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Thermography and
Brevail ‘Heat Up’ Breast Health Quest
by Janet Greene M.D. – Doctor’s Prescription for
Healthy Living Article
Janet R. Greene, M.D., an internist, board-certified
thermographer, and certified homeopathic doctor, recommends two key
strategies in the quest for women’s health: early detection with
thermography and prevention and hormone harmony with Brevail. In this
article, Dr. Greene reports on prevention with Brevail and early detection
with thermography—spreading the news about thermography as a means of
detecting breast cancer years before anything is seen on a mammogram, and
how certain plant compounds known as lignans can help rebalance estrogen
levels to achieve greater health and hormone balance.
Two important breakthroughs have come recently in the area
of women’s health, and I’m proud to be involved with both the use of
thermography for early detection and use of plant lignans for hormone
harmony.
Thermography—Safe Alternative to Mammography
It has taken nearly 20 years, but breast thermography has
finally come of age as an important screening tool for the early detection
of cancer. Using infrared imaging of the breast, photographed with a special
digital camera, thermography is a physiologic study showing the heat and
vascularity of the breast tissue. Conversely, a mammogram is an anatomic
study that shows lumps, masses and the density of breast tissue. This is an
important difference, because a physiologic test is able to detect early
cellular changes in the breast simply by the way the photograph picks up
heat. A thermogram uses a color as well as a gray-scale palette (see images)
that can envision potential breast cancers five to ten years before they
appear on a mammogram.
How does it work? Simply and painlessly. A thermogram sees
heat patterns, or areas of increased vascularity. Inflammation causes heat,
and masses can create their own blood supply. Put another way, thermography
measures the heat coming from your body, and cancers can create vascularity
and inflammation resulting in abnormal heat patterns in the breast. It’s not
used like a PET scan, though the technology is similar. A thermogram can’t
see organs; it is merely a screening device that can pick up abnormalities
up to five millimeters deep in the skin.
The Army Goes Infrared
In the 1950s, the United States Army designed and
implemented a brilliant new technology, known as infrared, which allowed
soldiers to see in the dark. This vision was available only with the help of
special goggles and was only effective when heat, like that from a human or
vehicle, was present. Perhaps you’ve seen these night vision goggles
depicted in film and television. If you have, you’ve also seen the
beginnings of thermography.
Though it was first used in the 1960s for medical
purposes, thermography wasn’t particularly accurate at that time because it
wasn’t technology sophisticated. However, the technology progressed to the
point that, in 1982, thermography was medically approved by the Food and
Drug Administration for use adjunctively with mammography. Though not
recommended as an alternative to mammograms, it is now, thanks to great
advances and incredible screening capabilities, a viable companion.
Thermography and Your Breast
Mammography is an X-ray procedure that produces an image
of the inner breast tissue on film. It is used to visualize both normal and
abnormal structures within the breasts, helping to identify cysts,
calcifications and tumors. It is generally considered one of the most
effective ways to detect early breast cancer.
Thermography is especially beneficial for early detection,
too. Although it cannot make the differentiation between a cancerous and
benign growth, thermography can provide information about early changes in
the breast.
A digital thermogram is programmed to represent warm temperatures on the red
end of the spectrum and cool temperatures on the blue end. A woman having
her breasts imaged simply has to stand or sit in front of the camera and
immediately an image is digitally reproduced in a computer. There is no
physical contact with the body and it doesn’t introduce ionizing radiation.
Baseline readings should be done for women of any age to
establish a basis for annual readings. Any changes in future years could
indicate a need for further evaluations. In this way, thermography can
reduce the need for ionizing radiation. Although many experts have noted the
value of early mammography, Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., and David Steinman in
The Breast Cancer Prevention Program analyzed results for six of the largest
international studies on mammography and found premenopausal mammography has
been shown to lead to greater cancer mortality, raising into question its
benefits as a general screening tool. So if we can help women delay the need
for screening mammography or increase time between examinations, this
reduces radiation exposure and is an important breakthrough for women’s
health.
Here’s an interesting fact: according to a recent study
conducted for the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health in Washington, D.C., of
the total number of women past the age of 40 who should be getting
mammograms, less than one-third get regular exams. That means that more than
66 percent of women who should be taking care of their breast health,
aren’t. With thermography, there is no radiation from X-rays and no “squish”
factor. In short, there are no excuses.
The portable system I use, with a camera designed by
Micron, the U.S. affiliate of NEC and sold by Micro Health Systems, is state
of the art. The entire exam takes just 30 minutes to capture eighteen images
with immediate results. A full report is then issued to the patient and her
primary care physician. I recommend the process be performed on all women,
even prior to experiencing hormonal changes brought on by perimenopause or
menopause. It is simply a way of getting a good read on changes that might
later occur.
