Dense breast tissue

Editor-In-Chief: Prab R Tumpati, MD
Obesity, Sleep & Internal medicine
Founder, WikiMD Wellnesspedia &
W8MD medical weight loss NYC and sleep center NYC

Dense breast tissue
Synonyms	Mammographic breast density
Pronounce	N/A
Specialty	N/A
Symptoms	No specific symptoms, but may affect mammography results
Complications	Increased risk of breast cancer
Onset	Varies, often identified during routine mammograms
Duration	Persistent, as breast density is a characteristic of breast tissue
Types	N/A
Causes	Genetic factors, hormonal influences
Risks	Family history of breast cancer, hormone replacement therapy
Diagnosis	Mammogram
Differential diagnosis	Breast cancer, benign breast disease
Prevention	Regular screening, awareness of breast density
Treatment	No specific treatment, but additional imaging like ultrasound or MRI may be recommended
Medication	N/A
Prognosis	Varies, but dense breast tissue itself is not a disease
Frequency	Common, affects about 40-50% of women
Deaths	N/A

Dense breast tissue refers to the appearance of breast tissue on a mammogram. It's a normal and common finding. Breast tissue is composed of milk glands, milk ducts and supportive tissue (dense breast tissue), and fatty tissue (non-dense breast tissue). When viewed on a mammogram, women with dense breasts have more dense tissue than fatty tissue.

Introduction

Dense breast tissue is detected on a mammogram. A mammogram is an X-ray image of your breasts used to screen for breast cancer. Dense breast tissue appears as a solid white area on a mammogram, and fat appears as a dark area.

Significance

Dense breast tissue can make it harder to evaluate the results of your mammogram and may also be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. However, this doesn't mean you have breast cancer. Dense breast tissue is common and normal.

Risk Factors

Some factors can affect the likelihood of having dense breasts. For example, younger women are more likely to have dense breasts than older women. Also, women who take hormone therapy for menopause are more likely to have dense breasts.

Breast Cancer Screening

If you have dense breasts, you might wonder what this means for your breast cancer risk. Studies show that dense breasts increase your risk of breast cancer. Still, dense breasts are common and not abnormal. However, having dense breasts does make it more difficult for doctors to spot cancer on mammograms.

See Also

• Mammogram
• Breast Cancer
• Hormone Therapy

References

• Breast Cancer Risk Factors
• Breast Cancer Screening

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