A study found a significant association between variation of salivary cortisol throughout the day in patients with metastatic breast cancer and their subsequent survival.
Salivary cortisol levels of 104 patients with metastatic breast cancer were assessed 4 times daily for 3 consecutive days.
Cortisol values were measured and the slope of the daily variation was calculated by plotting the values on a graph.
The cortisol slope was predictive of survival up to 7 years later. In patients with relatively “flat” rhythms, which indicates a lack of normal variation, earlier mortality was found. Patients with “flat” rhythms also had significantly lower Natural Killer (NK) cell counts and suppressed NK cell activity – and increasd cancer activity. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands, which is the principal hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, located at the upper end of each kidney. Cortisol levels are usually lowest in the morning and increase dramatically throughout the day.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute June 21, 2000;92:994-1000

Cortisol is one of the major adrenal hormones. A flat curve, as the study describes above, would indicate stage three adrenal impairment of the most severe kind, so it is not surprising to find increased mortality in cancer patients. Many health-care professionals now recognise that the adrenal glands need support and provide nutritional supplements, herbal medicines and glandular supplements to assist their clients – particulary so if the person has cancer. These methods are is certainly better than pharmaceutical drugs and the traditional medical paradigm which certainly does not address the factors that cause the adrenals to become dysfunctional. Generally speaking though,  one needs to address amongst others, the following issues to improve adrenal health, partiularly if you have been diagnosed with breast cancer:
1) Get to bed before 10 p.m. Rest and repair occurs from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and if you are awake it does not happen. ptimise your diet. You cannot hope to recover if your diet is sub-optimal or ‘hit and miss’.
2) Address stress issues. Unresolved psycho-emotional stress issues and burn-out are the most common reasons why the adrenals are impaired. Cancer is seen to preventable by optomising your diet and lifestyle in many cases.
3) Identify hidden causes of stress. These may well be metabolic poisons or toxins such as solvents, pesticides, mercury from amalgam fillings, yeast or anaerobic infections in the gut, parasites, root canal infections, structural misalignments, and a large number of other stressors.

My approachf to balancing the body is a truly holistic one. I use HTMA coupled with a blood test to establish the Root Cause of the imbalance.

What Is HTMA?

Hair tissue mineral analysis is a way to monitor the body’s tissue and cellular mineral activity, which in turn reveals information regarding the body’s energy and glandular systems. This includes the “effect” of thyroid and adrenal glandular activity in the tissues. This in many ways is a better biopsy to use to assess adrenal and thyroid activity. HTMA is a 3-month biopsy, and also because blood levels of certain hormones do not always provide accurate data as to dysfunction of a specific gland.

In addition to the identification of mineral activity, HTMA is one of the best tests to monitor how efficiently your body is able to excrete toxic metals. This is arguably more significant than just observing the presence of a toxic metal. Health and healing depends heavily upon adrenal and thyroid functioning.

Adrenal & Thyroid Activity

The adrenal glands produce a variety of hormones around 50 in total, in order for the body to function. These include catecholamines such as adrenaline, mineral corticoids such as aldosterone and glucocorticoids such as cortisol. The thyroid secretes T4 and T3, hormones that have a major regulatory effect upon metabolic processes.

Many clinicians believe that low thyroid function (hypothyroidism) is becoming an epidemic. A very important parallel is that excessive, depleted or exhausted adrenal activity is oftentimes the underlying cause of low thyroid function. At the very least, adrenal function absolutely must be taken into account when thyroid issues are present, and the opposite applies as well.

The 3 mineral ratios on a hair tissue mineral analysis that identify the “effect” of adrenal and thyroid function are:

1. Na/K (sodium/potassium): adrenals
2. Na/Mg (sodium/magnesium): adrenals
3. Ca/K (calcium/potassium): thyroid

Depending on the degree of stress or burnout, coupled with determining the root cause of the imbalance and addressing this, allows the body to heal. l use nutrient-dense foods, minerals and wholefood vitamin complexes to replenish and renourish the body, this is incredibly effective at restoring health and balance thereby allowing a person to cope better significantly and improve the quality of their life.

