An affordable and safe screening solution.
What is thermography?
Thermography is a no contact, radiation-free, state-of-the-art screening procedure that uses heat detection to locate areas of temperature differences in the body. Most pathological processes demonstrate a form of increased heat, and some neurological processes show excessive cold, or hypothermia. Breast disease can be detected by looking for areas of angiogenesis, or increase of blood vessels supplied by a growing tumor. Thermography has been used for breast cancer detection since 1956. It was cleared by the FDA in 1982 as an adjunctive procedure for breast cancer screening. There are over 800 published studies in peer reviewed journals about thermography of the breast alone. Most of these articles show the success rate of breast thermography greater than 90%. A 2008 study at the New York Presbyterian Hospital in Cornell was published in the American Journal of Surgery showing a 97% sensitivity.
Why thermography?
As toxins and excessive hormones create increased heat in the breast, monitoring of these heat patterns is an excellent way to promote wellness and see the response to various health approaches and treatments. Many women, including some doctors, fear mammograms are causing over-treatment and resulting in more cases of cancer. According to a recent study published by scientists in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1.3 million US women have received unnecessary and invasive cancer treatments including surgery, radiology, hormone therapy and chemotherapy over the last 30 years. This is in large part due to routine mammograms detecting harmless tumors. Other studies conducted in European countries have concluded mammograms reduce the risk of death from cancer by less than 10 percent or not at all. Thermography can reduce the number of false positives and over-treatment of breast cancer by demonstrating whether a tumor is metabolically active or not when combined with anatomical testing.
Routine Breast Screening
Thermography is an effective, safe, and comfortable adjunctive procedure for screening for breast cancer. Thermography is NOT a stand-alone diagnostic test, but is a safer and more comfortable way for women to screen for breast cancer more frequently. In some cases, breast thermography has detected breast cancer in women with negative mammograms. The November 2012 article in the New England Journal of Medicine brought this fact to light. “Mammograms have failed to reduce fatalities in cancer across a population base as a sole method of screening.” Thus, a multi-modal approach, incorporating more methods than just mammography, could be life-saving to many women.
Young Women at Risk
An often neglected category is women under 40, as well as women with dense breasts who are unable to be effectively screened with mammography and the current standard of care. Over 20,000 cases of breast cancer have been reported annually in women under the age of 40. This population has been consistently neglected by traditional breast cancer screenings. When cancer strikes younger women, it is typically a more aggressive form and is less likely to respond to treatment. There is currently no other routine screening test for women under 40. Thermography is an ideal test for this age group considering it is a radiation-free screening.