Another interesting fact: of the one million total breast
biopsies performed each year, 800,000 are negative. Eight out of ten. In
addition, there were approximately 250,000 newly diagnosed cases of breast
cancer last year alone, with nearly 40,000 deaths. My goal is to help lower
the number of biopsies performed each year, a goal that can be accomplished
with the help of thermography. By picking up on early changes in breast
tissue, we can change the future. It may make some women nervous to know far
ahead of time that they may have breast abnormalities. However, the sooner
that someone knows, the more preventive measures she can take. In short, if
we know in advance, we can do something about it. And one of the things you
can do is improve your diet, exercise, and supplement with
Brevail®. What a wonderful new era of breast
and hormonal health these breakthroughs herald….
Proactive Breast Care
If you have undergone a breast thermogram and it shows the
kind of extreme vascular activity that may lead to breast cancer, there are
things that you can do to repair the damage before it becomes life
threatening. In other words, your cells’ genetic structures are not rigid.
They respond to their environment, and food and supplements can help to
improve the cellular “environment.” First off, you want your patients to
normalize their estrogen balance, and especially reduce any unnecessary
toxic forms of estrogen the body produces in response to a poor diet or
exposures to chemicals in foods and beverages.
First on the list of my Breast Health Protocol is
Brevail, an estrogen blocker. Plain and simple,
lignans support naturally the body’s balance of safe estrogen, the kind that
provides you with gentle powers without causing breast tissue proliferation.
Brevail is for fighting toxic forms of estrogen.
Obtained from flax seeds, Brevail has been shown to be extremely helpful in
supporting breast health, replacing toxic with safe estrogen on the breast
cells’ receptor sites.
I always recommend that any woman who has had an abnormal
thermogram begin this protocol immediately.
Brevail
Brevail contains lignans, a natural compound found in
grains, beans, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. It is an all-natural
supplement designed to preserve healthy breast tissue by using natural plant
phytoestrogens as a defense against negative hormonal effects, specifically
those than can come from estrogen.
Brevail may:
- Preserve healthy breast tissue
- Defend against negative hormonal effects, especially
estrogen
- Raise natural lignan levels in the blood and urine of
women who have a sensitive history of breast health
- Relieve some of the symptoms associated with
premenstrual syndrome (PMS), as well as peri, pre- and postmenopause
- Lower overall cancer risk
- I also recommend that women who have had an abnormal
thermogram engage in natural, compounded progesterone therapy in the form
of a skin gel or capsule. It’s very helpful in counteracting estrogen
dominance that can lead to breast and uterine cancers.
- Other things that you can do include taking the
supplement DIM, an enzyme culled from cruciferous vegetables that works to
keep the immune system strong, using non-expressed oils.
- A good chemically unaltered frankincense—a recognized
anti-carcinogen—may be utilized for its anti-tumoral effects when applied
directly on the breast, either neat or diluted with a vegetable oil.
Lavender oil, also unadulterated, can be added to this regimen.
Naturally, diet and exercise, in addition to yearly
thermograms and mammograms, should become part of every woman’s routine.
The Quest for Better Breast Care
The quest for finding better, stronger and more accurate
ways to check breast tissue for cancers is something every woman should be
interested in. We all know about mammograms, but thanks to an ever-growing
army of medical professionals, we are also beginning to know about
additional ways to predict and thus hopefully prevent breast cancer. One of
those ways is through thermography.
Resources
Brevail is
distributed by Christine’s Cleanse Corner, Inc
Click here for Brevail product or ordering
information. Or visit us on the web at
www.TransformYourHealth.com
or call us toll-free at 877-673-0224.
*** Facts About Thermography
Thermography is non-invasive, uses no radiation or
intravenous injections, and can be performed as often as indicated. It can
be used to detect breast changes five to ten years before it becomes evident
on a mammogram.
Thermography is the earliest method of breast cancer
detection currently known due to its ability to monitor the physiology of
the breast over time.
A positive infrared thermogram image is ten times more
accurate in determining the future risk of developing breast cancer than
family history.
There is no body contact during a breast thermogram, so
there is no discomfort.
For those women who have had a lumpectomy, a thermogram
can identify “hot” margins that may require further diagnostic tests.
A breast thermogram can be 95 to 98 percent accurate.
Men and Thermography
Most men don’t worry about breast cancer affecting them,
other than the potential emotional toll if a loved one were to be diagnosed.
However, the American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 1,700 new cases
of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2005. Though breast cancer is
100 times more common in women, of all diagnosed breast cancers, men still
account for one percent. It’s rare, but it happens. That’s why it is also
recommended that men have a breast thermogram, first to establish a baseline
reading for subsequent exams, and second to engage in preventive measures
should an abnormality be detected.
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