medical task force concluding that tests we women have long considered essential to our continued good health are unnecessary and overly costly.

In this case, it's yearly Pap smears, those staples of our annual exams, that have come under fire. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced Wednesday that women under 65 only need to have Pap tests every three years, saying studies suggest there is "little added benefit" to more frequent testing.

But here's the part that really makes me mad: The task force cited not only the cost of more frequent screening as a factor (no surprise there), but also, as they often do in such cases, asserted that yearly testing may cause women to have "needless anxiety because of false positive results."

What, are we women so sensitive and emotionally delicate that we can't handle a little potentially bad news in the interest of our good health? In that case, really, why test at all?

Will women soon embrace mammograms and other early-detection breast cancer screenings as enthusiastically as they once embraced the "Rachel" haircut?

Let's hope so.

In order to raise awareness for breast cancer and the life-saving benefits of regular mammograms and early detection, Jennifer Aniston (who brought us all that ubiquitous layered hairdo back in her Friends days) recently joined Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to tour a breast health center in Northern Virginia.

Aniston has clearly taken on the topic of breast cancer of late: Five, a collection of five short films focusing on the impact of breast cancer, in which she was involved as a producer and director, premiered on Lifetime last week, and she seems to be everywhere speaking out to raise awareness.

We've long been aware that Christina Applegate – whom we've loved in shows like Married … with Children, Samantha Who? and the new Up All Night – is a terrifically adaptable actress. A Hollywood survivor and serial master of the situation comedy, Applegate finds humor and heart in whatever TV writers throw at her.

In recent years, Applegate has also proven herself to be another kind of survivor: a breast cancer survivor, and one who has worked dedicatedly to raise awareness of the disease in young women. Thanks to her good prognosis and reconstructive surgery, she has joked, "I'm going to have cute boobs 'til I'm 90." 

To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the actress is teaming up with online designer-label retailer Gilt to raise money for her foundation, Right Action for Women, which she set up in the hopes of teaching other women about the early-detection methods she thinks saved her life.

I turned 40 last year and for my birthday, my doctor gave me an order for my first mammogram -- how sweet! That was in November. Six months later I finally made the appointment, and I have to admit I waited so long because I was afraid. Afraid of intense pain.

Well, I'm happy to report that I survived not only my first mammogram, but also an 1.5-hour recheck (part mammogram; part ultrasound) on my right breast, and everything is A-OK. Even better, it really wasn't that bad at all. It's not the most fun I've ever had on a sunny spring afternoon by a long shot; however, the pain and discomfort were far, far less than I anticipated. In fact, I can think of at least 25 things that are worse than getting a mammogram.

Obesity is a huge problem, especially in the US, since it's often joined by many the health problem (though not all overweight people are unhealthy). We've discovered over decades that obese mothers often have children who are also obese, though there's plenty of argument as to whether that's genetic or lifestyle, but research points to both.

The National Health Service has decided to take 400 non-diabetic but obese pregnant women to see if giving them a drug during pregnancy can help prevent their babies from being obese, since their studies imply that obesity-programming starts in utero.

Um ... oooookay.

For the past three years, since a routine middle school screening detected a slight spinal curvature, my son has had semi-annual appointments with a pediatric orthopedist. Through repeated physical exams and spinal X-rays, my son's curvature has remained mild. But potential progression of his adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is riskiest as he goes through puberty and experiences growth spurts.

But now there's a new prognostic test, ScoliScore, developed by Axial Biotech Inc. Based on DNA analysis, the test can help predict whether or not your child’s mild scoliosis is at risk of becoming severe.