Charleston Integrative Medicine and The Thermography Center of Charleston
Home of Dr. Ariane Cometa M.D. and Karen Gadol PA-C
Located at Carolina Hormone and Health
300 W. Coleman Blvd. Suite 101
Mount Pleasant SC 29464
Give your holidays a healthy start!
Please join us Thursday, December 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m. as we briefly share valuable health and wellness secrets from Integrative Medicine Physician Ariane Cometa, M.D. with Certified Thermographer Karen Gadol, PA-C and Jesse Ross, Doctor of Chiropractic and Stress Reduction Coach. Our Christmas gathering follows, complete with refreshments, as we collect new winter hats and gloves for children in Charleston area Title 1 elementary schools.
The gathering will be happening at Biokare Health and Wellness, the new location of our Charleston Integrative Medicine practice. If you’re interested, please respond to our evite here:
We hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Dr. Ariane Cometa and Karen Gadol PA-C
Karen Gadol, PA-C and I are pleased to announce that we are joining Dr. Jesse Ross and the Wellness team of Biokare Health and Wellness in the heart of the old village of Mt. Pleasant. We will be joining this wonderful group of talented practitioners this month of August 2015. All of our services will now be provided at Biokare Health and Wellness. Please visit our updated Charleston Integrative Medicine website at http://www.charlestonintegrativemedicine.com to learn all about what services beyond The Thermography Center of Charleston we have to offer you, your friends, and family at our new office location.
Also, please visit http://www.biokarewellness.com to learn all about the invaluable services that Dr. Jesse Ross and his associates bring to you and the greater Charleston area.
Karen and I are truly honored to bring our Integrative Medicine services as well as The Thermography Center of Charleston to Biokare Health and Wellness.
The new address is 123 Pitt Street, Mt. Pleasant, SC. If you have questions about any of our services, please contact Karen at 843-813-4575 or ATGforyou@gmail.com. Come visit us soon!
Cheers!
Ariane Cometa, MD and Karen Gadol, PA-C
WHY SKIMP when it comes to your health? Remember….you, your loved ones, and your friends are always worth the money you spend on quality health care.
At the Thermography Center of Charleston, we know that your health matters and that the quality of interpretation directly determines the quality of our service. This is why Ariane Cometa, MD is a member of Electronic Medical Interpretation (EMI), a professional group of board-certified Thermologist. At EMI, only medical doctors (MD or DO) are eligible to receive the necessary education and training, which is provided by the American College of Clinical Thermology (ACCT). Dr. Cometa reads every report for the Thermography Center of Charleston. In fact, she is the only MD in South Carolina with this level of advanced training – able to bring to you the highest quality of service combined with expert interpretation and then the knowledge and experience to know what you need to correct or maintain your health.
This woman has an early cancer growing at 12:00 in the left breast. Can you see it?
Dr. Cometa is able to combine her 20 years of Integrative Medical training with her Thermology training for those who wish to pursue this combined medical service. No other physician on the southeastern seaboard offers what Dr. Cometa provides to the southeast: Integrative Holistic Medical training, certification in Medical Thermology and providing her community with the excellence of the Meditherm2000 Infrared camera.
What do you receive when you have your Thermogram done at the Thermography Center of Charleston?
A board certified Medical Doctor of Thermology who will:
A licensed healthcare professional (PA-C) and Certified Thermographer will expertly take all of your thermal images. Our Thermographer, Karen Gadol, has 17 years experience in patient care and is honored to ensure you receive the best care and attention possible. She is also a Certified Lymphatic Therapist (CLT) and provides Electro-Lymphatic Therapy (ELT) for patients who need/ desire this added level of care. This service is only available through our office and she is one of only two Practitioners in the state offering this service. Also, as a Certified Nutrition Counselor (CNC), Karen is able to work hand-in-hand with patients and Dr. Cometa to provide excellent patient care. No other office in our community offers this level of care and variety of services.
Of great importance, the Thermography Center of Charleston uses the Meditherm Med2000 system. This is a “state of the art” camera, surpassing all industry standards. This camera is an FDA registered Class 1 medical screening device that was designed and manufactured exclusively for medical application.
