Breast cancer screenings and AI may protect against heart disease, new study suggests

Routine mammograms can “flag the risk of heart disease,” according to a new study in the European Heart Journal.

A recent story by Carolyn Y. Johnson in The Washington Post confirms that information. It also notes that radiologists for decades “have observed that breast cancer screening scans also reveal calcium deposits in the arteries woven through breast tissue, which cause the blood vessels to stiffen.”

According to Johnson, the study shows “how artificial intelligence [AI] can be used…to turn this ‘incidental finding’ into a warning system…a marker of increased risk for heart failure, heart attacks, stroke, and death.”

 

Heart disease is “the leading and often under-recognized cause of death in women,” his Post piece adds.

 

The story says that “studies have shown that many women mistakenly believe that breast cancer is the leading cause of death, and they may not take seriously the much greater risk of heart disease.”

 

Dr. Mary Cushman

Mary Cushman, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Vermont, who wasn't part of the study, is quoted to the effect that if women were educated while getting a mammogram, "it could be a game changer."

She also contends, according to an email she wrote, that “it is a clarion call that younger women [under 50] do have risk, that it can be detected, and that detection of risk should lead to interventions.”

 

By 2050, it is projected, “a third of women between the ages of 20 and 44 will have some form of heart disease,” the study says.

 

More information on cancer and heart disease can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten aimed at male caregivers. My other books are MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of my newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Check out my website at https://woodyweingarten.com for details.

Actress Sharon Stone opens up about having to surgically remove tumors bigger than her breast

After receiving a Courage Award from the Women's Cancer Research Fund earlier this month, actress Sharon Stone revisited having had "gigantic [tumors] bigger than my breasts" removed in 2001. 

A recent story by Anthony Dominic on the ET (Entertainment Tonight) website indicates that the 65-year-old actor insisted women shouldn't "ever feel compelled not to get a mammogram, not to get a blood test, not to get surgery because it doesn't matter. I'm standing here telling you I had a one and a half and more tissue of my breasts removed and none of you knew it."

Stone had opted to half one breast removed, and half of the second, ending with reconstruction that resulted in an unauthorized breast enlargement, before learning that her massive tumors had been benign.

Sharon Stone

The Basic Instinct star, speaking at the fundraising event at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, admitted that "those mammograms are not fun," but also said that the "mammogram machines that your taxpayer dollars pay for don't work if you don't walk up and put your breast up in that machine and let them slam that thing down."

She recalled that she'd gone into the hospital saying, "'If you open me up and it's cancer, please take both breasts,' because I am not a person defined by my breasts. You know, that might seem funny coming from me since you've all seen 'em."

During her plea for donations, she wiped tears from her eyes and noted that she'd just lost "half my money" via "this banking thing," an apparent reference to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. It's been a tough time in the world for everyone, she added, specifying her own difficulties — including the death of her brother Patrick to a heart attack last month at age 57. 

Stone, who'd received an Oscar nomination in 1996 for Casino, had originally revealed in her memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, that not only had she had the breast surgery but that she'd suffered a stroke in 2001.

Multiple sources reported that Stone was being honored for raising awareness about breast cancer. At one pint, she honored survivors in the audience by asking them to stand up and be recognized.

For more information on diagnoses and reconstruction, check out Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.