An Integrative Approach for Breast Health


and Early Cancer Detection Health Practitioners Offer Insights on Thermography, Mammograms and Other Proactive Tools


by Linda Sechrist N


o one can dispute that prevention and the early detection of breast cancer are saving lives. What is


debatable is the mammogram as the only medical standard of care upon which the majority of medical care providers rely for early detection. A more integrative approach includes thermography and vital advice regarding how diet and lifestyle changes are essential to prevention, recov- ery and even the reversal of breast cancer. Termography, a diagnostic screening


procedure that focuses on abnormalities in the physical or anatomical structure within the breast, is unlikely to be embraced by the entire medical community until the standard of care includes it. Prescribing anything other than the medical best prac- tice puts doctors at risk for malpractice. With the present lack of standardization and absence of large, randomized trials that result in evidence-based criteria, critics consider digital infrared thermal imaging (DITI) as pseudoscience, and insurance providers deem it medically unnecessary, discounting any beneficial impact that it may have on health outcomes. Another major obstacle is that DITI is missing from the curriculum of medical schools, which means that doctors know little about it.


Building a New Local Paradigm Helping to shiſt the breast screening para- digm to a more integrative and comprehen- sive approach are functional medical prac- titioners such as Dr. Pamela Hughes, owner of the Hughes Center for Functional Medi- cine, in Naples, Florida and her colleague, Dr. Carol Roberts; Dr. Zorayda Torres, owner of Upstream MD, in Bonita Springs, Florida; Kimberly Lemons, CCT, owner of Suncoast Termal Imaging, in Cape Coral, Florida; Graydon Snow, AP, owner of Axis Natural Medicine, in Fort Myers, Florida;


12 Austin Edition


only 85 percent accuracy. Roberts, who has only had one mammogram in her lifetime, sees thermography as a commonsense option. “It doesn’t matter what I believe, because like all doctors who are trained to order mam- mograms, I am constrained by the standard of care,” says Roberts, who offers patients the information they need to make their own decision. Tis includes guidelines for improving diet and lifestyle.


Dr. Carol Roberts


and Terri Evans, AP, owner of Tae Health Ag- ing; and Taryn Kean, CCT Level III, owner of Southwest Termal Imaging, in Bonita Springs, Florida. Tese savvy experts offer insights into preventive approaches, as well as the present standard of care that doctors and insurance providers abide by. For patients and doctors such as


Roberts, Torres, Evans and Snow, who are concerned about the potential harm of mammography’s repeated radiation expo- sure and breast compression, integration can’t happen fast enough. Sensing a need to protect a woman’s most sensitive body parts, these experts have had their instincts confirmed. Te National Cancer Institute has noted potential harms due to radiation exposure, and a 2006 study published in the British Journal of Radiobiology states that the type of radiation used in X-ray- based screenings is more carcinogenic than previously believed.


An Integrative Approach for Better Odds According to Roberts, an integrative ther- mography/mammography approach can result in 98 percent accuracy in diagnosis, whereas either screening alone results in


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Inhibiting Aromatase When a patient refuses mammo- grams or wants to stop getting annual mammograms and they are not at high risk, Torres may recommend a DITI screening. “More importantly, I advise them about preventive measures such as how to inhibit aromatase, an enzyme in the body that converts testosterone and other androgens into the female hormone estro- gen. Aromatase has been found at higher levels in breast cancer tissue than in normal breast tissue,” explains Torres. Certain foods inhibit aromatase activ-


Dr. Zorayda Torres


ity: cruciferous vegetables, celery, red wine, white button mushrooms, oysters, garlic, onions and healthy fat-rich foods such as coconut oil, avocados and extra virgin olive oil. Chamomile and antioxidant-rich herbs such as oregano, thyme, rosemary and tur- meric are also useful. Additional inhibitors are chlorophyll and fermented foods such


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