Breast Cancer News Update

The Mayo Clinic has a good overview on how to reduce your risk to breast cancer.  I’ve lamented over the last two years on whether drinking wine or eating beef increase your risk factors.   According to the Mayo Clinic, one should limit alcohol intake, control your weight, and get plenty of physical activity.  Other recommendations include breast feeding (not an option at the moment), discontinuing hormonal therapy, and avoiding exposure to environmental pollution.

The University of Michigan Health System reports that, “[a] drug commonly used to treat depression and anxiety disorder was effective at reducing joint and muscle pain associated with a breast cancer treatment..” 

MSNBCreports that the timing of your menstrual cycle can affect your mammography results. 

Women who undergo regular mammograms may want to consider scheduling their screening for the first week of their menstrual cycle, according to a new study.

The breast tissue may be less dense during this week, so mammograms conducted at this time may be more accurate for some women, the researchers said.

Mammograms are known to be less accurate in younger women, in general, than in older women, and one reason for this might be that younger women have denser breast tissue, which makes tumors harder to spot. (A separate line of research has linked denser breast tissue with a higher risk of breast cancer in women of any given age.)

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