Health & Fitness
Do you have dense breasts?
Did you know that breast density limits the effectiveness of mammography and increases your risk of breast cancer?
Do you have dense breasts? I do, and 40% of you do too. Unfortunately, dense breast tissue greatly reduces the effectiveness of a mammogram and our risk factor for breast cancer is much higher. I am not here to discount mammography, but want to make you aware of its limitations and another breast screening option that is available. This option is called thermography.
Mammography and thermography are different tests. A mammogram is an x-ray that looks at structure, and a thermogram is a digital infrared thermal image that looks at function. Thermography can detect dysfunction before a visible tumor exists, making it possible to turn things around before a serious problem occurs. This test is great for women of all ages and breast densities.
I was told of my breast density in my late 30s, but many of you may not be aware of your density. Some states are passing laws that will require doctors to tell us our breast density and offer other breast screening methods to us. Mammograms are the gold standard of yearly breast screening, but is it really the best standard for all of us?
