The Follow-up Options For Breast Calcifications

By Dr. Fred Kiyaski

Breast calcifications refer to deposits of calcium within tissues as seen from a radiological image such as an X-ray (mammogram). They are a frequent finding in women approaching menopause. Seen from the mammogram, they look like small white flecks scattered throughout the tissue or clustered together. Fortunately, a majority of them are not pathological.

Mammograms are read and interpreted by specialists known as radiologists. The deposits fall under two broad categories depending on their appearance. These are the macrocalcifications and microcalcifications. The former group consists of deposits that are coarse and large. They are mostly located within milk ducts but may also occur within cysts. This is the group more likely to be found in the older women. Statistically, half of women older than 50 years are likely to have them. The probability the same will be found in younger women is only 10%.

Microcalcifications are finer and appear as white specks on images. When visualized at a particular site in the breast tissue, they are an indication of high mitotic activity. This means that there is a high rate of cell division as cells are synthesized to replace those that have been damaged. Neither macrocalcifications nor microcalcifications have any direct relationship to cancer.

Several risk factors are now known to predispose to the condition. Perhaps the most important of these is advancing age. The exact reason as to why more cases are found in the older age group is yet to be established. Besides age, the other risk factors are trauma, fibroadenoma, cysts, cell debris secretions, mammary duct ectasia and inflammatory conditions in the breast tissue among others. Claims that high calcium in the diet may cause deposition have no scientific backing.

The diagnosis of this condition is still a big challenge. The main reason for this is because the condition is largely asymptomatic. The deposits are extremely small and cannot be located during routine breast examinations. It is only during routine mammograms that they are picked incidentally. Upon examining the mammogram, the attending radiologist may or may not request for further investigations depending on the initial findings.

Macrocalcifications do not require any form of treatment or follow up as they are not associated with disease. For the microcalcifications the prognosis depends on the specific characteristics. This calls for more investigations. Deposits that are clustered together or irregularly shaped are likely to be pre-cancerous or cancerous. Additional investigations may include a second mammogram at a different magnification, ultrasound scanning and biopsy.

A biopsy is indicated when the initial picture is highly suggestive of cancer. This investigation involves removal of a surgical specimen from the diseased tissue and to subject it to microscopy. When this is done, it is possible to classify the lesions as being benign or cancerous. Available modes of treatment for cancerous cases include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Breast calcifications are still the subject of research as more information is sought regarding their relationship to cancer. The good news is that so far, they are regarded as normal degeneration changes. Women who happen to have them are advised to seek professional guidance on how to deal with their specific condition. Those with suspicious lesions need to be examined every six months to check for progression.

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Technicalities, Advantages And Cons Of Breast Cancer Screening

By Nicky Adams

Breast cancer screening strategies have quickly propagated throughout all countries of the world. The campaign is as an outcome of the boost of the occurrence of this monster disease. The procedure of verifying for the use of melanoma is a simple process.

There have been major milestones in the medical field, with invention of sophisticated technological equipment, able to detect various ailments in patients. The process of screening is not a complex one though. There is the clinical breast exam, or a woman can opt to do it herself, through a self examination. It is advisable to seek an expert's opinion on which method to use.

Statistics have indicated that there is a significant decline in cases of this killer disease. The success of curbing this killer disease can be attributed to the campaigns against this dangerous ailment. The use of self exam involves a woman checking her own breasts, or feeling them for lumps, changes in shape and sizes of the breast. There exists a danger of having a false diagnosis, by using this method. It is therefore not fully advocated for.

Women who are at an advanced age and females in educational institutions are advised to use a mammogram to detect any symptoms for tumor. Regular mammograms are advised, as they are quick in diagnosis and effective. This method is majorly used in less developed countries.

According to analysis, it has been found that mammography is worthless for heavy cells. Dense cells are an attribute of females below 40 years. Alternatively, for ladies who are 50 years and over, implementing a self- applied mammography isn't the best choice to follow. This is due to the simple fact that physicians have in past statistics confirmed that by means of self- management, individuals usually skip any irregularities. Therefore, they suggest individuals to have it performed by a physician. This is due to the fact that most dangerous breasts cancers begin from dense cells.

There are several factors to be considered to determine whether an individual is at a risk of being affected by this disease. First of all, the individuals who have a family history of this disease should be closely monitored. This is because they also have a high probability of getting it. Secondly, older women have a great risk of being affected. It is for this reason that this method needs a high degree of accuracy. The mechanism involved is by using a basic x ray.

The bosom of a lady are X rayed by a specific X ray device. This exposes the patient to a little ion technology rays which cannot cause any melanoma. This picture is delivered to a radiologist who is a doctor who has specialization in studying such pictures.

The results from the regular breast cancer screening should be well stored, as they help in monitoring any changes. They can be printed out for the patient, or stored in a computer.However, the technique of storing them in a computer is preferred, since technological advancement makes it easier to read and make correct conclusions using a computer.

