{"id":457,"date":"2012-12-12T16:43:32","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T16:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/?p=457"},"modified":"2022-03-31T23:32:27","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T23:32:27","slug":"understanding-breast-density","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/understanding-breast-density\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Breast Density"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<h3>What is breast density?<\/h3>\n<p>The term \u201cbreast density\u201d describes the composition of a woman\u2019s breasts.<br \/>\nHigh breast density means that there is a greater amount of milk producing, milk transporting, and connecting tissues, as compared to fatty tissue.<\/p>\n<h3>What are some factors that affect breast density?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Genetics:\u00a0high breast density tends to run in families<\/li>\n<li>Pregnancy: breast density decreases with each pregnancy<\/li>\n<li>Age:\u00a0younger women typically have denser breasts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How do I know if I have dense breasts?<\/h3>\n<p>A radiologist (the physician who interprets your screening mammogram) makes an assessment of breast density after your mammogram has been completed.<br \/>\nIf your breasts are dense then the radiologist will share that information with the physician who referred you for your mammogram and will also notify you.<\/p>\n<h3>What does it mean if I have dense breasts?<\/h3>\n<p>Your breast tissue may hide cancer or other abnormalities from the radiologist interpreting your screening mammogram.<br \/>\nYou may be at an increased risk of breast cancer, but, at this time, the amount of this risk is not understood and is controversial.<\/p>\n<h3>I\u2019ve been told I have dense breasts. Now what?<\/h3>\n<p>There are currently no specific recommendations on how to lower breast cancer risk for women with dense breasts.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s important that you continue getting regular mammograms and any further screening tests as recommended by your healthcare provider.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of your breast density, there are steps you can take to lower your overall breast cancer risk such as not smoking, limiting alcohol use, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining a normal weight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>References:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>National Cancer Institute. Mammograms.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/cancertopics\/factsheet\/detection\/mammograms\">http:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/cancertopics\/factsheet\/detection\/mammograms<\/a><\/li>\n<li>American College of Radiology and the Radiological Society of North America. Mammography.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.radiologyinfo.org\/en\/info.cfm?pg=mammo#part_ten\">http:\/\/www.radiologyinfo.org\/en\/info.cfm?pg=mammo#part_ten<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The ABCs of Breast Density.<a href=\"http:\/\/ww5.komen.org\/Content.aspx?id=19327353285&amp;terms=density\">http:\/\/ww5.komen.org\/Content.aspx?id=19327353285&amp;terms=density<\/a><\/li>\n<li>American College of Radiology. American College of Radiology Statement on Reporting Breast Density in Mammography Reports and Patient Summaries.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.acr.org\/About-Us\/Media-Center\/Position-Statements\/Position-Statements-Folder\/Statement-on-Reporting-Breast-Density-in-Mammography-Reports-and-Patient-Summaries\">http:\/\/www.acr.org\/About-Us\/Media-Center\/Position-Statements\/Position-Statements-Folder\/Statement-on-Reporting-Breast-Density-in-Mammography-Reports-and-Patient-Summaries<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Frequently Asked Questions What is breast density? The term \u201cbreast density\u201d describes the composition of a woman\u2019s breasts. High breast density means that there is a greater amount of milk producing, milk transporting, and connecting tissues, as compared to fatty tissue. What are some factors that affect breast density? Genetics:\u00a0high breast density tends to run [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2532,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions\/2532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}