For more information about why the Meditherm camera is the best camera on the market, and why we at the Charleston Thermography have chosen to use it with our patients, please see the foot note below. These details matter!
You deserve the best! In selecting the center and the professionals who will provide your testing and care, always ask: 1) What is the quality of your camera? 2) Who will take my images and what is their level of training / experience? 3) Who will interpret my images and what if something of concern is found – who will help me implement a plan?
As you choose – choose the best – choose “The Thermography Center of Charleston.”
We look forward to working with you,
Dr. Ariane Cometa & Karen
Footnotes:
When it comes to “Big Pharma,” most health-conscious Americans are aware that companies such as Target, Walmart, Walgreen and GNC are no better than the pharmaceutical companies. How can a company that sells toilet paper and furniture, hoses and eyeliner consciously manufacture health care nutraceuticals (i.e., vitamins and minerals, etc.) and herbal supplements? It is for just this reason that doctors like myself do the research, know the manufacturers, and inquire with the health care supplement company CEOs routinely to guarantee authenticity, safety and efficacy of the over-the-counter (OTC) health supplements we recommend.
Natural medicine has effectively been under attack for years as pharmaceutical company lobbyists urge lawmakers to deprive Americans of the benefits of dietary supplements. Drug-company front groups routinely launch slanderous media campaigns to discredit the value of natural medicine. The FDA continues to interfere with those who offer natural products that compete with prescription drugs.
Knowing this information, we must take with a grain of salt what the Washington Post article highlights, when it quotes that “Contamination, substitution and falsely labeling herbal products constitute deceptive business practices and, more importantly, present considerable health risks for consumers.” The article goes on to point out that the Department of Health and Human Services is recommending that the FDA seek “explicit statutory authority to review substantiation for structure/function claims” — essentially, it should subject the health claims made by supplement manufacturers to the same kind of scrutiny that drugs must undergo.
As parents, we have the responsibility and the desire to make informed healthcare decisions for our family. Up until the last two decades, vaccines have been viewed as an automatic part of everyone’s childhood. But today’s parents are taking a more active role in making choices for their child’s medical care.
When the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) minimizes the adverse effects of a vaccine, it may well be interpreted by skeptical and conscientious parents in this country as another way of saying, “We are not looking for the adverse effects that the vaccine may have on our children.” The HPV vaccine is a good example of this purported interpretation (more to come on that in a future blog post – stay tuned). The people at most risk of becoming seriously ill are babies too young to be vaccinated, and the immunologically frail. What does this say for the safety of the vaccine?
Twenty years ago, the Measles, Mumps & Rubella (MMR) vaccine was found to infect virtually all of its recipients with measles. The manufacturer Merck’s own product warning links MMR to a potentially fatal form of brain inflammation caused by measles. Why is this evidence not being reported?
Parents wonder if it’s safer to remain unvaccinated, vaccinated or undervaccinated. Just how risky are these diseases we vaccinate against, and how likely is it for an unvaccinated child to catch them? I don’t think it’s a dangerous choice to go unvaccinated or delay vaccinations, but the question of how and when to vaccinate is a very challenging one for many parents. Parents need to have a clear understanding of what the risk spectrum of vaccination really is, and there is no solid research in the field.
One of the loudest arguments for national immunization is to support the concept of “herd immunity.” It is a concept or theory, not fact, that herd immunity has to be established when people are protected in our country from diseases because almost everybody in the herd is vaccinated. If a disease comes into our country, our herd is theoretically so well-protected through vaccination-induced herd immunity, that the disease won’t take control and won’t take hold here.
The scare tactic goes as follows:
Right now, there’s enough herd immunity in our country where a certain percentage of children can safely remain unvaccinated and not have to worry about disease risk. The problem is, if more and more parents make that kind of decision, we will reach the tipping point where our herd immunity is no longer adequate, and diseases will come back into our country. It reminds me of the saying ”Polio is only a plane ride away.”
