PAULA BLATCHER

Early Detection Means Life

 

• Baseline thermogram at age 20

• 20-30 years of age – every 3 years

• 30 years of age and over – every year

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Current statistics indicate that approximately 15% of all breast cancers occur under the age of 45 (1). Consequently, the above guidelines include careful breast monitoring during these years. With the addition of thermography, interval cancers (cancers that show up between yearly exams) may also be detected much sooner.

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Breast cancer is the most common cancer of women, and the risk increases with age (1). Risk is also higher in women whose close relatives have had the disease. Women without children, and those who have had their first child after age 30, also seem to be at higher risk. However, every woman is at risk of developing breast cancer. Current research indicates that 1 in every 8 women in the US will get breast cancer in their lifetime (1).

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It has been determined that no one method of examination alone will serve all the needs in early breast cancer detection (1, 2, 6). Thermography’s role is in addition to mammography not in lieu of. Thermography does not replace mammography and mammography does not replace thermography, the tests complement each other.

 

It is thermography’s unique ability to detect the abnormal heat and blood vessel changes produced by diseased breast tissue that allows for early detection (3, 6, 7, 8). Since it has been determined that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer, we must use every means possible to detect cancers when there is the greatest chance for survival. Proper use of breast self-exams, physician exams, thermography, and mammography together provide the earliest detection system available to date (3, 7, 8). If treated in the earliest stages, cure rates greater than 95% are possible (3, 6).