Ladies stay well informed and make the best decisions for YOUR Breast Health. Watch this video to learn more.

Experts have long suspected inflammation may play some role in cancer’s development. In 1863, German scientist and physician Rudolf Virchow was the first to make the connection, observing that cancer often develops at sites of chronic inflammation. But researchers have only recently pinpointed chronic inflammation as a primary risk factor for cancer and other serious health conditions. Among the reasons it’s taken science so long to confirm the relationship: Chronic inflammation causes few, if any, outward symptoms. And inflammation by itself is a sign the body is doing its job.

The concept of inflammation is sometimes tricky to grasp because it may seem contradictory. On one hand, inflammation is a healthy process, essential to the body’s ability to heal itself. When you have an infection or injury, the immune system releases white blood cells and chemicals to fight off the infection or repair damaged tissue. But when inflammation persists, or when the immune system triggers an inflammatory response when you don’t have an infection or injury—like that caused by arthritis and other autoimmune diseases—it may damage healthy tissues. “Chronic inflammation is sometimes called ‘smoldering inflammation’ because it’s inflammation that never really resolves. It’s the opposite of ‘good’ inflammation, which your body uses to get rid of bacteria and viruses, and then, once it achieves its goal, resolves,” says Eugene Ahn, MD, Medical Director of Clinical Research and Hematologist/Oncologist at our Chicago hospital.

Today, researchers have a fairly broad understanding of inflammation’s split personality. They’ve learned that sometimes, chronic inflammation is caused by factors outside of our control, such as inherited gene mutations that raise the risk of chronic inflammation. But it also may result from lifestyle choices you may be able to change. That’s important because so-called lifestyle-dependent inflammation is on the rise. The connection between inflammation and cancer has been apparent for a long time, but it may be that it’s now coming into sharper focus because of the increase in lifestyle-dependent inflammation we’re seeing,

The causes

Chronic inflammation’s role in cancer development isn’t a small one. As many as one in five cancers are believed to be caused or influenced by inflammation. One reason is that chronic inflammation may damage DNA, says Cynthia Lynch, MD, Medical Director of the CTCA^® Breast Cancer Center, Phoenix and Medical Oncologist at our Phoenix hospital. Other times, the inflammatory process produces molecules called cytokines, which stimulate the growth of blood vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to the tumor, this process is called angiogenesis and is easily identified with the aid of Thermography. The process also may generate molecules called free radicals that further damage the DNA. These inflammation side effects may help sustain and fuel cancer growth.

Sometimes, cancer-causing chronic inflammation stems from a disease characterized by inflammation. Such as an autoimmune condition. The inflammatory diseases colitis, pancreatitis and hepatitis, for example, are linked to a greater risk of colon, pancreatic and liver cancers, respectively. In these diseases, immune cells create highly reactive molecules containing oxygen and nitrogen that can damage DNA. Inflammation also may cause cells to divide.

Chronic inflammation also may result from a chronic infection, like H. pylori, which is linked to stomach cancer, and hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which are linked to liver cancer. HIV increases the risk of other viruses and very rare cancers, including Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and invasive cervical cancer.

In other cases, environmental factors are the culprits. Asbestos exposure, for example, increases the risk for mesothelioma. Many environmental carcinogens and risk factors, in fact, are associated with some form of chronic inflammation. According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 20 percent of cancers are linked to chronic infections, 30 percent are linked to tobacco smoking and inhaled pollutants, such as asbestos, and 35 percent are linked to dietary factors, including obesity. “Whether it’s an autoimmune disease like hashimotos, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis etc… or irritations from a chemical you may be exposed to, such as asbestos, if we can reduce the amount of inflammatory processes in our environment, we can reduce our risk of cancer,” Dr. Mons says.

