Mammograms may provide clues about women's risk for cardiovascular disease (Images can be used as a proxy for a coronary calcium scan in older women)

Medical Xpress / American Heart Association / Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging ^ | Mar. 15, 2022 | Carlos Iribarren et al

[ConservativeMind]

Routine mammograms may provide key insights for cardiovascular disease. Detection of breast arterial calcifications on breast mammograms was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women, according to research. This finding may be useful to help determine women's risk for heart disease and stroke.

Breast arterial calcification, calcium build-up within the middle layer of the breast's arterial wall, is related to aging, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and inflammation, and is a marker of stiffening in the arteries. It is not the same as calcification of the inner layer of the arteries (the layer that is in contact with the blood), which is typically found in people who smoke or those with high cholesterol levels. Breast arterial calcification is a common finding that shows up as white areas in the breast's arteries on a mammogram; however, it is not thought to be related to cancer.

"In an earlier study of this same research group, we reported that among women ages 60 to 79, 26% of the women had breast arterial calcification, and the percentage increased with age to more than half of women having evidence of the finding between ages 75 to 79 years," said the author Carlos Iribarren, M.D. "Research has confirmed the calculators we currently use to assess an individual's 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular disease are not as accurate in women as they are in men."

The analysis found:

Women who had breast arterial calcification present on their mammogram were 51% more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke compared with women who did not have breast arterial calcification.

Women with breast arterial calcification were 23% more likely to develop any type of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, stroke, heart failure and diseases of the peripheral arteries.

[ConservativeMind]

I believe most imaging centers allow copies for personal use, if a CT tech or doctor at the imaging location won’t tell you if you have breast arterial calcifications.

This option will not catch calcium plaque formations earlier than a coronary calcium scan, but if you find them, you likely have them in other locations, such as your heart.

It’s nice, because there is no extra radiation from a second chest scan, needed.

[ConservativeMind]

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[nickcarraway]

I’m shocked they are still suing mammograms. I remember reading 20 years ago that they would be replaced by something safer and more effective.

[dsrtsage]

I am sure the risk increases exponentially with every subsequent covid shot

[TChad]

Makes sense. This should have been figured out decades ago.

[Spktyr]

The thing that was supposed to replace it turned out to be no safer and less effective.

[BamaBelle]

I have to get a mammogram once a year and six months after that a breast MRI. This is because both of my sisters are breast cancer survivors. I think it’s a bit excessive and my two sisters don’t get checked as much as my doc checks me. I am 67 y.o. I think I’m having a chat with doc about it when I go in April...