i don t think we should ever not know what s going on in our environment. i have always joked around with other virologists saying we need a covid weather map. people should be able to wake up in the morning and know what the viral count is so we can adjust our behaviors accordingly. one more topic i d love to get to before we let you go, doctor. some doctors pushing back on some new fda guidance for breast cancer screenings. the fda saying that doctors should tell patients if they have dest breast tissues because it poses a higher risk for breast cancer. some doctors say that might confuse patients. what do you think in where do you come down on this? i am a primary care physician. i am constantly screening women for breast cancer. i think the fda s guideline is a goodnov. you see breast density increased breast density so increase your risk of cancer fourfold. you can only detect that on
the fda is making a critical and possibly life-saving update to its mammography regulations for the first time in 20 years. soon centers will have to notify patients about the density of their breasts. and this is a big deal because women with dense breast tissue are 4 to 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer. and about half of women over 40 have dense breast tissue. jacqueline howard explains the reasoning behind the decision. reporter: the fda now requires mammography facilities to notify patients about their breast density and that is among other updates to the screening process as well. here in the united states, we know nearly half of women have dense breast tissue. and having dense breasts can make mammograms harder to read and increase the risk of breast cancer. so these updates from the fda,
Breast cancer is now the leading cause of global cancer incidence among women but determining who will develop breast cancer is still a challenge for the medical community.