So what happened in Disneyland? What happened to our theoretical HERD IMMUNITY?
Medical experts were left to ponder concern about the five patients who contracted measles despite being fully vaccinated. Statistically, if the vaccine is 99% good after two doses, then there should be less than 1% chance of infection in people with both doses. Also, there is a 5% chance of vaccine failure in people who have had only one dose of the measles vaccine. Again, what happened in Disneyland? There were 5 people infected with measles who were fully immunized? These 5 are out of the 43 people infected, whose immunizations are on record. When I last did the math, 43 divided by 5 is almost 12%, not 1%.
As a doctor, I don’t like to undermine the CDC and to help parents mistrust the CDC. But obviously there is a problem with our 1% statistic here when the “water is being tested.” Scared, undereducated parents, not the educated, are the biggest CDC target. Repeatedly, the media has blamed the educated parents of America, the “non-vaxxers” for placing this country at risk when they choose not to follow a vaccination protocol, which the CDC has put in place. The long term impact (i.e., unwanted impact) of vaccines, and the lack of credible testing done to demonstrate the long-term safety of vaccines, has essentially not been done. And vaccines are essentially considered “untested for safety” by the many parents who choose to deviate from the CDC vaccine schedule. Is there something inherently wrong with this, other than defying the herd immunity concept?
Hysteria is what took place in the media coverage over the measles outbreak in Disneyland. There is no other word for it other than genuine hysteria.
The assumption that non-vaccinated children are the carriers and transmitters of a disease, and that the vaccinated are not, is actually wrong and has not been scientifically validated.
What is not reported in the media is that there is a simple test that has been around for 20 years that can scientifically distinguish between the measles one can get from a recently vaccinated child (vaccine-strain), and the measles one gets from a contagious, unvaccinated child (wild-type). PCR testing is widely acknowledged as a highly sensitive and very specific test AND it is the only efficient way to distinguish vaccine-strain and wild-type measles infection, as their clinical presentation are indistinguishable.
Has there been any laboratory confirmation of even one case of the supposed measles outbreak related to Disneyland? If yes, was the confirmed case tested to determine whether it was wild-type measles or vaccine-strain measles? If not, why not? These are important questions to ask. Is it measles or not? If yes, what kind, because if it’s vaccine-strain measles, then that means it is the vaccinated who are contagious and spreading measles, resulting in what the media likes to label “outbreaks” to create panic. It would be what is called a vaccine fallout. People who receive live-virus vaccines, such as the MMR, can shed that live virus for weeks and can infect others. Other live-virus vaccines include the rotavirus vaccine (now gone because it was so dangerous), the yellow fever vaccine, the chicken pox vaccine/shingles vaccine (yes, they are the exact same vaccine!) and the flu vaccine. Ever wonder what this “defective” flu vaccine in 2014/2015, which we have given millions of people this year, may be transmitting? Ever consider that the flu vaccine gives innocent, unvaccinated bystanders the flu? Oh, but that’s right! There’s Tamiflu for that isn’t there?
Since vaccine-strain measles have almost entirely replaced the natural wild-type, communally acquired measles, it is statistically unlikely that PCR tests will reveal the media’s hysterical storyline — “non-vaxxers brought back an eradicated disease!” — to be true. Until such studies are performed and exposed, we will never know for certain. Do we think the study will take place?
Just thought I would provide some food for thought on this controversial topic.
– Ariane Cometa MD, the holistic doc
Have you ever wondered why so many aging people have calcified plaque in their arteries and yet walk around with brittle bones that are markedly depleted of calcium? Vitamin K2 is the link between these diseases. Vitamin K2 will be discussed shortly.
Healthy Bone Turn-over
Bone is a dynamic, living tissue that is continuously remodeled. As old bone is resorbed by osteoclasts (cells that break bone down), the “old and stressed” bone is replaced with healthy new bone by osteoblasts (new bone cells). DO WE WANT TO INHIBIT RESORPTION? Of course not. Say “NO!” to Fosemax! Why? I will tell you why.
