Thermography for Cancer Screening

Mammograms are routinely used as a screening tool for breast cancer, but did you know that they increase a woman's risk for developing breast cancer? Year after year, healthy women's breasts are exposed to cancer-causing radiation equivalent to about 1,000 chest x-rays. Additionally, the breasts are compressed tightly, which could lead to the spreading of malignant cells. I can understand administering a mammogram if there is already a concern that the patient may have breast cancer. But to knowingly expose healthy women to radiation just doesn't make sense to me, especially when there is thermography. Thermography uses an infrared camera to detect heat emissions from the breast, which can aid in early detection of abnormal changes in breast tissue. Thermography is based on temperature changes detected from increased blood vessel circulation and metabolic changes associated with a tumor's growth. It is about 96% accurate in detecting breast cancer in women, compared to mammography which is 40-60% accurate in premenopausal women. While mammograms can locate tumors once they contain about 4 billion cancer cells, thermography detects abnormalities in physiology that can show up in the future as a tumor, alerting you that maybe you should make some dietary and lifestyle changes before it is detectable on a mammogram.  

After I found out that I had thyroid cancer, and had my thyroid removed (which I regret), my doctors recommended that I complete a radioactive iodine procedure, which would detect any thyroid cancer left in my body. I opted not to expose my body to that radiation, and did a thermogram of my thyroid area instead. Now, I'm not sure how accurate thermography is for the thyroid, because there just isn't enough literature about it. I know that it is about 96% accurate for breast cancer but I'm not sure for thyroid cancer. However, the chiropractor and doctor who administered and read my scan said that it is very accurate for detecting thyroid cancer as well. And I have read a couple of blogs about people detecting their thyroid cancer through thermography, which would not have been found on a thyroid ultrasound. Thankfully the thermogram of my thyroid area was completely blue and symmetrical, not showing any abnormal heat patterns or asymmetry.  

Unfortunately, thermography isn't accepted by mainstream medicine so you have to do your own research to find a thermography technician near you. And most insurance companies do not cover it.