Medical opinion by John F. Ruhland, ND

Do you have health-related questions for Dr. John, the Naturopathic Doctor? Send them to the Free Press at 1463 E Republican #178, Seattle WA 98112, or email to WAfreepress@gmail.com. Please keep questions short. The opinions expressed below are on general issues of health. They should not be construed as personal medical advice. Readers should seek a variety of information about any health concern before deciding on a treatment from a personal physician.

Mammography: Is There an Alternative?

Many Naturopaths and even some conventional physicians have mixed feelings about the use of X-ray mammography as a cancer-screening test. Some researchers are convinced that compressing breasts for mammography ruptures cysts and disseminates cancer cells into the bloodstream. Animal studies have proven this phenomenon, showing that tumor compression can increase the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body by up to 80 percent. A Swedish study showed that nearly 30 percent more cases of breast cancer occurred in women who had been subjected to routine mammograms for ten years compared with those women never receiving mammograms. Mammography does improve the accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis, although it is not necessarily the most accurate test.

In a German study, 54 percent of cases were correctly diagnosed by obtaining a clinical history and performing a breast examination. The number increased to 76 percent when mammography was added. When computerized regulation thermography was used, the accuracy of diagnosis rose to 92 percent.

Thermoregulation testing has been widely used by European physicians for over twenty years. One form employs an infrared camera. Hot spots showing up in breast tissue are areas of increased circulation. These invariably are trouble areas. A newer technology—Computerized Regulation Thermography—was approved by the FDA for use as a cancer screening test in 1999. Computerized Thermography can be performed annually with no risk to the patient. Trouble areas can be further investigated using ultrasound, MRI, or X-ray mammography.

Although my office has the only Computerized Thermography unit in Seattle, it is my hope that every physician’s office will have one within ten years. For further information on thermography, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to me c/o the Free Press, and I will get the information to you.