Welcome to Carolina Thermascan, LLC. Thermascan is a safe and promising screening tool that can help women detect a potentially cancerous process long before a breast tumor actually develops and becomes a threat. Also known as breast thermography, digital infrared imaging, or “infrared mammography”, this leading-edge technology involves no direct contact, no pain, and no radiation exposure. Breast thermography provides a color-coded "fingerprint" of the breast. If the pattern appears to be normal, then future scans should show the same pattern. Any change in this pattern is a cause for concern and may be followed by specific measures to improve breast health and eliminate possible early indications of breast cancer.
How breast thermography works. Breast thermography operates on the following fundamental principle: Factors involved in the genesis of tumors, such as inflammation and the creation of new blood vessels, produce a tiny amount of heat or infrared. The infrared emissions can be measured accurately to tiny fractions of a degree using a specialized infrared camera. At Carolina Thermascan, we use an ultra-sensitive medical infrared camera that detects and analyzes the changes before displaying them as a spectrum of colors representing temperature—the so-called thermagram. Hot spots can be signs of increased vascular activity as would be seen prior to or during the development of a tumor. Such hot spots would then merit further investigation, usually either by ultrasound or MRI.
Detect breast abnormalities early and optimize breast health. Thermascan is highly effective in detecting breast abnormalities. Indeed, recent research suggests that breast thermography can detect first signs of breast cancer 6 to 8 years before mammography. Moreover, an abnormal thermagram may be the single most powerful indicator of high risk for developing breast cancer, ten times as important as having a family history of the disease, according to a 2001 report in the International Journal of Fertility and Women's Medicine. If you have an abnormal thermagram, you can then take steps to change the conditions in the breast with the help of targeted nutritionals and botanicals before getting a follow-up Thermascan.
A timely option for breast cancer prevention. In November 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force proposed major changes in breast cancer screening guidelines, with mammography only recommended for women age 50 and older, and then getting a mammogram every other year. Given the revised guidelines, breast thermography may be the best screening option for women under 50, women with dense breasts, and older women who want more assurance that mammography is not missing a potential disease situation. Other women who may benefit considerably from Thermascan include those who are on hormone replacement, those who are pregnant or nursing, and those who have fibrocystic, large, or enhanced breasts—all situations for which mammography has either questionable safety or limited reliability. Ultimately, any woman can benefit from Thermascan, because the more you know about the condition of your body, the more intelligent and powerful your approach will be to preventing disease and promoting health and longevity.
Get proactive about your breast health! With an abnormal thermagram, you would then get an ultrasound in order to determine whether you have a cyst or mass of some kind. We use several effective, non-invasive strategies to eliminate cysts and prevent future cysts from forming. If it's a mass, then an MRI and/or biopsy may be indicated. If there is no cyst or mass, you can still adopt an anti-cancer self-care program on a precautionary basis. Thus, thermography enables you to be highly proactive about long-term breast health. It can help you put a stop to the development of breast cancer long before it becomes a reality, or to treat cancer at an early stage, when it is most curable. By using anti-cancer nutrition, herbal therapy, and other integrative medicine strategies, you can then turn this situation around and get your body back in the clear.
With the new mammography guidelines now stated, we believe a good overall strategy for monitoring breast health would be as follows:
1. Start Thermascan screening at age 25 – every two years.
2. Starting at age 35, increase to every one year until age 50.
3. After age 50, go back to every other year, alternating with mammograms so that one or the other procedure is done yearly.
