Breast cancer “Accidentally” Detected by Thermal Imaging Scan
As if I didn’t already support full body thermography scans enough, BBC recently reported an “accidental” breast cancer discovery in May of 2019.
A tourist by the name of Bal Gill had a life-changing experience when she went to Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, a major tourist attraction in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland. At the center, she noticed something odd on one of its thermal cameras. It was later realized she had breast cancer.
Bal Gill, 41, from Slough in Berkshire, was in relatively good health when she traveled to Scotland with her family in May. Yet, when she went into the museum's thermal imaging camera room she noticed her left breast was a different colour. It startled her beyond belief -- a thought she couldn’t shake off for the rest of her travels. When she returned home, Bal saw a doctor who later confirmed she had breast cancer.
She, like most people who grew up with conventional medicine, had no idea that thermal imaging cameras can be used as an effective diagnostic tool for cancer detection. Thermography, also called thermal infrared imaging, uses a special camera to measure the temperature of the skin on the skin’s surface in order to easily detect cell damage, inflammation, and possibly cancer cell growth. Thermography is non-invasive in the sense nothing actually touches the skin and there is no risk of radiation exposure very much unlike with most modern medicine’s diagnostic testing and procedures.
The reason Thermography works is because cancer cells grow and multiply very fast. Blood flow and metabolism are higher in cancer tumors causing the surrounding skin temperature to rise. Yet, cancer doesn’t happen overnight. Long-term damage to the immune system over decades let's cancer grow haphazardly. Thermography, as opposed to conventional care, allows us to pick up this damage much sooner.
Bal, a deputy-director of finance for a university, told BBC: "We [eventually] got to the thermal imaging camera room. As all families do, we entered and started to wave our arms and look at the images created. While doing this I noticed a heat patch coming from my left breast. We thought it was odd and having looked at everyone else they didn't have the same. I took a picture and we carried on and enjoyed the rest of the museum."
A few days later when the mother-of-two returned home she went back to the photograph to look at the anomaly again. On Google, she did some research and found that there were a number of articles about breast cancer and thermal imaging cameras. After deciding to make an appointment, she was later diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Later that year, she had two surgeries, including a mastectomy. She has been told she will not need chemotherapy or radiotherapy afterwards. It was caught early enough.
The experience opened her eyes to the world of innovative technologies that the current conventional medical system is just not using:
"I just wanted to say thank you, without that camera I would never have known," she said. "I cannot tell you enough about how my visit to the Camera Obscura changed my life."
The Thermal Camera is a popular part of the Edinburgh attraction and lets visitors see a visual of all their body hot spots. Andrew Johnson, general manager of Camera Obscura and World of Illusions said: "We did not realize that our thermal camera had the potential to detect life-changing symptoms in this way. We were really moved when Bal contacted us to share her story as breast cancer is very close to home for me and a number of our team. It's amazing that Bal noticed the difference in the image and crucially acted on it promptly. We wish her all the best with her recovery and hope to meet her and her family in the future."
Unfortunately, many doctors don’t believe in Thermography, likely due to their impression that past thermal imaging cameras have never been proven as an effective screening tool.
But we know the truth.
Advanced Health has been in innovating for years to discover ways to help our patients overcome various ailments and improve their lives. For this reason, Thermography forms an important part of our toolkit, as it can also detect autoimmune disorders, underlying areas of chronic pain, and blood flow abnormalities.
Without symptoms, it’s hard to convince physicians to investigate further with breast imaging tests. This is why our practice and our entire approach is different relative to the conventional approach which only looks at symptoms but not the root cause. Early diagnosis of chronic diseases such as cancer improves the ability to treat the cancer earlier and dramatically increases the chance of survival. Why wait?
The FDA approved thermography in 1957 as an adjunct diagnostic tool to detect the body’s mechanics in real-time, by observing thermal changes and hot-spots. It detects precisely how the mitochondria (aka., the powerhouse) of the cells function, and if excess inflammation is being produced. Unlike many other conventional radiological imaging, there is no risk of radiation with thermography. It is non-invasive and presents no risk to patients. It is an excellent tool for better understanding of blood flow problems, inflammation, chronic pain, digestive and autoimmune problems, and cancer risk.
AUTHOR
Dr. Payal Bhandari M.D. is one of U.S.'s top leading integrative functional medical physicians and the founder of SF Advanced Health. She combines the best in Eastern and Western Medicine to understand the root causes of diseases and provide patients with personalized treatment plans that quickly deliver effective results. Dr. Bhandari specializes in cell function to understand how the whole body works. Dr. Bhandari received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1997 and Doctor of Medicine degree in 2001 from West Virginia University. She the completed her Family Medicine residency in 2004 from the University of Massachusetts and joined a family medicine practice in 2005 which was eventually nationally recognized as San Francisco’s 1st patient-centered medical home. To learn more, go to www.sfadvancedhealth.com.