Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women, who have a one in eight chance of developing this disease during their lifetime. It is the most common cancer among American women but fortunately, the death rate is gradually decreasing due to modern early detection and intervention technology.
Many doctors recommend that women over the age of 40 should have a mammogram once a year to diagnose and screen for breast cancer. Dr. Joseph Mercola, however, believes that mammograms expose women to radiation that’s almost 1,000 times greater than that from a chest x-ray, which may further increase the risk of radiation-induced cancer.
A mammogram also tightly, and often painfully, compresses the breasts, which may dangerously hasten the growth of any existing malignant cells.
There is also no solid evidence proving that mammograms help save women’s lives, Dr. Mercola points out. Studies show that having an annual mammogram along with the physical examination of your breasts does not lead to an improved survival rate compared to physical examination alone.
If this is the case, what can you do to lower your breast cancer risk?
Mercola uses a state-of-the-art, radiation-free diagnostic tool called thermal imaging or thermography, which creates a digital map of your body, illustrating heat patterns that may detect some condition or abnormality using a scanning-type infrared camera that measures your body’s surface temperature.
Thermography can increase your chances of detecting breast cancer in its earliest stages by locating irregular patterns in the breast – conditions that occur before a noticeable lump is formed.
Thermal imaging looks at vascular changes in the breast and detects blood flow patterns, inflammation and asymmetries. Mammograms, on the other hand, focus on anatomical changes, like masses or lumps in the breast tissue.
Dr. Mercola highly recommends thermograms because they benefit all women, are quick and non-invasive, make no contact with the body, and provides more financial savings than conventional diagnostic tools.
Aside from breast cancer, thermography screenings can also help detect many other conditions, including heart disease, arthritis, neck and back pain, sinus issues, dental issues, immune dysfunction, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease, etc.