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Posts Tagged ‘Mammograms’

Breast Arterial Calcification (Benign)

In a recent study report published in the Clinical Journals of the American Society of Nephrology (CJSAN), the medical researchers have put forward the importance of routine mammograms beyond normal breast cancer screening, as the research team found out that routine mammograms that were performed on patients with breast cancer proved well in identifying out calcifications in the blood vessels of the patients that were affected with advanced kidney disorders!

The medical research team though took very less sample for evaluation on this topic, but says it to be a positive sign in the effective usage of mammogram, as found out that routine mammograms showed effective in depicting out arterial calcium deposits, which can even add value in the field of heart disease treatment!

In more than two-thirds of women with end-stage-renal-disease (ESRD), the custom mammogram showed calcium deposits in the breast arteries of them! In chronic kidney disease/syndromes (CKD), breast arterial calcification is a precise and relevant marker of medical vascular calcification, and occurrence is noticeably increased in end-stage-renal-disease, and other highly developed chronic kidney diseases! Researchers believe the arterial calcium deposits found in the patients (with CKD and/or ESRD) passed through mammogram will contribute in a better way by keeping a check on to the increased rate of death associated with heart disorders/syndromes! More to arterial calcifications/the inner layer of the blood vessels (in case of atherosclerosis), calcification can even occur in the middle layer of the artery! Calcium deposits in the middle layer of the arteries increase cardiovascular disorder risk, making the arteries rigid, and difficult to identify out!

The research team evaluated breast artery tissue samples from a slot of 16 women that had kidney disorders. All the taken out samples showed calcification of the breast artery, but not one amongst showed out to inner layer/intimal calcifications! On reviewing the routine mammograms that were performed on around 71 women affected with ESRD, the research team found 63 percent of patients affected with breast arterial calcifications! On the dissimilar front, in a combined group of women that were unaffected of kidney disorders, the routine mammogram showed out around 17 percent cases of breast arterial calcification! Even before the kidney disorder advanced to ESRD, around 35 percent women already had breast arterial calcification on mammograms that were carried out long back! Researchers found that in more than 90 percent of women that had breast artery calcification, already, showed calcifications in their other blood vessels, as well, and they believe calcium that was found deposited through mammogram can be an indicative marker of regular/generalized vascular calcifications, in patients with kidney disorders!

The study result holds up true the hypothesis that CKD preorders to medical calcification that medical research team believes can positively add value to the cardiovascular disease prevention! Mammogram will be a useful tool for examining out the progression/developments of medical calcifications, as most of the women with CKD are at the right age of being recommended for mammograms! The research team even understands the necessity of further research and studies on arterial calcium deposits in patients affected with kidney disorders, to determine out, if early detection and appropriate treatment action might help to trim down the linked perils of cardiovascular disease!

The study had some vital restraining factors, as had small amount of patient sample, but the researchers consider that this advancement of mammogram will surely add more value in the domain of cardiovascular disorders, by helping care providers keep a check on heart diseases!

Hormone replacement therapy after menopause may interfere with the accuracy of mammograms used to screen for breast cancer and the risk may be greater with hormones delivered by patch or injection compared with pills, found in a recent study.

According to an article in the journal Menopause, it is said that women on HRT at the time of the mammogram, had a false-positive, meaning they turned out not to have cancer on further testing. And they also contradict the theory that HRT patches and injections might be less likely to cause problems than pills. In addition, the study found that a newer type of hormone therapy used in some countries — a drug called tibolone, which has weak estrogen-like properties –

seemed to affect mammogram accuracy just as much as conventional HRT did. Researchers found that nearly 75% of Danish women who underwent screening mammography between 1993 and 2007, current hormone users were more likely to have a false-positive result than women who had never used HRT.

When the researchers looked at the various types of hormone therapy, they found that women using patches with combination estrogen-progesterone replacement, as well as those on injections of estrogen only, had about twice the false-positive risk of women using oral HRT. Most women on HRT, regardless of the type, did not have a false-positive.

“Data are needed from other studies before general advice can be given on what kind of hormone is the safest,” Dr. Sisse H. Njor, of the University of Copenhagen, declared to the Reuters Health in an email.

The problem with HRT appears is that it increases breast density. After menopause, women’s breast tissue generally becomes less dense and more fatty, but women on HRT tend to have breast density that is more similar to younger women. On mammograms, Njor explained, tumors appear as “bright” spots, whereas fat tissue appears dark. Dense breast tissue, on the other hand, also appears bright, which makes mammogram interpretation more difficult. The theory had been that HRT delivered by patch or injection might be less likely to cause problems than pills because those forms might have a less extensive effect on tissues throughout the body, including breast tissue.

“Our results did not support the hypothesis,” Njor said. Exactly why combination patches and estrogen injections were linked to an increased risk of false-positives is unclear. Differences in how the various forms of HRT affect women’s hormone fluctuations might play a role, the researchers speculate.

Because of the established link between HRT and reduced mammogram accuracy, experts generally say that doctors and women should be aware of the risk, but that should not stop women from having mammography screening.

Studies indicate that once a woman stops using HRT, the odds of having a false-positive mammogram go down, though it is not clear how long it typically takes for those odds to reach the level of women who have never used HRT, according to Njor.

A Swedish Research suggests, the premature death toll from breast cancer may be eliminated by more than 40 percent by Regular screening of mammogram Investigation.

A research based study in Sweden( 2003) explained how women in their 40s undergone mammograms had a 48% lower death toll from breast cancer. An estimated 18% reduction out of that 48% risk reduction, in mortality was from improved treatment, and a 30% mortality reduction was attributed to mammography alone.Data from Sweden suggests that breast cancers in women in their 40s are more biologically aggressive and therefore spread faster to other parts of the body sooner than in older women and yearly mammograms for those women may double the possibilities of survival than those undergoing mammograms once in 2 years. Yearly mammograms will save lives nine times more than those who underwent mammograms once in every three years. Thus,A Mammography is crucial every year in order to keep cancer in check at it’s onset.

The American Cancer Society recommends women to start mammograms at age 40 and continue for the rest of the lifespan. Women suffering from the terminal disease between the age group of 40 and higher have double the chances of spreading to lymph nodes within a year.

Surprisingly, men diagnosed with breast cancer do not die from the disease in maximum cases. But for women, the earlier it is detected, the better are the chances of survival.