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Take breast thermography for example.  Because cancer cells divide more rapidly than normal cells, they consume more energy.  Which means they generate more heat.  In fact, in order to support their rapid growth, cancer cells actually create their own blood supply, a process known as “neovascularization.”  Once again, that increased blood flow generates more heat.  And that’s precisely what high-resolution medical thermography is designed to detect.  Thermography can “see” those areas of dysfunction, and map them in detail, very early on in the process.  By comparison, by the time it can be seen on a mammogram, a cancer may have been present and growing for as many as eight, ten, or even twenty years!
What can Thermography be used for?
There are 3 broad, overlapping areas in which thermography is especially useful:
Inflammation – By definition, one of the fundamental characteristics of inflammation is heat.  Inflamed tissue is literally “hotter” than the tissue around it.  And because virtually every chronic disease is born of inflammation, thermography can be used to visualize problems long before they become dangerous.  Diseases like heart disease, dementia, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, and cancer all stem from one common thread:  chronic inflammation.
Circulation – As noted above, cancers stimulate their own blood supply, a process that can be caught early on by thermography.  What’s more, atherosclerosis, or “hardening of the arteries,” is a process in which oxygen-carrying blood vessels become compromised and blocked, leading to heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s Disease, kidney failure, and more.  Here again, the physiological dysfunction that ultimately culminates in atherosclerosis is one that can be visualized in its early stages through the use of thermography.
Pain and other Neurological Disorders – Because pain is a second defining characteristic of inflammation, thermography is very good at visualizing debilitating neurological diseases like fibromyalgia, chronic regional pain syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy.  Even acute injuries like sprains, strains and contusions can be evaluated and monitored through the use of medical thermography.
Is Thermography a Proven Technology?
Absolutely!  What’s truly fascinating is that medical thermography isn’t new.  Not at all.  It’s been around, and exhaustively researched, for a very long time.  In fact, the FDA first officially recognized its usefulness and approved or “cleared” it for medical imaging as far back as 1982.  In the area of breast imaging alone, thermography has been studied for over 50 years.  More than 300,000 women have been engaged in a great many large, long-term studies over that time.  The result?   Very precise, exacting, definitive interpretation protocols have now been well established for over 15 years.
Here’s the exciting part.  With recent technological advances, medical thermography now offers (a) vastly improved “camera” resolution, and (b) more sophisticated image-generating software than ever before.
What’s Thermography’s Role in Breast Imaging?
It’s important to recognize two points from the very start.  First, thermography isn’t the same as mammography.  Secondly, it doesn’t replace mammography.
Having established that distinction, there are many reasons to consider annual breast thermography as a part of your preventative health plan.
As noted previously, thermography detects abnormalities long before they become visible by mammogram.  Earlier detection means better outcomes.
Unlike mammography, thermography involves no radiation.  That’s important because radiation itself can trigger the start of cancer.  And while the radiation involved in mammography is very low, it’s not zero; and radiation exposure accumulates over time.  It builds up, year after year.  Women need to know that mammograms involve risk.
Breast thermography has a sensitivity of 90% for women of all ages.  (“Sensitivity” for any test means that if a problem is present, the test will find it.)  That’s above mammogram’s 80% sensitivity, and that only applies to women over 50.  For younger women, mammography’s sensitivity is even lower.  In other words, mammography results in at least twice as many “false negatives” compared to thermography.
An abnormal breast thermogram is far more predictive of cancer than is family history.
A persistently abnormal thermogram definitely warrants further evaluation.  Persistent abnormalities reflect a much greater risk (more than 20 times higher) of developing breast cancer over the coming years.
Because it detects abnormalities early on, clinical trials demonstrate that breast thermography markedly enhances long term-survival rates by over 60 percent.  When used in conjunction with a clinical examination and mammography when appropriately indicated, studies suggest that 95% of breast cancer can be detected in its early stages.
NOTE:  No imaging technique can diagnose breast cancer.  The diagnosis of cancer can only be made by a tissue biopsy.
Who Should Consider Thermography?
Anyone, male or female, can benefit from thermography. In addition to breast cancer screening, thermography can be used for much, much more. The following is only a small sampling of the available possibilities:
Benign breast disease (i.e., avoiding the “false positive” breast cancer scares so common with mammography).
Early signs of arterial inflammation like those seen when carotid arteries start narrowing, a process often seen leading up to a stroke or the onset of dementia.
Early stages of venous inflammation as might be seen with chronic swelling, or “edema” of the legs, feet, and ankles.
Evaluating and tracking chronic or acute sinus inflammation.
Assessing and following chronic or acute lung disease.
Evaluating pain – Thermography can help narrow down the many possible causes of pain, either chronic or acute:  arthritis vs. tendonitis vs. neurological dysfunction vs. vascular pathology, etc.
Evaluating thyroid conditions that may not be detected by conventional blood tests.
Is it Dangerous?  Is it Painful?
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.  It is completely safe.
And it’s also completely painless.  It’s completely touch-free.  No compression.  No squishing.
Who do I contact for more information about thermography?
Living With Intention now offers full service Thermography services. Contact us for more information.