Thermal Imaging, Thermography

What’s a safe test with no radiation to monitor the health of your breasts? Are there ways to find early warning signs of disease? The good news is that you can monitor your breast health starting at a much younger age than previously suggested by the sick care industry. We’re in a time now that we know better ways for safe breast monitoring so you never end up being surprised by finding breast cancer in late stages, and then have to indure radical treatments that could actually cause your death.

Breast Thermography is one of the best ways to start monitoring your breast health at any age. With breast thermal imaging there is NO radiation, NO compression, and NO pain. If you have DENSE BREAST or BREAST IMPLANTS, thermal imaging and Ultra-sound if your best option for breast health screening. 

Ultra-sound is another safe way to monitor your breast health with no radiation and no pain. 

Your thyroid may be small, but it plays a big role in your health. The thyroid’s activity has a powerful impact on the potential dysregulation of your hormones, the way your body uses energy, to the way it produces heat and regulates mood.

When your thyroid is no longer functioning properly, various symptoms may follow as your hormones and body feel the imbalance. To understand how the thyroid affects your hormones and what thyroid diseases mean for your health, read on where we break down all you need to know about this essential gland. 

Understanding the Thyroid

Your thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped organ found on the front of your neck at its base under the larynx. The sides of the thyroid are called lobes that envelop the trachea, and these are connected by tissue called the isthmus.

Part of the endocrine system, the thyroid aids the transport of hormones into the blood and produces the hormones Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4) using iodine from food. These hormones help control metabolism, improve energy and brain function, and ultimately weight. 

The pituitary gland controls the amount of thyroid hormone in the blood, and when it detects insufficient or excess, it adjusts its own hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), accordingly. 

The Thyroid and Hormonal Imbalance 

The thyroid’s dominant role in hormonal regulation makes it a key player in your endocrine system. Unfortunately, when T3 and T4 hormone levels are not at optimal levels, it leads to hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, meaning that an essential component of keeping your hormones in balance is not performing at its best.

Hypothyroidism 

Hypothyroidism, also called underactive thyroid, is common and occurs when your body does not produce enough thyroid hormone. As a result of the deficiency, your metabolism slows, leading to weight gain as well as the following symptoms. 

• Fatigue
• Inability to tolerate cold
• Numb or tingling hands 
• Constipation
• Muscle weakness
• Elevated blood cholesterol 
• Dry skin and hair
• Heavy menstrual cycles

Women are much more likely than men to develop hypothyroidism, and the disease is found more commonly in people over the age of 60. Part of the reason for this is that women are susceptible to estrogen dominance, which is excess estrogen that encourages the liver to produce more thyroid-binding globulin (TBG). TBG then binds thyroid hormone and limits the amount available for the body. Estrogen dominance negatively impacts thyroid health by hindering T4 from converting into T3, and the symptoms of estrogen dominance and hypothyroidism overlap. 

Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid, is when the body produces too much thyroid hormone. A key warning sign of hyperthyroidism is often an enlarged thyroid gland, visible in increasingly severe cases. Hyperthyroidism symptoms in women include the following.

• Weight gain
• Irregular or rapid heartbeat
• Irritability
• Sleep disruption
• Fatigue
• Weak muscles
• Hand tremors
• Diarrhea 
• Inability to tolerate heat

While both men and women can suffer from hyperthyroidism, women are anywhere from 2 to 10 times more likely to develop the condition than men.

How to Help Your Thyroid

You can help your thyroid regain balance by following an overall healthy diet with minimal sugar and few processed foods. Nutritionally, there is not a strict diet to follow to regulate your thyroid, ensure you are eating a nutrient dense diet. Keep your inflammation levels down, discover what is driving inflammation in your body. Make sure you keeping your energy levels high and the symptoms of irregular thyroid hormone levels at bay. Consider having a Thermographic imaging of your thyroid gland, thermography is radiation free, and provides very useful information to help restore thyroid health

Solid medical science and clinical studies have established that an underlying and untreated condition of “estrogen dominance” significantly increases your breast cancer risk: women who develop breast cancer have higher estrogen levels than women without breast cancer.

