Routine Mammograms Could Also Prevent Heart Disease

There's another great reason for women to get annual mammograms. A new study reveals that it could also prevent a bigger killer: heart disease. That's because mammograms can uncover calcium deposits in breast arteries, which could be similar to deposits in arteries leading to the heart. According to Dr. Larry Altshuler, M.D., this could be a game-changer when it comes to women's health.

"Many women, especially younger women, are unaware of their heart health," said Dr. Altshuler, the Director of Oncology Intake at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. "But if a mammogram can be a two-tier detector, more women could take control of their health and prevent heart attacks or strokes."

The results of the study were presented on April 3 at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting. The study included nearly 300 women who had digital mammography. They also all had a separate, unrelated CT scan within a year of their breast cancer screening.

Researchers reviewing the digital mammograms for signs of calcium deposits in the breast arteries, which show up bright white in X-ray scans. About 42 percent of the women in the study had these deposits. The investigators found that about seven out of ten of the women who had evidence of breast artery calcification on their mammogram also had calcium deposits in their heart arteries.

Young and middle-aged women in danger of heart disease could particularly benefit from this 'add-on' to their routine mammogram. The U.S. Task Force recommends mammograms beginning at age 50; the American Cancer Society at age 45. The Task Force also recommends against clinical exams by a doctor and self-exams by patients. Their reasoning is that the mortality rate is the same with or without screening mammograms and exams, which may lead to unnecessary treatment.

"Also, some cancers (DCIS) don't need treatment, although this is only 15 percent of DCIS patients. These groups also opine that overtreatment causes more harm than benefit," added Dr. Altshuler.

Women under 50 need to get checked, as about 21 percent of them test positive for breast cancer. Dr. Altshuler said that he commonly sees patients in their forties with breast cancer which was picked up by one of these three methods.

"In fact, I've seen patients who felt lumps that were cancerous even a few months after a normal mammogram," he said. "In addition, mortality risk increases with the stage of the cancer and delays in diagnosis can cause progression in stage. In addition, these groups did not consider that the earlier the cancer is detected, the less treatment is needed, cost is less and quality of life is better. In addition, it has now been demonstrated that mammograms can pick up heart disease as well, which is doubly beneficial for women, especially in middle age."

To prevent heart disease, Dr. Altshuler recommends a better lifestyle, routine exercise and limiting alcohol consumption to one drink per day. Post-menopausal women should avoid hormones, and stop smoking.

Dr. Altshuler has also heard of alternative therapies for preventing heart disease, including meditation, nutritional supplements like CoQ10, L-carnitine, hawthorn, pomegranate juice, and tea. Chelation has been shown to be beneficial but has had a lot of push-back from the medical community.

To prevent heart failure, he recommends you avoid drinking soda, eat dark chocolate, drink beetroot juice to increase the power of heart muscles by 13 percent, taking a daily sauna, and acupuncture. These things may help keep women, who are more susceptible to heart disease, healthy.

"Women often have more subtle or atypical symptoms and diagnostic tests may be more unreliable or misleading (including Troponin or CPK levels and arteriogram)," said Dr. Altshuler. "As a result, they are more likely to die of a heart attack than men."

Larry Altshuler, M.D. is the author of the "Doctor, Say What?" series; "Part 1 - The Inside Scoop to Getting the Best Health Care" and "Part II - The Guides: What Works and What Doesn't for Over 90 Medical Conditions." He is a practicing Internist, Hospitalist and Integrative practitioner at a major medical center in the Midwest.