Bisphosphonate drugs (e.g. Fosemax and Actonel) increase the Bone Mineral Density (BMD) of the bones at the expense of our bone quality. Such drugs reduce the activity of osteoclasts through cell death. These drugs act as an osteoclast poison. This is how the drugs slow resorption of bone. In addition, they do not increase the activity of osteoblasts (new bone cell growth). As a result, these drugs maintain “older” bone with poorer architectural quality. As old bone is NOT torn down and the osteoblasts continue to build new bone, the bone is more brittle, therefore the QUALITY of the bone will naturally be diminished and weaker.
Medical research documents that WE WANT Bone Quality, not just Quantity. The Fosemax-like drugs (Bisphosphonates) may increase BMD, but at what expense? The answer is in the value of Vitamin K2 and Strontium. Let’s start with Vitamin K2.
The Vitamin K’s
• 1929, Danish Nutritionist discovers Vitamin K1
• “K” for koagulationsvitamin
• “The clotting vitamin”.
• 1970’s, the discovery of many non-clotting Vitamin K2 dependent proteins found ubiquitously in the body, including the bones and the vessels.
Vitamin K2
How is Vitamin K2 different?
• Menatetrenone is Vitamin K2, not Vitamin K1.
• Vitamin K2 is deficient in the American diet, with only tiny quantities available in goose liver, butter and egg yolks.
• Vitamin K1 conversion to Vitamin K2 does occur minimally in our bodies. Plus, this conversion slows down with age.
• Vitamin K2 is a GREAT bone builder.
• Clinical trials have shown that Vitamin K2 provides bone protection beyond the BMD numbers.
Over the last 2 decades, randomized, controlled human, animal and in-vitro studies have consistently demonstrated that K2 supplementation protects bone health.
• Deposits bone into the bone matrix.
• Prevents prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) mediated calcium loss AND PGE2 production.
• Reduces osteoclast (cells that break bone down) formation from stem cells (but does not poison osteoclasts).
• Promotes osteoblast (new bone cells) maturation and activity through effects on gene expression.
BMD does not equal Bone Quality
• Vitamin K2 increases strength, improves the structure and boosts the mineral content of bone.
• It does this while it maintains or improves BMD.
• Women’s risk of fracture slashed with Vitamin K2 is comparable to bisphosphonates.
Bridging the vessels and the bones
Have you ever wondered why so many aging people have calcified plaque in their arteries and yet walk around with brittle bones that are markedly depleted of calcium? Vitamin K2 is the link between these diseases. Vitamin K2 deficiency is an epidemic in the country as is Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin K2 availability decreases with aging. As a result… osteocalcin is not able to bind calcium and transport it to the bone matrix. This is one reason why calcium accumulates in the arterial wall. But there is more to the story….read on!
FROM BONES TO VESSELS
Vitamin K2 connects them!
There are many Vitamin K2 dependent proteins.
Calcified Vessels!
Increasing evidence reveals that the Vitamin K-dependent calcification process is ubiquitous. Therefore in Vitamin K deficiency… we literally ossify the plaque of our arterial wall rather than our bone matrix!
How do we find Vitamin K2?
Vitamin K2 is rich in the Japanese diet. Natto is a traditional Japanese food. It is a fermented soy condiment. Vitamin K2 is extracted from Natto and is purified of all its soy content and grown through fermentation with the probiotic Bacillus, natto. It is very biologically active. Natto is the richest known food source for Vitamin K2. Eastern regions of Japan eat a lot more Natto. Research has demonstrated that these women, who eat more Natto, have far fewer fractures than their western neighbors. Pure Natto resources can be found in Japanese groceries. Since Natto is not available in your local grocery store, and we do not live in Japan, let’s talk about Vitamin K2 supplementation.
Vitamin K2 Dosage
Pure Natto resources found in Japanese groceries.
There are many reasons to address this problem naturally. The most important reason is that by naturally correcting your bone metabolism issue, you have corrected the problem. Of course the correct diet and weight bearing activity program are integral to the bone health program recommended below.
