Roundup: Women Should Know About Breast Density After Mammogram, Says New FDA Rule; and More News

New U.S. Rule Requires Notice of Breast Density after Mammograms, Says FDA

Starting this week, all mammography reports and result letters sent to patients in the U.S. will be required to include an assessment of breast density. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final rule, requiring that mammography reports include information on density was issued last year – but took effect Tuesday of this week.

Breast density is a measurement of how much fibroglandular tissue there is in a woman’s breast, compared to fatty tissue. The more fibroglandular tissue, the denser the breast.

“Fibrous and glandular tissue are harder to see through on a mammogram, so your breast tissue may be called ‘dense’ if you have a lot of these tissues (and not as much fat),” states the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Having dense breast tissue is common, but some women have more dense breast tissue than others. For most women, breasts become less dense with age, but in some women there’s little change, adds the ACS.

Nearly half of women who are 40 and older who get mammograms are found to have dense breast tissue, states the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Breast density is often inherited, but other factors can influence it, including using menopausal hormone therapy and having a low body mass index. Factors associated with lower breast density include increasing age and having children, adds the National Cancer Institute.

Yearly screening mammograms are recommended for women, beginning at age 40. Your doctor may recommend earlier screening if you have a higher risk of developing cancer because of genetics, a family history, a previous cancer diagnosis, or other factors. No matter your age, you should talk with your doctor if you have breast concerns.

Baptist Health South Florida includes breast density information in its mammogram reports. Here’s more information on mammograms.

Researchers: 14% of U.S. Children, Teens May Have Higher-Than-Normal Blood Pressure

About 14 percent of children and teens in the U.S. have high blood pressure or are likely to develop the condition, according to new research presented this month at the American Heart Association's Hypertension Scientific Sessions in Chicago. That percentage is higher than previous estimates.

It is estimated that nearly half of adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure, which can lead to higher risks of heart attacks, strokes and other problems. Previous studies have found links between high blood pressure in childhood and cardiovascular disease as an adult.

For the latest study, researchers drew from the 2017 to 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They analyzed blood pressure and body-mass-index (BMI) data for 2,600 youth ages 8 to 19. For those 13 and older, they used both percentile-based and adult blood pressure thresholds to compare the two.

Overall, 8.7 percent had elevated blood pressure and 5.4 percent had high blood pressure. Blood pressure measurements were higher among boys than girls and rose with age.

Since the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidelines in 2017 to revise blood pressure thresholds in kids up to 17 years old, estimates of how common blood pressure problems are in children and teens have been lacking, states a news release on the new study by the American Heart Association.

"It's important to monitor blood pressure in youth, because young people with heart disease and stroke risk factors are more likely to have cardiovascular disease as adults,” said lead researcher Ahlia Sekkarie, M.D., an epidemiologist in the division for heart disease and stroke prevention at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a statement. "Childhood is a great time to learn healthy habits to reduce these risks."

For children under 13, high blood pressure is diagnosed when three or more readings are at or above the 95th percentile, meaning 95 percent of other kids of the same age, sex and height have a lower blood pressure. Blood pressure is considered elevated when measurements fall within the 90th to 94th percentile.

Hypertension is diagnosed in teenagers as it is in adults. The systolic blood pressure – the top number – must be at least 130 mmHg, or the diastolic pressure – the bottom number – must be 80 mmHg or above. Elevated blood pressure is a systolic reading of 120 mmHg to 129 mmHg and a diastolic reading of less than 80 mmHg.

The new study’s findings are considered preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Vaping Rate Among Teens Declines, But Use of Nicotine Pouches Add to Public Health Concerns, CDC Says

E-cigarettes, also known as vaping devices, remain the most-used tobacco product among U.S. youths. During 2023–2024, the current use of e-cigarettes among middle and high school students declined from 7.7 percent to 5.9 percent, states the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

However, current nicotine pouch use (1.8 percent) did not change significantly during this period. These are small, dissolvable and flavored pouches containing nicotine derived from tobacco that users place in the mouth between the lip and gum.

The CDC’s new report indicates that youth vaping levels have fallen to the lowest in a decade. E-cigarette use among middle and high school students dropped from 2.13 million students in 2023 to 1.63 million students in 2024.

Experts say e-cigs, or “vaping” devices, can cause serious health issues in the short-term, and a still undetermined degree of harm in the long-term as research trials are ongoing. The National Institutes of Health states that vaping products may contain known carcinogens and toxic chemicals. Because most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the addictive substance in all tobacco products, many young people are enticed to smoke traditional cigarettes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC analyzed nationally representative data from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), a cross-sectional, school-based, self-administered web-based survey of U.S. students in middle school (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12). The survey was conducted among 29,861 students from 283 schools during January 22–May 22, 2024.