Some studies have also shown that women who had been treated for breast cancer, and who continued to have high estrogen levels, had a return of the disease sooner than breast cancer survivors with lower estrogen levels. The reason is that one of estrogen’s functions in the body is to foster cell growth, or “cell proliferation.” At a cellular level, unchecked cell growth can be a precursor for cancer. 

Estrone, Estradiol, and Estriol in Your Body

Estrogen dominance can lead to cancer in one of two ways: The first has to do with the concentration of each of the three different forms of estrogen–estrone, estradiol, and estriol–circulating within the body.

Estrone and estradiol both work within the body to increase expression of the BCL2 gene that causes cell development and growth, particularly in hormone-sensitive tissue such a breast or uterine lining. If unopposed, this cell proliferation can lead to cancer. In fact, nearly every risk factor for breast and uterine cancer can be either directly or indirectly linked to an increase in estrone, estradiol, or their receptor activity.  

One such study in 2008 determined that high levels of estradiol were associated with a significantly higher incidence of breast cancer recurrence(1). In many cases of breast cancer, a gene known as the P53 tumor suppressor pathway is disrupted. The P53 gene is the opposing force for the BCL2 gene; it causes natural cell death (know as apoptosis), and is responsible for balancing the effects of cell proliferation.

In a nutshell: estrone and estradiol stimulate the production of the BCL2 gene, while progesterone stimulates the production of the P53 gene. When the body is experiencing estrogen dominance, what it desperately needs is progesterone to counter the effects of cell proliferation. Some studies have demonstrated that, by stimulating the P53 gene, progesterone can affect apoptosis (cell death) in cancer tumors(2)(3).

Note that Premarin, one of the most popular “synthetic” hormone replacement drugs, is composed of 49.3% estrone, almost ten times the amount that occurs naturally in the body–is it any wonder that this drug was found to increase the risk of invasive breast cancer in post-menopausal women by 41 percent? 

Metabolizing Estrogen 

The second factor influencing your cancer risk has to do with how your body metabolizes its estrogen. Estrogen can be “metabolized” (converted) down a “bad” pathway–one that is more cancer-inducing — or a “good” pathway — one that is more cancer protective. The chemical name for the “bad” pathway is 16-hydroxyestrone. The “good” pathways are 2-hydroxyestrone and 2-hydroxyestradiol.

Each woman’s estrogen metabolism is different, so the balance between your “good” and “bad” pathways is unique. The balance of anti-carcinogenic and pro-carcinogenic estrogen can be investigated with a urine test (trademarked Estronex). Studies have demonstrated that post-menopausal women with more hydroxylation along the 2-pathways have a lower risk of breast cancer(4).

Some studies suggest that this is also the case for pre-menopausal women, but due to the varying levels of menstruating women’s hormones, it is more challenging to conduct research. (Imagine trying to coordinate hundreds of volunteers to schedule blood draws on a certain representative day of their menstrual cycles!)

Consider Breast Thermography To See How The Estrogen In Your Body Is Affecting Your Breast Health

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(1) Cheryl L. Rock, Shirley W. Flatt, Gail A. Laughlin, et al., “Reproductive Steroid Hormones and Recurrence-Free Survival in Women with a History of Breast Cancer,” Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 17 (2008): 614-20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18323413

(2) Formby, B., Wiley, T.S., “Progesterone inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells: inverse effects on Bcl-2 and p53,” Annals of Clinical & Laboratory Science. Nov-Dec;28(6):360-9 (1998). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9846203

(3) Horita K1, Inase N, Miyake S, Formby B, Toyoda H, Yoshizawa Y. “Progesterone induces apoptosis in malignant mesothelioma cells,” Anticancer Research, Nov-Dec;21(6A):3871-4 (2001). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11911261

