Last week a close friend of mine told me she was suffering from jaw pain and said it was probably stress related. Only the following day did she confide to me that she had been fearfully awaiting the results from a breast exam, thus the reason for her anxiety.
Today Mammograms and breast checks can detect breast cancer at an early stage and save lives. When discovered early there is a 100% survival rate (stage 0 and stage 1.) Unfortunately everyone knows that if, G-d forbid, one does get a positive result, it normally means going straight for medical treatment for breast cancer including possible surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. It's no wonder a woman is under great emotional strain when she is called back for further testing.
Perhaps one day there will be a test that will be able to identify the potential for breast cancer before it actually develops – so that if one receives a positive result, there will still be time to prevent the cancer from developing rather than immediately having no choice but to begin difficult cancer treatments.
Well – the future is here! It is called Thermographic Imaging of the breast.
Thermographic Imaging, also known as Thermography, is a noninvasive, safe test (there is no exposure to radiation) that can detect breast cancer up to 10 years before the cancer develops!
How does it work? In order for a cancer to grow it needs a blood supply. The potential tumor causes a process called Angiogenesis which is the creation of blood vessels to the area of a cancer. Without a blood supply the cancer would not have the nutrients it needs to grow. The increase in blood supply to feed a breast tumor causes the temperature of the surface of the breast to increase. In addition, the increased cellular activity, where a tumor may be developing, also emits more heat.
Thermographic Imaging of the breast detects the heat that is emitted from the breast. In those areas of the breast where a potential cancer may be developing, the increased heat from increased cellular activity will be reflected on the thermogram. The areas where there is an increased blood supply will also show up on the thermogram.
In healthy breasts there will be a symmetrical heat pattern on both breasts, but if there is more vascular and/or cellular activity due to potential cancer cells on one breast, this can show up as thermal asymmetry on the thermogram.
Thermographic Imaging of the breast has 5 different risk ratings, where 1 is the lowest risk rating and 5 is the highest for developing cancer. If the Thermography results show a low risk rate, it will be recommended to just return for a routine Thermography of the breasts to check for any changes.
If results are a higher risk rate, then recommendations will be for further medical testing to evaluate a possible existence of a tumor.
What can be done to prevent cancer? If a risk rating is high (4 or 5) and there is no existing tumor, recommendations will be made to try to prevent or inhibit the development of cancer through various lifestyle changes. These include diet, exercise, reducing stress and avoiding toxins.
Some women are more sensitive to estrogen and are at a greater risk of developing a tumor that is estrogen sensitive - a tumor that is more likely to grow in a high-estrogen environment. It is important for these women to remove estrogen and estrogen imitators. For example, certain plastic containers we store our food in are made up of molecules that are very similar in structure to the estrogen molecule. These molecules may leach into the food or liquid and the body can mistake these as estrogen molecules. Estrogen mimickers may contribute to the development of an estrogen sensitive tumor.
Another example of environmental factors that may be may be causing breast cancer are preservatives called parabens that are found in almost all of our skin care and hair products. Research shows that parabens are found in breast cancer tumors – causing researchers to fear that parabens may be causing certain types of breast cancer tumors. This is yet another substance a woman who ha