Let Nature and Lifestyle improve Bone strength. Nature addresses the age-related decline in bone formation.
Lifestyle
Natural supplements for Bone Health
You must not be on Coumadin to follow this program.Treatment can be safely started while on your Osteoporosis medication. Available at The Cometa Wellness Center Pharmacy.
Also, for those of you who have Osteoporosis, please add Strontium. We will review the value of Strontium and Vitamin D3 in the reversal of Osteoporosis in upcoming blogs.
• AOR Strontium, take 2 in the AM 1 hour before all medication, supplements and food OR 2 before bed, apart from other supplements as possible, by one hour.
Doctor’s message:
I have been 100% successful in reversing early bone loss AND Osteoporosis with the above recommendations. Please consider how important your bone health is for longevity and quality of life as we age, and keep those bones “truckin”. Now, you also know that when the calcium is correctly deposited into the bones with the assistance of K2, you are also keeping calcium out of the vessels! Strong bones and healthy vessels only lead to a healthier you!
To our investment in Health and Wellness!
Cheers,
Recently, Karen Gadol, PA-C, Certified Thermographer and I met with Dr. Bernard and her team from the Charleston based Carolina Hormone and Health Center. We were pleased to learn what good care they take of their patients. We wanted to introduce our Thermography Center of Charleston to their team and learn more about the services they could offer our patients. In addition to Bioidentical Hormone prescribing for men and women, we learned that they do much more! For example, they offer patients, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) testing. HRV testing evaluates the balancing act between the sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). An imbalance in HRV is the #1 risk factor for sudden cardiac death. The simple hand electro-sensor test shows you a report on the balance between your heart and nervous system in minutes.
Heart Rate Variability testing:
As I, Dr. Cometa, work so closely with my patients nervous, endocrine, and metabolic systems, while I strive to attain a balance in their health, I found this service to be especially interesting and very useful.
To remind everybody what The Thermography Center of Charleston offers, Medical Thermography done correctly with a Meditherm Infrared Camera, is a digital map of your body’s cells activity visualized through heat patterns. These thermal images (heat patterns) are analyzed by a medical doctor called a Thermologist, for abnormalities (irregular heat patterns) that may signal the onset of disease in your body, such as breast cancer. The most common use of thermography is for breast health screening. In short, thermography is a tool to monitor breast health, not just a way to find disease. Is this not the true definition of “screening”; to assess the body’s cell health; and insure no potential for upcoming morbidity and mortality?
Look at the below table. As you can see, breast cancer that was found with our Meditherm Infrared camera at 2 years of inception, was not detected until 8 years with a mammogram! Why wait? Early Detection saves lives. An ultrasound done after this abnormal Thermogram below would be the next step.
In addition to breast cancer screening, Thermography screens the body for so much more. The following is only a sampling of conditions:
The list goes on – the point is … anyone – male or female – can benefit from FULL BODY Thermography. Let’s look at some examples.
We at Charleston Integrative Medicine want to provide you with both the medical services as well as the knowledge to feel ready to embark upon or build upon your already health conscious lifestyle.
To learn more about The Thermogaphy Center of Charleston or schedule a thermogram, please email or call Karen at:
843-813-4575
To learn more about The Integrative Medical Services that Dr. Cometa offers the Greater Charleston area, please email or call me at:
ariane@cometawellnesscenter.com
443-804-1970
To learn more about Carolina Hormone and Health Center, visit them on the web @
http://carolinahormoneandhealth.com
Of course, please check out the various pages of this blog/website, to learn more about both Karen Gadol PA as well as me, Dr. Ariane Cometa, Integrative Family Medicine!
We look forward to working with you!
Ariane Cometa MD, the holistic doc
What is Thermography you ask? Medical Thermography done correctly with a Meditherm Infrared Camera, is a digital map of your body’s cells activity visualized through heat patterns. These thermal images (heat patterns) are analyzed by a medical doctor called a Thermologist, for abnormalities (irregular heat patterns) that may signal the onset of disease in your body, such as breast cancer. The most common use of thermography is for breast health screening. In short, thermography is a tool to monitor breast health, not just a way to find disease. Is this not the true definition of “screening”; to assess the body’s cell health; and insure no potential for upcoming morbidity and mortality?
