One of our clients has been advised to have a prophylactic double mastectomy because she has dense tissue and mammography may miss cancer. Don’t become victim to the limitations of mammography! Get informed, advocate for yourself and request both: functional and anatomical testing of your breast tissue. To do so 100% safely and relatively inexpensively, consider thermograms and ultrasounds. Spread the word – Women Have Voices, Women Have Choices!
The FDA Ruling on Mammography and Breast Density
Effective September 10, 2024, the FDA requires that women undergoing mammography be advised of their breast density. Since ~50% of women over age 40 have dense breasts, rendering mammography less accurate, providers are recommending more frequent: x-ray based 2D and 3D mammograms, ultrasounds, MRIs with the toxic contrast agent gadolinium, biopsies and prophylactic (double) mastectomy.
The Issue with Mammograms and Breast Density
The issue with mammography and breast density is that dense tissue and masses both look white on a mammogram. While mammograms look for masses, they may be indistinguishable amidst dense tissue.
From my perspective: all women get masses from time to time as inflammation passes through the breasts. Approximately 97% of breast masses are benign, implying that mammograms detect far more benign masses (false positives) than cancerous tumors.
From the National Institutes of Health, screening 2,970 women will save only 1 life.
The Consequence for Women
The insecurity that comes from the limitations of mammography is compelling both patients and their providers to re-evaluate screening recommendations. While family history, palpation exam, symptoms and other cancer risk factors should be considered in developing a personalized breast screening plan, it is extremely important to be an informed consumer and your own advocate.
Take for example a client whose recent mammogram led to a recommendation of prophylactic double mastectomy due to dense tissue, calcifications (which are not cancer) and subsequent biopsy with pathology diagnosing pre-cancerous cells in the form of ductile carcinoma in-situ (DCIS), stage 0.
What Women Need to Know
You need to know that all adults have pre-cancerous cells and 90% of pre-cancers go away on their own. Keeping your body nourished and detoxified helps your immune system routinely deal with pre-cancerous cells.
Before being subjected to fear or over-reactionary measures, get informed and be pre-emptive. Learn from our client testimonials and preventive support library what safe tests to ask for to avoid false negatives and the pitfalls of false positives and unnecessary procedures.
Get More of a Full Picture
For a more complete understanding of one’s breast tissue, both functional and anatomical information is needed.
Anatomical tests like mammogram and ultrasound study anatomy. Mammograms seek to discover masses, while ultrasounds seek to distinguish their density. While dense masses are a sign consistent with cancer, most masses turn out to be benign subsequent to biopsy and pathology reports. Do you know that only pathology can diagnose cancer? Mammograms and ultrasounds do not diagnose cancer.
Functional tests like thermogram seek to discover how the tissue is behaving, where the makeup of the tissue, be it dense or fatty, is inconsequential. Thermography attempts to answer the question: regardless of the anatomical makeup of the tissue, is it behaving like healthy, inflamed (at-risk), or cancerous tissue? Like mammograms and ultrasounds, thermograms do not diagnose cancer, but rather indicate a level of cancer risk.
MRIs provide both anatomical and functional information, but require the toxic contrast agent gadolinium. While typically bound to a chelating molecule, gadolinium can still cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain, can pose problems for individuals sensitive to it, and can accumulate in the body with repetitive MRIs. (One of our clients had 10+ MRIs with contrast in her lifetime and is now disabled.)
Which Tests are 100% Safe?
Mammograms involve x-ray and MRIs involve gadolinium. Ultrasounds, also known as sonography, use sound waves and are safe, as sonography is used to visualize babies in the mother’s womb. Thermograms are 100% safe as they emit nothing, but rather take a picture of the infrared energy the body emits to the skin’s surface to depict healthy or inflamed/unhealthy tissue/organ function.
What do Safe Tests Cost?
While you might consider mammograms free, they are not. In addition to insurance costs, there are costs associated with using xray to detect masses by way of the accumulative effects of radiation, high false-negatives and high false-positives. Just ask any 10 woman who have undergone mammography about their personal stories and you may discover such costs.
While mammograms seek to discover masses, ~97% of breast masses are benign, implying that many women undergo additional anxiety and testing to conclude these false-positives.
Nonetheless, many insurers require a doctor’s order to cover ultrasound, thermogram, and MRI. While ultrasounds and thermograms are typically priced in the $100s, MRIs are typically priced in the $1000s. Many ultrasound providers are in-network while many thermographers are out-of-network.
From my perspective: to this day I still question why we have been x-raying women’s breasts since 1895. There is no bone in our breast tissue and there must be safer, smarter ways to look for cancer, yes?
Talking to your Doctor or PCP
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- You likely know that your doctor/PCP took an oath to practice “standard of care” medicine and that while ultrasound is standard of care, thermography is not. However, do you know that your doctor/PCP can lose his/her license to practice medicine, be fined $10,000 and go to jail for recommending anything outside of standard of care?
- Even though you might want your doctor/PCP to be informed about thermography, he/she really cannot support it – so don’t expect their support!
- Based on 1,000s of client experiences, be prepared to be belittled, berated, discounted and made to feel a fool for choosing anything outside of mammography. Many clients tell us their doctor “rolled their eyes” and “poo-poo’d” thermography.
- Stand your ground and request he/she support your choices. If you need a doctor’s order/script for insurance purposes after answering these insurance questions, then request him/her to include CPT 99386 (or 99387 if over age 64) and ICD Z129 on the order/script.
Where Can I Get These Safe Tests?
If you are in Colorado, consider thermograms at The Thermogram Center, Inc., which recommends ultrasounds at the Women’s Imaging Center, particularly with Dr. Kelly McAleese. Outside of Colorado, consider visiting these centers or these.
Conclusion
- 50% of women over 40 have dense breasts, diminishing the accuracy of mammograms.
- Rather than choosing unsafe and expensive MRIs, consider thermograms and ultrasounds for both, a functional and anatomical view of breast tissue.
- Don’t expect your PCP/doctor to support tests outside of standard of care, i.e. thermograms. However, request he/she support your health choices and provide an order/script, when needed by your insurer.
No one test can see every sign consistent with cancer. Be informed about the tests available to you. Some are safe. Some are expensive. Make your choices carefully and combine them intelligently. Your breasts… and your life are at stake. Spread the word – Women Have Voices, Women Have Choices!
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