It’s a good day when I read that mainstream medicine is recognizing what we integrationists have been saying for some time … the mammogram may not be the screening tool once thought – particularly for women with dense breast tissue.
You see, dense breast tissue is difficult to read as healthy tissue or tumorous tissue. It can look the same to the reading radiologist. This week’s New York Times article, Dense Breasts May Obscure Mammogram Results, does an excellent job of sharing these concerns as well as next steps for the women most effected.
If you have dense breasts, please read the article, or share with a woman in your life you care about.
While the debate over mammograms as a best screening tool goes on, and I do have my concerns about over-diagnosis + treatment of potentially self-resolving changes in breast tissue, plus over-exposing healthy breast tissue to radiation, today’s blog is about dense breast health and “next steps”.
If you are planning a mammogram – start with a digital or 3-D mammogram. If your report comes back as clear, but with dense breast tissue, please ask your doctor to schedule an ultrasound (less invasive, and less costly), or 3-D MRI. This is good preventive medicine, and favorable to living with fear or dread of cancer.
Cancer screening research is an evolving field of medicine. Stay progressive in your approach to health. Don’t take one authorities’ opinion over your own intuitive sense. Rising stress is counter to healing.
Seeking more ways to keep your breasts healthy? Eat clean, unprocessed food, exercise, reduce stress, seek joy and release anger/fear/resentments. In Chinese Medicine the liver + stomach meridians run up towards and through the breast. Congested liver energy gives rise to stagnation + heat which blocks vibrant flow through the breasts, leading to dis-ease, not necessarily cancer, but fibrocystic breasts, tenderness or pain.
Ultimately, improving the flow in our lives, following our heart, staying open and asking questions empowers us and creates more vitality.
If your breasts are dense, or your life is stuck, I wish you the courage and self-love to be pro-active and take the next step in your health. Listen to your intuition. If your life needs a major tune-up for , notice where. Often we already know – be it changing jobs, career, relationship, location …. to make our hearts sing. Acupuncture, botanical medicine, nutrition, and lifestyle changes are excellent modalities of support. Choose your path, and welcome more healing.
For more information on dense breast health, visit: are you dense.com or set up an appointment to work with me directly.