Look at the below table. As you can see, breast cancer that was found with our Meditherm Infrared camera at 2 years of inception, was not detected until 8 years with a mammogram! Why wait? Early Detection saves lives. An ultrasound done after this abnormal Thermogram below would be the next step.
In addition to breast cancer screening, Thermography screens the body for so much more. The following is only a sampling of conditions:
The list goes on – the point is … anyone – male or female – can benefit from FULL BODY Thermography. Let’s look at some examples.
This picture demonstrates an UNDERACTIVE THYROID or HYPOthyroidism. This is a condition which often does NOT show up well in patient blood work but that I treat routinely with Natural Thyroid due to patient symptoms and thermogram findings.
The hands below belong to a man who presented with numbness and tingling in the right hand. He did not know he had Diabetes until AFTER the thermogram found this Neuropathy in the right hand.
The woman below came in for her annual Breast Thermogram and decided to get a FULL BODY Thermogram that year instead. Without this thermogram, our patient would never have known that she has early carotid artery inflammation. Plaque begins to build in our arteries AFTER they become inflamed. WHY WAIT for plaque to build in the arteries, when you can screen for early inflammation in the vessels with Thermography AND eliminate it naturally before it becomes a problem?
These two thermograms demonstrate why you want to get an annual breast thermogram even if you decide to get a mammogram that year. Remember, it is your decision whether to get a mammogram each year, depending upon the risk/benefit ratio for YOU to get a mammogram. To learn more about this topic, please take a look at our April 2014 blog “Medical Research Against Annual Mammograms”.
This woman has normal breasts on thermogram. Different than the thermogram to the left, isn’t it?
The woman who belongs to the thermogram on the left has an early cancer. This same woman had just had a normal mammogram. Remember our table above? Natural Medicine can really support a woman’s breast health and early breast cancer detection saves lives!
We at Charleston Integrative Medicine want to provide you with both the medical services as well as the knowledge to feel ready to embark upon or build upon your already Health conscious lifestyle.
To learn more about The Thermogaphy Center of Charleston or schedule a thermogram, please email or call Karen Gadol PA-C at:
843-813-4575
To learn more about The Integrative Medical Services that Dr. Cometa offers the Greater Charleston area, please email or call her at:
ariane@cometawellnesscenter.com
443-804-1970
Of course, please check out the various pages of this blog/website, to learn more about both Karen Gadol PA as well as me, Dr. Ariane Cometa, Integrative Family Medicine!
We look forward to working with you!
Ariane Cometa MD, the holistic doc
A large percentage of the female population in the United States, (approximately 50%), simply does not get routine mammography. A very challenging question this country must face and answer regarding mammography as a “gold standard” for breast cancer screening is, “how many breast cancer deaths are avoided by mammography and at what expense?”
As time goes by, I’m struck more by what’s not being said in regards to this question than what is being said. It has been 50 years since a randomized trial of screening mammography has been done in the United States. Why is this? How can the medical profession in the United States so blatantly support the mammography “gold standard” test and chastise other breast cancer screening tests (based on their presumed lack of medical research support), if the efficacy of mammography has not been tested in our country by our own medical research standards (randomized trials) for 50 years? Given the exposure of the millions of American women to this intervention which involves close contact ionizing radiation, perhaps we should consider this medical contradiction. In countries, such as this European study, that do investigate and analyze the effect mammography has on female mortality, mammography screening often is found not to play a direct part in the reductions in breast cancer mortality.
Recent studies have led to a lot of confusion over mammograms. In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) caused a stir when it changed its recommendations on mammograms, which had long advised women to have one every year, starting at age 40. The USPSTF recommended against routine screening mammography in women aged 40-49 years, but instead in women age 40 to 49 years of age, clinicians should periodically perform individualized assessment of risk for breast cancer to help guide decisions about screening mammography before age 50.These guidelines were largely ignored and unlike the USPSTF, the American Cancer Society still suggests that women start yearly mammograms at age 40.
