Breast Thermography: A Tool for Health

The incidence of breast cancer has increased substantially over the past 20 years. While advances in medicine have increased a women’s chance for survival, little has been done to reduce–or prevent–the cancer from occurring. 

Thermography uses a digital infrared thermal imaging to detect and record the infrared heat radiating from the surface of the body.  Clusters of abnormal cells that can develop into a cancer often have an increased blood supply that leads to an elevation in the temperature of the skin over the area.  Breast thermography has the ability to warn women years before any other procedure that inflammation is present that could later become cancer. This is the best prevention: Find inflammation that can be addressed at the earliest stages. Even though thermography was approved by the FDA as an adjunctive screening procedure for breast disease in 1982, few women are aware of this useful technology.

More than 800 peer-reviewed studies exist, involving more than 250,000 study participants describing its usefulness. The number of women in the studies range from 37,000 to 118,000, and some women were followed for up to 12 years. The studies revealed that breast thermography has an average sensitivity and specificity of 90% for detecting early changes in the breast that can possibly lead to cancer. 

Studies have shown that:
• An abnormal infrared image is an important marker of high risk for problems in the tissues. The marker is said (by some) to be 8 times more significant as a marker for disease than a family history of the cancer.
• A person with a persistently abnormal thermogram has a 10 times greater risk of developing breast cancer in the future.
• A positive infrared scan does not mean you have cancer. The increased heat  may be suggestive of presence of many different breast abnormalities such as mastitis, benign tumors, fibrocystic breast disease, and cancer.
• In a study from 1998, 100 new cases of ductal carcinoma in situ were diagnosed pre-operatively using a clinical breast exam, mammography, and infrared imaging.  The number of tumors diagnosed with mammography alone was 85%. The number of tumors diagnosed when a breast exam and a breast thermography were added increased to 95%.

Breast thermography can detect abnormalities six to seven years before the changes can be detected on a mammogram.

COMMENT: Every woman between the age of 20 and 40 needs to have a thermogram and so, if needed, they can start a breast health program years before breast cancer has a chance to set in. Every woman between the age of 40 and 65 needs to have a thermogram in conjunction with their mammogram.

Find a center near you….or, travel to a center in your area. The time you spend in travel can literally add years of health to your life!

“You Have Breast Cancer…”

Those words strike fear in the hearts of every woman. Most of us have known someone–a friend, a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor–who has been treated for breast cancer or worse, has died from the disease.

We are told to get our annual mammogram. We have come to believe that mammograms prevent breast cancer. They do not. In fact, they are a late test, detcting a change in the tissues that has already occurred. Women place unreasonably high hopes on the ability of the technology to reduce their risk of cancer. A recent study reports that women typically overestimate the risk reduction capability of the technology by more than 100-fold. (REF: Annals of Internal Medicine. 3 April 2007.)

Is there a better way?

At 49 years of age, I am old enough to remember the slogan, “Find the cause, find the cure.” But instead of identifying the cause, hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on finding the cure. We run for the cure, raise money for the cure, pray they will find the cure, wear pink ribbons for the cure. What ever happened to discovering the cause? Conventional medicine has no interest in the cause. If we identified the cause–and did something about it– we could eliminate much of cancer. The money is in the medicine, not in the cause…or the cure. 

So, is there a better way? Is there something women can do to keep from hearing, “YOU HAVE BREAST CANCER” at some point in their life? Currently, one in every eight women will be told they have breast cancer at some time in their life; it is anticipated that risk will rise to one in every 3 or 4 women; maybe even every 1 in 2 (50%).

Is there a way to detect abnormalities in the breast before they progress to cancer? ABSOLUTELY yes there is. More importantly, there is something you can do to improve the health of your breasts. That is what this blog is about. Pass the word. Stay tuned. Tell your friends about that a revolution has begun……