Diagnostic imaging can save lives, it’s used and marketed heavily as a screening tool for early diagnosis, and it’s touted for its ability to detect even the tiniest malformations, but is all of that really true? Is it the right choice in every situation? There are numerous issues with diagnostic testing; one major concern is radiation. For example, a single chest x-ray exposes the patient to about 0.1 mSv. This is about the same amount of radiation people are exposed to naturally over the course of about 10 days. A mammogram exposes a woman to 0.4 mSv, or about the amount a person would expect to get from natural background exposure over 7 weeks.1.
Being exposed to any amount of ionizing radiation causes cell and tissue damage, and it can even lead to cancer. Radiation is sometimes necessary, but at other times, it’s questionable as to how much risk outweighs the benefit in diagnostic imaging.
In 1985, Breast Cancer Awareness Month was created mostly to promote mammography use to diagnose and detect “early” breast cancer. There are, of course, some adverse effects of mammography, but what many people don’t know is that it rarely detects the earliest stages of cancer. This is because, like many cancers, breast cancer cells divide into two malignant cells, then those divide into four cancerous cells, then those into eight and it continues on and on; however, each of these divisions usually take three months, so before you could ever detect the lump by physical examination it could be in the body for several years. With mammography, it cuts that down to approximately half, so cancer could be detected a year or more before. The problem is, you’ve still got breast cancer. What if there was a way to detect cancer and other disease states earlier before they proliferate and become a significant issue?
For over 30 years, thermography has been regularly utilized in the United States, Europe, Asia and many other countries around the world. It is an FDA approved diagnostic test that is non-invasive and uses no radiation to detect tumors, malformations, inflammation and much more. Thermography uses measurements of heat that radiate naturally from the body. Unlike radiation imaging, thermography detects changes at the cellular level. Many studies point to the fact that thermography can detect tumors years before x-ray technology.
In the basic state of thermography, around 480 B.C. Hippocrates wrote that when mud was spread over a patient, it would dry at different rates, indicating underlying organ pathology. In modern medicine, detecting pathology through thermography began in 1957 when R. Lawson discovered that the skin temperature over a cancer of the breast was higher than that of healthy tissue. The FDA approved thermography use in 1982 in conjunction with mammography, and many physicians preferred it as a standalone diagnostic tool due to its ability to detect breast cancer much earlier than mammography and with no radiation or risk to the patient.
However, it began to fall out of favor when many false positive and false negatives began to be reported. In the early 2,000s, thermography began making a significant comeback. This comeback is primarily due to the improvement in the technology. Thermography now uses ultra-sensitive, high-resolution scanning and can detect tumors, muscle tears, spinal compression, carpal tunnel, arthritis, and the list goes on and on. Thermography is able to make these precise detections by capturing the inflammation and neoangiogenesis at the cellular level. Inflammation is the cause of most diseases and disorders throughout the entire body and creates heat. Neoangiogenesis is a vascular process that also increases temperature. It is the activation of new blood vessels or inactive vessels to feed and accelerate the growth of tumors. X-ray and radiation imaging cannot detect either of these conditions.
Thermography uses an infrared scanning device to convert heat emitted from the skin’s surface. These electrical impulses are viewed on a monitor in various colors, which provides a mapping of body temperature. The field of colors indicates an increase or decrease in the amount of naturally produced infrared radiation being emitted from the body’s surface. Since there is a high degree of thermal symmetry in the healthy body, subtle abnormal temperature asymmetry’s can be easily identified. Thermography provides high sensitivity to pathology in the vascular, muscular, neural and skeletal systems and as such, can contribute to the pathogenesis and diagnosis made by the clinician.
It can be used alone or in conjunction with traditional diagnostic imaging depending on the disease, severity, treatment and patient’s preference. Thermography is also an essential tool in monitoring cancer or other ailments that are being treated to measure the healing process without causing more harm to the body.
In today’s educated world, savvy patients want organic products, holistic procedures, advanced treatment options, and alternative methods to keep them and their loved ones healthy, energetic and vibrant. Florida Integrative Medicine has incorporated thermography into their services. They’ve recently acquired a thermography practice in Sarasota from Rita Rimmer’s Health Imaging and are excited to offer these critical diagnostic tools for true early detection to their patients.
Rita shared with us, “Thermography should be an integral part of breast health screening. It provides information we get from no other test available today. Thermography gives us the opportunity to monitor our breast health in very proactive ways. We can take its indications and change things before they become serious problems. We must demand thermography be used as a first screening at earlier ages and be covered by insurance as another accepted breast and body imaging modality.”
Getting Well & Staying Healthy Naturally is the philosophy of practice that has earned Florida Integrative Medical Center (FLIMC) the reputation as the premier destination for holistic and integrative health care on the Gulf Coast.
Florida Integrative Medical Center treats the full spectrum of chronic health conditions including: aging, chronic viral illness, immune system regeneration, autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and more. Their diagnostic and treatment services help to promote healthier cells and tissues for a better quality of life by improving energy and promoting overall wellbeing.
To find out more about Florida Integrative Medical Center or to schedule an appointment please contact them today at (941) 955-6220.
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Florida Integrative Medical Center
(941) 955-6220 | flimc.com
2415 University Pkwy, Suite 218
Sarasota FL 34243
References:
1. The American Cancer Society, “Understanding Radiation Risk from
Imaging Tests,” cancer.org, 2019