Women’s Imaging

DEXA, DXA – Bone Density Testing 

From the National Osteoporosis Foundation:

woman bone density screeningA bone density test tells you if you have normal bone density, low bone density (osteopenia) or osteoporosis. It is the only test that can diagnose osteoporosis. The lower your bone density, the greater your risk of breaking a bone. A bone density test can help you and your healthcare provider:

  • Learn if you have weak bones or osteoporosis before you break a bone
  • Predict your chance of breaking a bone in the future
  • See if your bone density is improving, getting worse or staying the same
  • Find out how well an osteoporosis medicine is working
  • Let you know if you have osteoporosis after you break a bone

It is recommended to get a bone density test if you: 

  • Are a woman age 65 or older
  • Area man age 70 or older
  • Break a bone after age 50
  • Are a woman of menopausal age with risk factors
  • You are a postmenopausal woman under age 65 with risk factors
  • You are a man age 50-69 with risk factors

To learn more about bone density screenings and osteoporosis risk factors, visit www.nof.org.


Mammograms & Ultrasounds

Ultrasound - Diagnostic ImagingAt MMC, we are committed to offering affordable, high-quality, low dose, digital mammograms and ultrasounds performed by specially trained technologists and radiologists in our comfortable and friendly women suites.

Digital Mammography: MMC Digital Mammography is certified by the American College of Radiology, FDA and State of Louisiana as an accredited mammography program. Digital mammography can detect early-stage breast cancer. If you’re a woman 40 years of age or older, you should have a mammogram every year.

Schedule your mammogram today by calling us at (318) 371-2166.

A physician’s order is required for diagnostic mammograms, as well as a primary care physician to receive screening reports.

MammogramIn the fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea,” the heroine cannot sleep because she can feel a very small lump, even though it’s covered by dozens of mattresses.

In real life, we are not that lucky. By the time we can feel a lump in our own breasts, a cancerous tumor could possibly have grown larger and spread beyond the breast into other areas of our bodies. But with regular mammograms, doctors can detect small tumors at a much earlier stage – years before we can feel them – which significantly increases the opportunity for successful treatment.

Throughout the year and especially during October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our hospital wants to make sure women know how important it is to have regular mammograms or x-rays of the breasts.

Doctors know that screenings for breast cancer save thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women took advantage of these tests.

While progress has been made across the board, including less invasive surgeries, genetic testing and more advanced diagnostic technology, an estimated 40,000 women are expected to die from breast cancer this year.

That means breast cancer is still one of the top killers of women in the United States, more than accidents, pneumonia or the flu. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the U.S., other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.

That’s the bad news. But there’s good news as well. Right now there are about two and a half million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

Breast cancer death rates are going down. This is the result of more women having mammograms which can find the cancer during its earliest, most curable stages, as well as advances in treatment.

The chance of a woman having breast cancer some time during her life is about 1 in 8 while the chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 35. About 182,460 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.