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Diti UK provide thermal body screening services and can help early-stage disease detection and prevention of breast cancer for more information visit www.ditiuk.com

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Reducing the risks of breast cancer

By David Morris

Here are some of the ways you can stay healthy and happy

New figures released by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, show that in the USA, every 3 minutes one women is diagnosed with breast cancer. However, when investigating the actual causes for this cancer, it was found that only 5 to 10% of cases could be considered heredity.

The fact that more than 90% of cases are not heredity, is actually very good news. It means that the causes of most breast cancers are perhaps something we can change to reduce the risk.

Latest research sheds light on promising lines of prevention

The key could well be sunlight and natural vitamin D

There are two things that we can do, eating foods that are high in vitamin D, and exposing our skin to sunlight. According to researchers at Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada. These could be most effective ways we can reduce our risks of breast cancer.

It's a question of combing the proper foods with getting out under those gold rays of sunlight, the two together will allow your body to produce all the vitamin D it requires. Experts put this at 1,000 IU per day.

The first step is that you'll need some sun. Take the time twice a week to go out into the sunshine, were you can really expose your skin, your face, arms and even back to the sun for about 10 or 15 minutes. This will let your skin absorb the sunlight and allow it to start creating vitamin D.

The second step is to include foods that are high in vitamin D, to your diet. These includes foods such as eggs, mushrooms, bee pollen, salmon, mackerel and sardines. However, the case for taking vitamin D supplements has not been made, as research is yet to show if these supplements are as effective as vitamin D from foods or sunlight.

Along side this, there are a few additional things you can do that may help cut the risks of breast cancer as well as improving your overall health:

Exercise. There's no need to break out into a sweat here, a simple 30 minute walk each day is good enough. In fact it's been shown to very beneficial for your health and wellbeing, including: reducing blood pressure, reducing levels of depression and anxiety, retarding the progression of dementia and diabetes, cutting the risk of death, and also an effective was of losing weight.

Take care of your waistline. Have you collected a few too many pounds round your waist? Sliming down and maintaining a health weight will make you feel and look great. Along with exercising, you can also add a some super foods to your diet. Foods like spirulina, wheatgrass and barley grass will nourish your body and strengthen your digestion, as well as help your eliminate toxins stored in the body.

Taking folic acid. In order to keep making new healthy cells, your body needs plenty of folic acid or vitamin B9 as it's known. Natural sources of folic acid can be found in spirulina, bee pollen and barley grass.

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You can learn about treatment of breast cancer

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Cutting Carbs Could Cut Breast Cancer Risk After the Menopause

By David Morris

A recent study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, states that cutting your carbohydrates may reduce the risk of breast cancer in post menopausal women.

Including super foods like wheatgrass and chia seeds in your diet could reduce the affect carbs have.

Your body requires carbohydrates, as they are an important source of energy. But, and it's a big but, some carbohydrates are better for you than others. Much as we like them, many processed foods like white bread and white flour, white rice and pasta etc, have most of their fibre and nutrients removed from them, leaving behind a lot of starch and sugar, that your body absorbed easily.

There are two different ways to measure the effect that carbohydrate foods have on our blood sugar levels:

The first method is called the Glycaemic Index, or simply GI. It uses a scale from 1 to 100, to illustrate how much the food is increasing our blood sugar levels. The bigger the GI number, the greater increase in blood sugar, and the greater the risks of many serious diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

The second way of measuring, is the Glycaemic Load or GL. The GL includes within it, the GI of the food and in addition, includes the overall amount of the foods carbohydrate.

The GL takes into account more factors that the GI when looking at the effects of foods on blood sugar levels, it's considered to be a more reliable.

Higher Glycaemic Load correlated with an increased risk of breast cancer for some women.

The study was spread over 12 years, and looked at the breast cancer risks for a total of 334,849 women, aged between 34 to 66. Their diets were evaluated by the researchers in terms of GI, GL and the total carbohydrate intake.

During the course of the study 11,576 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. The researchers found that postmenopausal women with a high GL and high carbohydrate diet, had a significantly higher risk of breast cancer, when compared with the rest of the group.

The risks of breast cancer were unchanged for other women who were not postmenopausal, but who also had the same high GL and high carbohydrate diet.

The study's authors commented on the research findings saying: "Our results also suggest a potential interaction between fibre intake and glycaemic load and carbohydrates on the risk of breast cancer,".

It's important to choose the right foods, because dietary fibre and healthy fats can both help in slowing down the absorption of carbohydrate into your system, and this in turn helps to lower the overall GL of your diet. By eating healthily with a leaning towards foods with high dietary fibre, it will be easier to keep your blood sugar levels steady.

One way to do this is by taking the wholemeal option, instead of the white option. For example, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, and brown rice. You can also look at adding super foods to your diet. Wheatgrass powder, spirulina and chia seeds can help reduce the GL of a meal.

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You can find more information about  how to detect breast cancer

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