(4) Roni T. Falk, Louise A. Brinton, Joanne F. Dorgan, et al., “Relationship of serum estrogens and estrogen metabolites to postmenopausal breast cancer risk: a nested case-control Study,” Breast Cancer Research 15 (2013): online 2013 Apr 22.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23607871

Breast thermography or infrared imaging of the breast may hold a significant potential in breast cancer prevention. Due to the ability of infrared imaging’s detection of changes in the dermal circulation, any external pharmacological intervention or release of biochemicals by the body that have the propensity to alter blood flow may be detected. This is especially true of chemicals that are target specific for the tissues of the breast. Being a primary target tissue for the hormone estrogen, the hormone’s effect in the breast is anabolic to the ductal cells. As such, the outcome is one of increased cellular metabolism. This increase in cellular activity necessitates the need for nutrients above and beyond the norm. In order to facilitate this need, an increase in blood supply must occur. This translates to an infrared image demonstrating a uniform increase in vascular patterning.

The importance of this observation lies in one of the primary risk factors for breast cancer—lifetime exposure to estrogen. If infrared imaging has the ability to warn of increased thermovascular activity due to increased levels of estrogen in the breast (estrogen dominance), action can be taken to lower this activity and ultimately the patient’s risk for future breast cancer. Treatments can be monitored for positive effects by incorporating infrared imaging as a method of observing these effects. Studies have shown this effect and the positive outcome of tackling hormone imbalance in the body. Many patients with this condition also demonstrate signs and symptoms that include breast pain, tenderness, cysts, and benign lumps. In many patients, a reversal or reduction in these signs and symptoms are also noted when treatment is initiated. Infrared imaging’s ability to detect increased thermovascular activity secondary to levels of estrogen in the breast, and to monitor the effects of treatment targeted at the breast, may play a significant role in breast cancer prevention.

TECHNOLOGY, INTERPRETATION AND COMPARATIVE IMAGING

As is the case with mammography and all other imaging modalities, access to sophisticated technology and the expertise to interpret the findings are of prime importance. To help distinguish a normal process from an abnormal one requires proper training, clinical experience, strict adherance to guidelines and protocols, and meticulous image acquisition. While not all tumors are visible on a mammogram, not all tumors are associated with a high level of blood vessel activity; thus, escaping infrared detection. Less aggressive lesions can be associated with less evident images. Therefore, in these select cases, thermography may be an indicator suggesting a much better overall prognosis.

When digitally produced, and interpreted by qualified doctors, abnormalities or changes in infrared images provide invaluable information. This is particularly true in patients with dense breasts, non-specific physical or mammographic findings, or women with a previous history of breast surgery or radiation. The use of serial infrared imaging can draw additional attention to areas that require further evaluation or closer scrutiny during initial or subsequent exams. This further evaluation may include additional structural imaging. Used as a complimentary imaging technique, recent data suggests that thermography may also help monitor the effects of some of the newer proposed anti-angiogenesis therapies (currently recognized as a promising treatment strategy) [6,8].

Since we have not been able to prevent breast cancer as of yet, there is a consensus among experts that more lives will be saved with earlier detection. Since both physical and mammographic examination cannot detect all cancers, particularly smaller tumors in younger patients and those with dense breast tissue, there is currently much interest in finding new ways to improve our abilities in early detection. While some techniques have emerged, most are designed to be used in selected cases where physical and mammographic examinations have already picked up an abnormality. Consequently, we are left with some patients who have adhered to current screening guidelines and are still left with undetected breast cancer. Therefore, experts have concluded that no one procedure or method of imaging is solely adequate for breast cancer screening 

Here is some helpful information to review.I wanted to share this great video from Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, who is board certified in Holistic, Integrative Medicine and Osteopathic Structural Medicine about her thoughts on Thermography. Her articles have been published on several popular websites such as the Huffington Post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qnREMWpqrE