Ask a Naturopathic Doctor: Early Detection of Breast Cancer

With the many questions about mammography these days, what is the best way to screen for breast cancer?

The challenges of mammography can be summarized with the following statement: “in 10 years of using mammography, we may save one woman’s life for every 2,000 tested, but harm 10 others.” (Dr. Peter Goetzsche) More importantly, “by the time a lesion is detected using mammography, it has actually been developing for approximately 8 to 9 years.”

Although breast cancer can develop more quickly than 8 to 9 years, I agree that there are more sensitive ways to detect breast changes. One of these is thermography.

There are two types of thermography, regulation thermography (regutherms), where a probe takes actual skin temperatures at various key points, and infrared thermography, where a specialized camera takes photographs of different angles of the breasts. The former gives information on most of the key organs in the body, including the breasts, while the latter focusses only on the breasts. No radiation is involved in either test.

At our clinic we offer both. How to decide which to take? If you are mainly concerned about breast health and cancer screening, we would advise you to take infrared tests on a regular basis and be monitored by a specialist in the field. If you have other health concerns and are not at high risk for breast cancer, you might consider regulation thermography, with monitoring by a naturopathic doctor. Or you can mix and match.

Last fall we hosted a thermography clinic at our centre and were delighted with the service, the staff and the results. We have invited them back this spring on Thursday, April 28. If you are interested in signing up, please contact them directly at 905-714-1221or thermographyclinicniagara@gmail.com. For booking a regutherm, please contact Lori at 613-839-1198. She can also help you decide which one is best for your health situation.

Here’s to being confident about having healthy breasts, whichever way works for us!

Katherine Willow N.D. is a fourth generation naturopathic doctor who has retired from private practice to develop programs and retreats. Sign up for our monthly newsletter at www.ecowellness.com.