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Thermography, also known as Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) is an FDA registered, safe (no radiation), non-invasive (pain free) test of physiology that graphically maps and displays skin surface temperature. Medical DITI has been used extensively in human medicine in the U.S.A., Europe and Asia for well over 20 years. It’s major clinical value is in its high sensitivity to pathology in the vascular, muscular, neural and skeletal systems, sensory/autonomic nerve fiber dysfunction that contribute to the clinician’s pathogenesis and diagnosis. In addition, DITI can aid in the evaluation and monitoring of a large number of injuries and conditions.
At Whole Health Holisitics, all scans are performed by Certified Clinical Thermographer, Rachel Mazzarelli. All images are interpreted by MDs specifically trained in thermographic interpretation and certified by a thermography medical board based in the United States. The interpreting M.D. will write the report and return it to the thermographer, who will intern review with the client.
The doctor's findings may recommend further clinical correlation, assessment OR testing, possibly including a thermogram follow up. Rachel will review any important findings with you personally, offer whatever nutrition, stress-management, lifestyle, yoga, and meditation suggestions she believes may help, and, if needed, give referrals to local physicians/specialists.
Breast Thermography
DITI detects the subtle physiologic changes that accompany breast pathology (cancer, fibrocystic disease, estrogen dominance, lymph congestion, infection or a vascular disease), offering individuals the chance to become aware of worrisome physiological changes before there is a diagnosable cancer.
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Breast thermography is 83% accurate, completely safe and therefore a test that ALL individuals 25 years and older can benefit from. It offers the opportunity of earlier detection of breast disease than has been possible with breast self-examination, physician palpation or mammography alone.
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DITI is especially appropriate for younger women under 50 years whose denser breast tissue makes it more difficult for mammography to pick up suspicious lesions. This test can provide a ‘clinical marker’ to the doctor or mammographer, indicating that a specific area of the breast needs closer examination. Breast cancers tend to grow significantly faster in younger people (under 50 years). Secondly, the faster a malignant tumor grows, the more infrared radiation it generates. Second to skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer that people may face (American Cancer Society) and approximately 1/3 of all breast cancers occur in women under 45, where mammography is not recommended.
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For the breasts, doctors recommend two scans within a 3 month period to establish a baseline. Also known as your "thermal signature". Each individual has their own thermal pattern (normally symmetric) that is accurate and static throughout their lifetime. Any changes to their normal “thermal fingerprint” caused by early cell changes (pathology) will become increasingly apparent. Monitoring changes over periods of time with DITI is the most efficient means of identifying subjects who require further investigation.
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Once a baseline is established, the recommendation is yearly scanning, assuming thermal patterns remain unchanged. Thermography, however, is not a replacement for mammography but rather considered an adjunct or complementary procedure. When used as part of a multimodal approach (clinical examination + mammography + thermography), you will detect 95% of early stage cancers.
Full Body Thermography
Thermography is not only for women, and goes beyond breast health. It is an assessment tool for the whole body that can aid in the diagnosis and prognosis for many conditions and injuries including but not limited to: back injuries, arthritis, headache, nerve damage, unexplained pain, fibromyalgia, dental infection, TMJ, artery inflammation, carpal tunnel syndrome, disc disease, inflammatory pain, skin cancer, sprain/strain, digestive disorders, as well as monitor therapy progress.
The body is scanned by regions of interest (ROI); 1. head/neck, 2. chest/upper back, 3, abdomen, 4. breasts, 5. arms/hands, 6. legs, 7. feet. Some of the fields that can benefit from thermography’s monitoring capabilities are rheumatology, neurology, physiotherapy, sports medicine, oncology, pediatrics and orthopedics, and dentistry.
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Clinical uses for DITI include:
1. To define the extent of a lesion of which a diagnosis has previously been made
2. To localize an abnormal area not previously identified, so further diagnostic tests can be performed
3. To detect early lesions before they are clinically evident
4. To monitor the healing process before the patient is returned to work or training.
Medical DITI is a monitor of thermal abnormalities present in a number of diseases and physical injuries. It is used as an aid for diagnosis and prognosis, as well as therapy follow up and rehabilitation monitoring, within clinical fields that include Rheumatology, neurology, physiotherapy, sports medicine, oncology, pediatrics, orthopedics and many others.
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At Whole Health Holistic, all scans are performed by Clinically Certified Thermographer, Rachel Mazzarelli, and all results are interpreted and reported by Board Certified Medical Doctors who are also certified to read thermography. Pending the interpreting physicians' report, clients will be encouraged to seek further clinical assessment, possibly including thermogram follow up.
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Rachel will review any important findings with you personally, offer whatever nutrition, stress-management, lifestyle, yoga, and meditation suggestions she believes may help, and, if needed, give referrals to local physicians/specialists.
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This inexpensive tool can identify “seedling” conditions that can potentially grow into more serious disease states, at a point when they are still malleable and easily treated by lifestyle change and other non-invasive therapies.
