Ask anyone about breast cancer and the most common answer you get is early detection is the key to survival. Medical statistics prove this with a nearly 95% survival rate for cancer detected early. So, this begs the question how early can we determine the signs of cancer?
According to Shelley Lesar, director of the Integrative Wellness Center in Roseville, California and a certified thermography technologist, “we can detect physiological changes in tissue as small as twenty to thirty cells.” This is a significant difference from the traditional mammogram screenings which won’t show anything significant until there are 4 billion cells in growth which can take up to eight years to develop.
Lesar who has the only breast thermography facility in the Sacramento area has been doing screenings for four years. Relatively new to the U.S. healthcare system this type of screening has been used for decades in Europe and Asia. “Germany, France and Sweden use thermography as a first level breast screenings. China and Russia use thermography exclusively,” according to Lesar.
World health statistics show the U.S. is 38th in the United Nations World Population in regards to life expectancy. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in this country and the number one cause of premature death among women with 45 thousand deaths from breast cancer every year. The FDA has approved thermography screenings along with mammograms which has helped in the early detection of breast cancer. According to Lesar,” several women have taken their thermography screenings to their doctor and were able to start treatment much earlier than otherwise from a physical or mammogram exam. They definitely feel it saved their lives.”
“We want to give women peace of mind,” said Lesar. “Knowing that with the early detection of any physiological changes in breast tissue changes can be made with less urgency and panic. We want to keep women well informed which takes the fear out of the situation.”