Breast density is a term that describes the relative amount of these different types of breast tissue as seen on a mammogram. Dense breast tissue has relatively high amounts of glandular tissue and fibrous connective tissue and relatively low amounts of fatty breast tissue.
Fibrous and glandular tissue are harder to see through on a mammogram, so your breast tissue may be called 'dense' if you have a lot of these tissues (and not as much fat). Having dense breast tissue is common. Some women have more dense breast tissue than others. For most women, breasts become less dense with age.
Can I change my breast density? No — breast density is determined by genetics, age, menopause status and family history. Weight gain and certain medications can also influence your breast density.
Women who follow a regular Western diet of high-fat dairy products, red meat consumption, and high-sugar foods are at greater risk of maintaining dense breast tissue and are more inclined to develop breast cancer.
Studies have shown that four in 10 cases of breast cancer in younger women could be attributed to high breast density. This means breast density could be more important than a person's family history when determining breast cancer risk factors.
Dense breasts are not considered an abnormal breast condition or a disease. However, dense breasts are a risk factor for breast cancer. That is, women with dense breasts have a higher risk of breast cancer than women with fatty breasts.
An increase in breast density often is seen in women taking exogenous hormones such as hormonal replacement therapy. Having conditions that change the fluid status of the body, such as heart failure or renal failure, can also change the person's breast density.
But if you lose or gain a lot of weight, your breasts can look more or less dense on your mammogram – though the amount of dense tissue will stay the same. This is because if you gain weight, there will be more fatty tissue (non-dense) in your breasts. If you lose weight, you will lose fatty tissue from your breasts.
Increases in vitamin D and calcium intakes were associated with decreases in breast densities, suggesting that dietary vitamin D and calcium could reduce breast cancer risk possibly through influences on breast tissue morphology.
However, women with dense breasts can consider following a dense breast tissue diet, which can help decrease breast density and have healthy breasts. We recommend: Eliminating caffeine. Decreasing or eliminating red meat.
A woman's level of physical activity does not affect the density of her breasts, according to research presented at 10th European Breast Cancer Conference.
Roughly half of women ages 40 to 74 have dense breasts. The breasts of aging women become less dense over time, although nearly a third of all women age 65 and older still have dense breasts, Braithwaite said. The USPSTF recommends a mammogram every two years for women in the 50 to 74 age group.
If you have dense breast tissue and are at an increased risk of breast cancer due to a genetic mutation or other factors, your care team may recommend alternating MRIs and mammograms every six months. “That way we'll be sure to catch any abnormalities as early as possible,” Cohen says.
Breast density is not a static trait. Breast density changes with age, for example. On average, older women have lower density breast tissue than do younger women. The greatest change in density occurs during the menopause years.
“Breast density has nothing to do with how your breasts look or feel,” Dr. Musser explains. “It does not affect the fit of bras and swimming suits or determine the degree of sagging a woman experiences with age. It is an assessment based on the mammographic appearance of your breast tissue.”
For the majority of us, caffeine will not affect breast health and symptoms. It will not change breast density on your mammogram.
The breasts are almost entirely fatty (about 10% of women). A few areas of dense tissue are scattered through the breasts (about 40% of women). The breasts are evenly dense throughout (about 40% of women).
If you're one of the many women with dense breast tissue, you'll need to get extra familiar with your breasts in monthly self-exams. That's because dense tissue can feel fibrous or lumpy compared with fattier tissue, and detecting an abnormal spot can be trickier.
No. Breast pain or tenderness is not related to breast density. Breast pain that comes and goes is often because of changes in hormones due to your period and is most common on the sides of your breasts (near your arms and underarms).
"Changes in density assessment may also occur due to other factors such as weight loss or gain and as a result of aging. For a patient with a change in her density assessment from one year to the next, a conversation with her doctor may offer an explanation and clear up confusion.
Fibrocystic breast changes are common; about one-half of all women will experience them at some point in their lives. These changes usually occur in premenopausal women and are affected by shifts in hormone levels. You may notice that your symptoms worsen just before your menstrual period.
Symptoms of stage 1 breast cancer include skin irritation or dimpling, swelling/redness/scaling/flaking/thickening of the nipple or breast skin, change in the size or the shape of the breast, nipple turning inward, change in the appearance of a nipple, nipple discharge that is not breast milk, breast pain, nipple pain, ...
The most common symptom of breast cancer is a new lump or mass (although most breast lumps are not cancer). A painless, hard mass that has irregular edges is more likely to be cancer, but breast cancers can be also soft, round, tender, or even painful.