Beating Breast Cancer with Thermography

November 13 -- A new test is helping doctors catch breast cancer even earlier.

Ask any woman who has had a mammogram, and she will tell you it is not a pleasant experience. However, a new high tech test is a less invasive option, and may catch things mammograms can not.

The test is called "thermography." Some women say it caught their cancer before a mammogram did, and it helped them beat breast cancer.

Allison Groves is a healthy, active 49-year-old. She works hard, and she plays hard. Allison works out with a personal trainer three days a week. She also puts in a lot of hours on the phone, and with clients as a financial advisor.

Two years ago, Allison got the news every woman fears: she found out she had breast cancer.

The frightening news was first revealed through a digital infrared thermal imaging scan, otherwise known as thermography. The scan was recommended by one of her doctors.

While Allison says she was not skeptical of the thermography, she had certainly never heard of it before. The scan basically looks at heat patterns in the breast. It is not invasive, does not use radiation, and is an FDA-approved breast cancer screen test with no contact or pain.

Some doctors recommend patients having the scan once a year. Typically, images are taken at different angles. Ideally, doctors want to see blues and greens on their patients' scans, while whites, reds, orange and yellows are considered "hot areas." A cancer cell has a higher temperature than an average cell.

In Allison's case, an area was significantly hotter than the rest, so her doctor recommended she go in for a mammogram. Allison did, but the mammogram did not detect anything. So, Allison pushed for more traditional tests, and eventually had a lumpectomy. Now, she swears by thermography.

While Allison decided not to have mammograms anymore, replacing them with thermography only, her decision is against her doctor's recommendations. It is also against the American Cancer Society, which urges women to have mammograms annually, starting at age 40.

Health experts say having a mammogram in a woman aged 40-49 every year, lowers her chance of dying from breast cancer 17%. While doctors say thermography should not replace mammograms, some say it could be the test of the future.

A thermography session takes about 15 minutes, and it costs between $150 and $200. It is not generally covered by insurance, and does not replace a mammography. Many doctors say you should get both.

http://www.breastthermography.com/