Today, we’re going to discuss the increasingly controversial breast mammograms as well as introduce you to another technology not as well known, but one which can also help save lives. To give this discussion some context, keep in mind that cancer is now the number one killer in America. It passed heart disease as the number one killer a few years ago. And if you are a woman, breast cancer is the type of cancer you are most likely to get.

First, let me emphasize that mammograms have saved or prolonged thousands of lives. With rewards¸ however, come risks. Many believe that mammograms are the ideal screening tool to give you a warning stage before the cancer becomes far more difficult to treat. However, mammograms could potentially increase your risk of breast cancer.

That's why I’m cautious about recommending mammograms, despite what you may hear from other medical sources. Mammograms expose your body to radiation that can be 1,000 times greater than that from a chest x-ray -- this makes you unnecessarily vulnerable to further risks of radiation-induced cancer.

Additionally, mammography compresses the breasts tightly (and often painfully), which could lead to a lethal spread of any existing malignant cells. There is some research showing that adding an annual mammogram to a careful physical examination of the breasts does not improve breast cancer survival rates over getting the examination alone.

Fortunately, you now have some very effective options based on finding inflammation -- the precursor to many of these types of cancers. For the longest time, it wasn't well-known that inflammation was the culprit responsible for many chronic diseases. However, we now recognize that inflammation is a precursor to many diseases, such as cancer, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

And here's some good news. Early detection of inflammation may help you prevent many negative health conditions from developing. I want to emphasize that though this is of particular interest to women, men will also find it extremely helpful.

There's a new diagnostic high-tech tool that specifically measures inflammation. It's called thermal imaging, or thermography. In a nutshell, this tool creates a digital map of your body that illustrates heat patterns -- patterns that may detect some condition or abnormality. It uses a scanning-type infrared camera that measures your body surface temperature, presenting the information as a digitized image.

First, it’s reliable and accurate information for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Second, it provides precise and objective data from accurate measurements of thermal information. And third, with thermography considerable financial savings are realized over conventional investigations.

And unlike most diagnostic tests, thermal imaging is not painful and non-invasive. It makes no contact with your body and there is no body part compression such as what you experience with mammograms. Also of extreme importance is that thermography emits absolutely NO radiation!

There are basic differences between thermo-grams and mammograms. Thermo-grams provide you with early diagnosis and treatment assistance in such problems as cancer, inflammatory processes, neurological and vascular dysfunction and musculoskeletal injury.

Mammograms look at anatomical changes in the breast, as they detect masses or lumps in the breast tissue. Breast thermography is a diagnostic procedure that images the breasts to aid in the early detection of breast cancer.

Thermo-grams benefit all women. It’s well known that early detection is the best defense for breast cancer, and if treated in the earliest stages, a 95 percent cure rate is achieved. Thermo-grams may be particularly useful for young women who want to monitor their breast health before the recommended age of 40. I believe your breast cancer prevention should start as early as possible.

If you are a woman, you need to take your breast health seriously. One in eight women will get breast cancer at some point in their lives. Proper breast self-exams, physician exams, and now thermography together provide you with the earliest detection system available.

A very important area of consideration is the category of women under age 40 because routine mammograms are usually not given to this age group. We don’t hear very much about it, but there are 20,000 cases of breast cancer annually in this younger group in the US. When cancer occurs in this under age 40 population group, it is generally much more aggressive and less likely to response to treatment. Thermography is a perfect test for these women because there is no radiation involved.

In response to the growing confusion regarding the current accepted role of thermography for use in breast cancer screening and detection, the International Academy of Clinical Thermology says breast thermography is a complimentary screening and detection procedure, which when added to a woman’s breast health examination substantially increases the sensitivity in detecting pathologies associated with the breast:

There is no one test that can detect 99-100 percent of all cancers. Therefore, no single test exists that can be used alone as an adequate screening or detection method for breast cancer.

A physiological imaging procedure (thermography) cannot replace an anatomical imaging procedure (mammography). The two tests are “looking” for completely different pathological processes.

Thermography is far more sensitive than mammography. However, some slow growing non-aggressive cancers will only be detected by mammography.

The cost difference is not too significant; Theromgraphy will range around $160-170 while mammograms wider range of $100-250. How often should women get theset really varies. Initial scan then may recommend a follow up in 3-6 months. Then yearly.

There are several clinics that thermo-grams can be done. I recommend two places. The first is Diane Rother at “NorthStar Wisdom” in Bloomington at 952-944-6006. Her email address is northstarwisdom@qwestoffice.net. She has been in holistic health for 30 years. She not only does the scan but also offers advice to her patients including acupressure points and lymphatic massage of the breast as well as lifestyle modifications and dietary recommendations. The second contact is Terry Murphy at Mind, Body and Soul Wellness Center at 2201 Lexington Avenue North, Suite 103, Roseville, MN 55113. Her phone number at 651.330.0022

In closing, it's been my nature not to over-recommend too many diagnostic tools, tests and procedures because many of them do nothing to help you prevent disease and enhance your health. So you know that when I endorse thermography, I've looked long and hard at the benefits to you -- and found them significant. Even if you're feeling okay today, it's good to have a baseline thermo-gram done now, so you'll have something to compare to if anything ever pops up down the road. And if you're female, please consider thermography part of your annual health prevention regimen.

You may want to listen to a replay of Dr. Corbett’s show, “Words of Wellness” on KYMN 1080-AM radio under archives. Also, there’s a lot of information on the website -- An excellent and thorough website - www.breastthermography.com.