Paul Dale, MD
Paul Dale, MD, chief of surgical oncology and associate professor of clinical surgery, Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, Missouri.
Calcium can be confusing. On the one hand, we need it — not just for bones, but because it plays a vital role in many of the body’s systems, including the nerves, the heart and circulation.
Calcification, however, is not the result of calcium in the foods we eat or supplements. It’s the result of an imbalance between calcium and other minerals, leading to deposits throughout the body. Kidney stones and gallstones are relatively benign examples of such calcifications, which can exist in many tissues including the lungs, pancreas and brain, as well as other parts of the body. Now, a new study finds that when mammography shows calcification in the breast, it correlates with a heightened risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
A certain amount of tissue calcification is normal and no cause for alarm. However, researchers have increasingly become concerned about calcification in blood vessels of the breasts (this is different from cancerous tumors in the breast… more on that later)… it may be a sign that women have calcification elsewhere that may be dangerous.
This recent study from researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Missouri, analyzed 793 mammograms of women between the ages of 40 and mid-80s, all of whom had had strokes. They found that about 10% of the mammograms showed arterial calcifications. Of particular interest, though, was another finding — 56% of the 204 women in the group who had previously suffered a stroke had arterial breast calcification.
Paul Dale, MD, chief of surgical oncology at the University’s Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, was lead researcher for the study. He explained that calcification is a cellular process and he believes it is caused by arterial disease, which then, in turn, contributes to the disease process as well. There are three types of breast calcification — arterial calcification, which is the type associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke… calcification in the breast tissue, which can indicate presence of cancer… and calcifications that simply reflect fibrocystic changes in the breast, and are of no consequence. Mammography can usually discern the different types.
Dr. Dale says that in women over the age of 65, blood vessels in the breast typically start to develop calcium deposits, which doesn’t appear to relate to heightened disease risk. Research is now underway to see if younger women whose mammograms show calcification also have evidence of heart disease or diabetes. This, he says, will be a definitive study of the association. They hope to finish it before the end of 2008.
Women can and should ask about vascular calcifications when they have mammograms. If you discover that you have vascular calcification in the breasts, Dr. Dale stresses that this does not necessarily mean you are at heightened risk of disease — but it should prompt you to bring this up with your primary care doctor. Together you can investigate any other risks you might have for these diseases and what steps you can take to lower them. Note: There is no reason to curtail dairy foods or calcium supplements in terms of calcification concern — intake of calcium is totally separate from the calcification process, says Dr. Dale.