Reducing the risk

Today, researchers are exploring whether oxygen sensors in the body can be manipulated to reduce chronic inflammation. One study found that tricking immune cells into believing they’re lacking oxygen makes them retreat from the site of inflammation to conserve energy. Why would we ever need to trick the body ? The body has it’s own innate intelligence, so my approach is different l recommend we run tests to establish the Root Cause of the inflammatory process in the body and using this information deal with the cause and not the symptoms thus restoring balance and function and reducing risk.

Lifestyle changes

With 35 percent of cancers linked to dietary factors like obesity, stress and lack of exercise, the association between lifestyle habits and inflammation remains a concern. These factors trigger an immune response, even without an infection to fight off or an injured tissue to heal. The more sedentary you are, the worse your diet is, and the lack of attention to unresolved emotional stress, all accelerate the inflammatory cascade.

In fact, a 2016 report from the American Institute for Cancer Research found that maintaining a healthy weight may be as important as avoiding tobacco and overexposure from the sun. And the American Cancer Society found that those who follow a healthy lifestyle, by eating a nutritious diet, limiting alcohol consumption and taking other important steps, are 10 to 20 percent less likely to be diagnosed with cancer.

Diet and exercise top the healthy lifestyle list. And even small changes can make a difference, like including nutrient dense foods that contain anti-inflammatory nutrients to your plate, and eating more fermented foods, such as yogurt and miso, which contain natural probiotics that reduce inflammation. Also, dealing with unresolved emotional issues and avoid carcinogens like asbestos, silica and tobacco, and, if you have an underlying condition like an autoimmune issue, hepatitis B or hepatitis C etc… seek help.

Alcohol can act as an irritant, too, especially in the head and neck—the first area food or drink touches when swallowed. Another concern: Alcohol and its byproducts may damage the liver and lead to inflammation in the organ.

The bottom line: Focus on what you can change. “I always tell patients that there are certain things they have control over in their lives,, and they should only worry about the things they have control over,” “That’s where lifestyle comes into play.”

Thermography vs. Mammography:

Like comparing Apples to Oranges….

They are not competitors.

They compliment each other.

Thermography is a test of PHYSIOLOGY. It looks at function.

Change in function of Breast Tissue precedes any breast cancer diagnosis. Thermography uses no radiation and no contact, but instead reads the infra-red heat radiating from the surface of the body. This focus on physiology may alert us to inflammation, unusual vascularity, potential disease development, hormone imbalance, potential tumor growth, and to other conditions.

A thermogram is a physiological test that focuses on physiological changes. Making thermography a must have for women interested in breast cancer prevention. Information obtained from a thermogram is completely different to that found via structural testing eg ultra sound, mammogram ….

Mammography is a test of ANATOMY. It looks at structure. 

It utilizes ionizing radiation and compression to detect the masses. Mammography is screening for disease that already exists. When a tumor has grown to a size that is large enough & dense enough to block an x-ray beam, it produces an image on the x-ray or mammographic plate. An ultrasound is usually then performed followed by a fine needle biopsy to identify the type of tissue in the mass, to determine if atypical or cancerous cells are present.

A mammogram is an anatomical test that focuses on detecting masses or structures.

Each sees different breast characteristics.

Each serves a different purpose.

Neither thermography nor mammography can diagnose breast cancer.

They are both tests which reveal different aspects of the disease process and allow for further exploration.  The physician uses the information gathered from various tests to diagnose.

The physician diagnoses.

Thermography & mammography are complimentary tools in the war against breast cancer.

The information thermography provides can help detect a problem starting or in process.  Because it is looking at physiology, it may detect a cancer starting years before a lump is big enough to be detected by other technologies such as a mammogram or ultrasound.  The information thermography provides can be useful to help improve the accuracy of finding cancer on other tests such as a mammogram or ultrasound or clinical breast exam and can help aid in monitoring treatment.

Like apples and oranges.