What Questions Should Patients Ask About Breast Density and Mammograms?
What Questions Should Patients Ask About Breast Density and Mammograms? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.
How can breast cancer patients take action to improve their quality of care? Respected breast cancer expert Dr. Regina Hampton shares advice and insights on breast imaging and some situations when additional imaging may be necessary. Learn about what questions to ask related to breast density and mammograms.
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Transcript:
Dr. Nicole Rochester:
If we start to talk about treatment access, I want to focus on access to quality treatment, in addition to the geographical barriers, we know that sometimes patients have limited access to quality breast cancer care due to their own gaps in knowledge, and studies show that patients who are knowledgeable and engaged in their healthcare received better care. So can you speak to what we have learned specifically if we talk about breast density and the various ways that patients should ask questions to their health care providers, those with dense breast tissue, what are some of the questions that they should be asking, and what should patients with increased breast density know?
Dr. Regina Hampton:
One of the things I like to start out with letting people know is that breast density is not anything bad. It’s just normal breast tissue. And when we’re younger and our breasts are a little more perky and sitting up, we tend to have more density in the breast, which is great, because you’re perky and high, but mammograms are not the best when you have dense breast tissue. As we start to get more seasoned and the breasts start to go south, that’s actually when mammograms get better, so it’s really important for patients to look at their report and see what they’re saying about breast density, many times they will recommend that a woman come in for additional imaging, it could be an ultrasound, it could be additional mammograms, so it’s really important that women tune into that, and if they don’t understand, to be able to call the facility and ask questions. And I think the big thing is not to be afraid if they ask you to come back in, what I tell people is, “You know what? That just means somebody is looking at your mammogram, and it doesn’t mean that there’s anything bad, it means somebody was looking and saying, ‘We might need to look a little deeper and just make sure there’s not anything going on,’” so trying to eliminate that fear when they see that word, density.
And if you get a normal mammogram, but you are feeling something abnormal, you need to ask some more questions and ask for more tests.
