1. A method implemented by a computer programmed as an image processing device that analyzes a mammogram in digital form of a breast of a patient, comprising: extracting from a selected region of interest in the mammogram, plural surface area values or plural volume values calculated at corresponding plural scales associated with a texture of a parenchyma of the breast; applying, by the image processing device, said plural surface area values or said plural volume values directly as inputs to at least one of a linear discriminant classifier and an artificial neural network classifier; and generating a risk marker indicative of a breast disease risk for said patient based on an output of the at least one of a linear discriminant classifier and an artificial neural network classifier.