Why Have I Not Heard About This?
Like many alternative diagnostic tools or treatments, the facts are not always disclosed. Thermography was summarily dropped from breast screening in the 1980’s after only 1 year of use. The reason was cited as being it detected too many false positives and therefore was not specific enough. This is ironic since the mammogram has a 65% false positive rate and recent studies have shown that it is a poor predictive tool. 90% of MD’s know nothing of the technology and so are critical of that which they don’t know. The other 10% seem to quote research from 22 years ago from a few small studies and ignore the plethora of positive research.
Is it accurate?
Yes, as a routine screening tool, it has been shown to be 97% effective at detecting benign vs malignant breast abnormalities. Another study tracked 1537 women with abnormal thermograms for 12 years. They had normal mammograms and physical exams. Within 5 years, 40% of the women developed malignancies. The researchers commented “”an abnormal thermogram is the single most important marker of high risk for the future development of breast cancer” These results have been repeated over and over again for nearly 30 years.
Is It Safe?
While a variety of studies have called into question the safety of cumulative exposures to radiation, this is not the case with Thermography. Thermography emits nothing, it only takes an image. Nothing touches you and it is quick and painless. This all makes Thermography great for frequent screening with no chance of danger.
Who Reads the Images?
The images are sent via a secured server to Physicians Insight Clinical Interpretation where a professional group of physicians who are trained in the protocols of reading Thermal images interpret the images. A very formal interpretation is made and sent to us where we will review the results and make suggestions or referrals if necessary. You are given a copy of the report and frequently we send copies of the reports to physicians for their records.
What If I get Abnormal Results? What Do I Do?
Thermography is not diagnostic but gives early risk factors. This is great news because an abnormal result from a thermogram often buys time so that natural interventions such as herbs, supplements and lifestyle changes can influence the outcome. At the least, the condition can be closely monitored safely until conventional interventions need to be applied. It is important to recognize that early detection is the key to a good outcome. We will make recommendations or referrals as necessary.