Yet, Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, states “Mammography does appear to save lives, but it’s not as effective as people have thought,” and Brawley goes on to say, “there’s a second line to the recommendation that doesn’t get quoted in the media. “The “second line” says doctors should also tell women about the limitations and potential harms of screening, so they can make an informed decision. “I’ve long been worried that we’re overselling the benefits of mammography,” Brawley said. He stressed though, that “even though the benefit is less than promised, there’s still a benefit.”
To quote the conclusions of the 2013 Cochrane Database System Review, which updated that of the 2011 Screening for breast cancer with mammography.
If we assume that screening reduces breast cancer mortality by 15% and that overdiagnosis and overtreatment is at 30%, it means that for every 2000 women invited for screening throughout 10 years, one will avoid dying of breast cancer and 10 healthy women, who would not have been diagnosed if there had not been screening, will be treated unnecessarily. Furthermore, more than 200 women will experience important psychological distress including anxiety and uncertainty for years because of false positive findings. Because of substantial advances in treatment and greater breast cancer awareness since the trials were carried out, it is likely that the absolute effect of screening today is smaller than in the trials. Recent observational studies show more overdiagnosis than in the trials and very little or no reduction in the incidence of advanced cancers with screening (by mammography).
What is meant by, the incidence of advanced cancers with screening? In other words…. not DCIS. Experts now know that many findings on mammogram (DCIS for example) never progress to the point where a lump would be felt or that cancer will evolve. Some will even go away on their own. But with screening, those cancers are detected and treated. The risk that concerns most is “overdiagnosis” — where women with tumors that would never have threatened their lives go through needless surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. “We have no way of knowing which patients will progress,” said Keating, associate professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “So we have to treat everyone we diagnose.” It’s hard to estimate the number of women who are overdiagnosed with breast cancer, Keating said. Nancy Keating is the co-author of the most recent BIG NEWS review of 50 years’ worth of research done at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The review published in the April 2, 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association strongly suggests that the benefits of mammography are overestimated. This controversial report, adds to the growing uncertainty building over the years regarding the value of mammography screening. Data from 50 years of research was analyzed and those conducting the research review state “The benefits of mammography screening are probably oversold AND any benefit comes with some risks of its own , especially “overdiagnosis” . The risk of overdiagnosis is greatly underappreciated” states co-author, Dr. Lydia Pace, who goes on to say,
“It is really important to have informed discussions with our patients to help them understand the chances that a mammogram will benefit them as well as the possible downsides of getting a mammogram, so that they can incorporate their own values and preferences in making the right decision for themselves.”
Isn’t this what the US Task Force stated 5 years ago?!
This is the largest review to date of mammography and finds that mammograms do save lives, but not as many as people believe. But based on the studies her team reviewed, a “best estimate” is that 19 percent of cancers diagnosed over 10 years of screening are actually overdiagnoses. “We think mammography has a benefit,” Keating said, “but it’s smaller than many people believe. And the risk of overdiagnosis, in particular, has not received a lot of attention.” These conclusions are disputed by many “breast cancer experts”, just as the 25 year Canadian study released earlier this year in February 2014 was discredited by such “breast cancer experts” when it caused an uproar stating that mammograms don’t save lives.
The word OVERDIAGNOSIS being thrown around here is often synonymous with the diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma In situ (DCIS). The problem with DCIS and mammography, is there is no way to determine if DCIS found on mammography will ever evolve into a true malignant tumor and become cancer. It is currently accepted that it is impossible to know with mammography which abnormal mammograms can be safely observed and which need to be scrutinized by biopsy. In the Harvard study, the review cites findings that roughly 19 percent of women who are diagnosed based on findings from a mammogram are overdiagnosed. That means that roughly 36 of 190 women who received annual mammography for 10 years and were diagnosed with breast cancer would receive unnecessary surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In addition, more than half of women who get annual screenings for 10 years can expect to have a false positive mammogram that requires additional images, and about 20 percent of these false positives result in unnecessary biopsies.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! LET’S FACE IT!!! MAMMOGRAPHY HAS VAST LIMITATIONS and is a terrible “gold standard” for breast cancer screening!
