Goodbye mammogram–welcome to the thermography era
What Women Want
It’s getting old.
Every year, my GYN and I fight about mammograms.
He toes the medical establishment line that I NEED one and hands me a prescription. I tell him I’m not getting one, but, out of respect for him, I won’t throw out the Rx until I leave his office.
Honestly, I’m surprised one of us hasn’t fired the other yet.
Still, I just can’t imagine subjecting myself to the pain and humiliation of a mammogram–especially when there’s so little proof they make a difference.
And I know he would scoff if I explained that there’s a breast screening technique that can detect any trace of cancer much earlier than a mammogram would–without feeling like you’re putting your breasts in a vice.
I know it sounds too good to be true. But this is one of those rare instances where “too good to be true” is actually true.
Getting down to the cells
I’ve mentioned thermography in several e-Alerts over the years. It’s also known as digital infrared imaging–and that’s another important clue that this breast cancer detection method is on the right track, because infrared imaging eliminates exposure to radiation.
So already we’ve got three major factors that make thermography far superior to mammography: 1) No painful breast compression, 2) Earlier detection of breast cancer, 3) No radiation exposure.
In a recent Huffington Post article, Christiane Northrup, M.D.–an ob/gyn and bestselling author–reviewed these and other thermography benefits.
Dr. Northrup notes that thermography may be able to detect cancer activity eight to 10 years earlier than any other screening method. The reason? Thermal imaging identifies abnormal activity on the cellular level.
That’s one reason why thermogram’s produce “unambiguous results” in identifying cancerous and even pre-cancerous cells. And those clear results cut way down on the need for further tests.
Here’s why that’s a HUGE benefit: Around one million breast tumor biopsies are performed each year. And about 800,000 turn out to be benign. That’s a two-in-ten success rate, which is a pretty dreadful record considering that biopsies are often expensive and cause significant anxiety in patients.
Of course, like any technology, thermography is only as good as the thermologist.
A colleague of Dr. Northrup’s–Philip Getson, D.O.–has been a medical thermologist for nearly 30 years. He notes the importance of finding a board-certified doctor who is specially trained to interpret thermographic images.
You can find a qualified thermologist in your area by visiting the International Academy of Clinical Thermology website at iact-org.org. Unfortunately for me, there are no listings in Maryland (though there is one in Alaska and one in Zambia, South Africa).
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Sources:
“The Best Breast Test: The Promise of Thermography” Christiane Northrup, M.D., Huffington Post, 10/12/10, huffingtonpost.com
