Thursday 27 June 2019

Does weight gain or loss impact breast density?

Breast density is the proportional measure of glandular, connective and adipose tissues within woman's breasts.
Using the diagnostic mammography test that utilises the low dose X-rays, density information about the breast can be determined. However, it is often less complicated to detect cancer in more fatty breasts when looked at mammogram images.

Weight gain can have an effect on breast density to the extent that when females lose weight, the amount of fat increases making it difficult to detect mammographic cancer and vice versa.

Things that influence the density of your breast include:

Heredity: If your mother's breasts used to be dense, you're also likely to.

Breastfeeding: Dense breast tissue is involved in milk production. It may densify your breasts.

Hormones: Hormone replacement therapy and birth control pills can make your breasts denser.

It's not an uncommon condition to have dense breasts; in reality, about half of all women over 40 have dense breasts. However, the precise connection between breast density and breast cancer is still unknown. But having dense breasts are believed to enhance the risk of breast cancer. There is no definite proof that your breast cancer risk will be reduced by reducing breast density. Thus, it is better to talk with your doctor and discuss what effect your breast cancer screening regime may have.

No comments:

Post a Comment