Thermography is able to evaluate the breast tissue for cellular activity in these cases of OVERDIAGNOSIS and provide women with not only more information, but the option to avoid tissue biopsy when the thermography is reassuring. The most common use of thermography is for breast health screening. In short, thermography is a tool to monitor breast health, not just a way to find disease. Is this not the true definition of “screening”; to assess the body’s cell health; and insure no potential for upcoming morbidity and mortality?
The diagnostic sensitivity of X-ray mammography is significantly diminished for premenopausal women, pregnant or lactating women; women with fibrocystic/dense breasts, women with implants, women with unusually large or small breasts, women with prior biopsies, women with mammoplasty or reductions, menopausal women taking HRT, and women with fast-growing carcinomas. What are these women to do? THERMOGRAPHY!
Thermography is able to detect breast cancer early in women in the face of normal breast mammography and ultrasound. As a true breast cancer screening tool, just as thermography is able to assess the cellular activity in the breast tissue that mammography questions may have cancer, the cell activity associated with breast cancer is often detected by Thermography before both the mammogram and the breast ultrasound.
MM is a woman who had just this medical scenario.
MM presented to The Cometa Wellness Center for her first thermogram, ready to start the new chapter in her life after she had recently retired. She was concerned because she had a lump under her right arm and a friend had told her about the Thermography Center at The Cometa Wellness Center (CWC).
Below are the Infrared Images taken with the Meditherm camera, the day MM presented to the CWC for her Thermogram.
It is clearly apparent on these images that this woman has hyperthermia throughout the outer aspect of her right breast and in the right armpit. This heat on her thermogram is found clinically as some mild swelling under the R arm in the armpit, but without a palpable mass in the breast area on exam.
To evaluate this severely abnormal thermogram, an ultrasound as well as mammogram was ordered.
Neither the ultrasound or the mammogram were able to find any sign of cancer in the right or left breast. The lymph nodes were enlarged on the ultrasound on the right side. HOW can this be you ask? Cancer is a cellular process before it is a measurable tumor. That is what we see on MM’s thermogram… the cellular manifestation of cancer.
A breast MRI was still very unhelpful as can be seen below. Finally, the MRI guided pathology returns and confirms breast cancer.
The advantage of Thermology not carried by mammography is in the ability of a thermogram to detect physiologic changes in the tissue. An evolving cancer, found in its early cellular phase—sometimes years before it is detectable mammographically, is much more amenable to less invasive intervention and treatment than it will be later in its evolutionary development.Thermography, with its ability to assess risk and monitor breast health, leads to perhaps the most important point that’s never mentioned in this debate, which is that breast cancer risk is largely modifiable.
Thermography was approved as an adjunctive diagnostic breast cancer screening procedure by the FDA in 1982. In women who simply don’t wish to have a mammogram, breast thermography is a great option—one that certainly should be considered. It is also a strong consideration for the number of women listed above where the diagnostic sensitivity of mammography is diminished.
Ideally, I like to use thermography to monitor physiological changes in women’s breasts, allowing for preventative treatment. If significant abnormalities are seen on thermology, the patient and I will then move forward with an ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy as indicated.
The practice of medicine in this country is slowly coming around to the fact that there is no one-size-fits all approach or treatment program in the practice of medicine. As the medical paradigm has always been very slow to shift in this country, the USPSTF studies forced the medical community and patients alike to consider that there is quite likely an “oversell” so to speak going on with the routine use of mammography for screening breast cancer.
Let us know if you would like to learn more about Thermography or would like to schedule you, a friend or a family member for a thermogram at our Thermography Center of Charleston, located in the heart of Mt. Pleasant. Please see our Thermography Services page on this website for more information or contact us.
To your Health and Wellness,
Dr. Ariane Cometa, the holistic MD
Charleston Integrative Medicine 