In 1982, the FDA approved Thermography ( also known as DITI or Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging) as a supplementary breast cancer screening tool.
With breast cancer 1 in 8 - that is.. 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime - that number should be 1 in 100 or 1 in 1000, yet it remains 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in this country. It’s a modern American epidemic! But we hear very little about thermography and its benefits. Wouldn’t you think doctors would want to do more?
The Mammogram is still the “gold standard” for breast cancer screening. Women go every year “fingers crossed” and hope it doesn’t show anything this year. That’s not early detection! By the time you see it on a Mammogram - YOU HAVE IT!
The Mammography industry in America is a multi-billion dollar cash cow that has successfully put a lid on Thermography and its proven benefits and for over 30 years has carried out a campaign to conceal lifesaving early detection (Safe detection without radiation) to the detriment of Women. I might ask - if the Mammogram is the “gold standard” and breast cancer is 1 in 8 women….. How well is that Mammogram working for us? Not very well.
Then why is a safe, adjunctive, scientifically proven, FDA-cleared screening which is interpreted/read by the same MDs that read Mammograms (and by the way go back to school to become additionally Board Certified in Thermology) why is Thermography regulated to a corner? Could it be a matter of Money? Could it be that by the time you see it on a Mammogram it is TREATED with a needle or a knife?
Why wouldn’t we use a screening that can help you prevent ever getting breast cancer in the first place? A screening that due to its high sensitivity sees changes at a cellular level, instead of waiting years until it is big enough to be seen on a Mammogram? Where is can only be treated - not prevented?
Prevention - Where’s the money in that?
If you are still unconvinced here is expert testimony published in top medical journals:
“There is little evidence documenting that Mammography saves lives from breast cancer for premenopausal women” - AMA Journal 2003 issue, American Medical News
“Screening for breast cancer with mammography is unjustified…the data shows that for every 1000 women screened biennially throughout 12 years, one breast-cancer death is avoided whereas the total number of deaths is increased by 6…there is no reliable evidence that screening decreases breast cancer mortality. -—The Lancet, 2000 issue
Let’s start having honest conversations about breast screening options and work towards preventing ever getting breast cancer in the first place.
Sheri Plocek CCT
