Right around the age of 40, doctors start really pushing for a yearly mammogram. No big deal, right? It’s just part of being a woman. So, you schedule your appointment, go to your specialist, squish yourself up against an ice cold slab of metal and get your mammogram. Not the most pleasant experience, but you have now done your due diligence to prevent breast cancer.
But have you? Why did you choose a mammogram over a thermogram? Did you even choose or was there only one option? Mammograms are a wonderful tool for early breast cancer detection. A thermogram is used for breast cancer prevention. Oh, and your thermogram won’t expose you to as much radiation as 1,000 chest x-rays like your mammogram just did.
Why Haven’t You Heard About Thermography?
I hate to be the cynic in the room here, but, much like any other business, healthcare is all about the money. There is not a lot of money to be made in thermography, which is a factor that can’t be ignored when you ask why your doctor isn’t promoting it. It is very time consuming and labor intensive
for the doctor. Five mammograms can be completed in the time it takes to complete one thermogram.
Mammogram vs Thermogram: What’s The Difference?
Well, it’s basically physiology vs anatomy. Sounds pretty fancy, right? Don’t worry, I’m not that smart. One of the major differences between thermography and mammography is that a mammogram is detecting anatomical changes in your body. Physiological changes, which take place long before these anatomical changes, are what a thermogram is looking for. Therefore, regular thermograms can detect changes and early warning signs of breast cancer much sooner than a mammogram.
An abnormal thermogram was found to be 10 times more significant as a future risk factor for breast cancer than a history of breast cancer in your family.
Breast Cancer Detection vs Breast Cancer Prevention
Do you want to detect breast cancer in your body or prevent it from ever occurring?
A thermogram is essentially detecting heat. Heat is a sign of inflammation and inflammation is present in both cancerous and pre-cancerous cells. In a 10 year study conducted by Dr. M. Gautherie, they found that an abnormal thermogram was 10 times more significant as a future risk factor for breast cancer than a history of breast cancer in your family.
Cancers, even in their earliest stages, must find nutrients to maintain or to accelerate their growth. For this to happen, blood vessels will remain open, inactive blood vessels will become active and new ones will form. This process will cause an increase in surface temperature in the affected areas, which can be detected with infrared imaging, better known as thermography.
You can actually improve your breast health through diet and lifestyle changes if proactively monitoring the health of your breasts through thermograms.
I’m No Doctor.
It is important to note here that I am certainly not the person that should be making your breast health decisions. That is you. I am a huge fan of women being proactive and screening for breast cancer however they choose to do so. I just think we can be making more informed decisions and having more open conversations with our doctors if we know our options.
Did you know that the amount of radiation in one mammogram is equivalent to that of 1,000 chest x-rays? I hope to enable you to simply make the choice that is right for you once you have all the facts. Most women don’t even realize there is another choice out there because their doctor is not telling them.
In my opinion, we shouldn’t be screening for breast cancer, but instead for our breast health. Regular thermograms can tell you the health of your breasts, which can allow you to implement lifestyle changes that can actually improve the health of your breasts proactively, rather than waiting for a cancer diagnosis to make changes.
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