July 2017 Newsletter
Happy 150th Canada!! We are a proud Canadian clinic and we are each proud Canadians!!
Upcoming Event
Topic: Healthy Gut, Healthy Body
Did you know that digestive health is the key to optimal health? Dr. Melina Roberts will explain why your digestive health is important to your overall health, what your symptoms are trying to tell you about your digestive health and what you can be doing to improve your gut health.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Melina Roberts
Date: Wednesday, July 26th
Time: 6-7:30pm
Location: Planet Organic Supermarket, 4916 130 Ave SE #100, Calgary, AB T2Z 0G4
Published Article
Dr. Roberts wrote an article published in Amber Approved Magazine Summer 2017 edition entitled FOUR Important Functions of Vitamin D in the Body.
Featured Article
Healthy Breast Care, Examination and Imaging
BY: DR. TORY JACKSON
Breast tissue undergoes many changes throughout the seasons of our lives.
Regular self-examination is a way to detect subtle and early changes in breast tissue. The earlier we share findings of tissue changes with our health care provider, the better outcomes there are with treatment if there are concerns.
For personal health care, a monthly BSE (Breast Self Exam) is best used in combination with an annual clinical breast exam performed by your ND or MD, in addition to annual thermography imaging.
Mammography has a 85%-90% sensitivity to pick up abnormalities for women over 50 years. For women between 40 and 50, sensitivity is less, about 75%. For this age group, mammography will miss 1 in 4 breast cancers. This is the most important reason why breast exams (both self-performed and clinical) are needed to fill in for the misses with mammography.
Women with higher risk factors should consider mammography every 2 years. An ultrasound may be required if the mammogram shows tissue areas that are questionable or difficult to see. This testing should be preceded by performing regular BSE, a yearly clinical breast exam and yearly thermography imaging.
Thermography does not detect cancerous tumors. Thermography imaging has been shown to detect physiological changes (metabolic and vascular) that have been documented to correspond with increased incidence of breast cancers. A positive test is a well-established risk factor for existing or breast cancer development (10x more than family history/genetics.
Dr. Jackson has developed a new Breast Health Program at ANMC open to all patients. The program includes educational seminars where we discuss risk factors, healthy breast practices and BSE instruction. All doctors at ANMC are available to perform clinical breast exams and thermography screening.
Watch for upcoming seminars on our website or call the clinic to inquire about your personal annual screening and breast health care.
Differences Between Mammography, Thermography and UltraSound
| Mammography (X-Ray) | Thermography / Medical Infrared Imaging | Ultrasound | |
| What is it? | X-ray images,
Shows dense structures |
Detects surface temperature as a byproduct of chemical and vascular activity | High frequency sound waves are bounced off breast tissue, producing an image |
| What does it measure? | Structural Imaging.
Detects tissue that may be questionable due to density differences. |
Functional tissue imaging. Temperature in both pre-cancerous tissue and the area surrounding a developing breast cancer is almost always higher than in the normal breast.
Detects physiologic changes. Does not locate exact area of breast that is suspicious |
Structural imaging. Detects an area that may be questionable. |
| Detection
|
Early detection method | Early detection method, provides functional information on h=temperature and vascular changes of the tissue. These functional changes are thought to change before the onset of structural changes that occur in a diseased or cancerous state.
Used in addition to other imaging. |
Good at distinguishing between solid masses and fluid-filled cysts. Used in addition to other imaging. |
| Positive findings | Findings can alert suspicion | Findings can increase suspicion of tissue changes | Findings can increase suspicion |
| Diagnosis | Cannot diagnose tumors as cancerous | Cannot diagnose cancer, only functional variations | Cannot diagnose cancer. |
| What is used for a cancer diagnosis? | A tissue biopsy is the only test that can determine if a suspected tissue area is cancerous. | ||
| Pros | Can detect tumors in the pre-invasive stage | May provide the first indication of changes to breast tissue prior to tumor formation. | Ability to detect some problematic areas not detected by mammography
-helpful to detect problem tissues in dense breasts |
| Sensitivity | Women > 50:
80% Sensitivity (20% of cancers not detected) Women <50: Sensitivity less than 80%. |
All age groups:
90% Sensitivity (10% tumors undetected) |
All age groups:
83% Sensitivity (17% of tumors not detected) |
| Hormone effects on imaging | Hormone used decreases sensitivity | Hormone use has no known effect on sensitivity. | Hormone use has no known effect on sensitivity. |
| Cons | Obstacles to interpretation:
-large, dense and fibrocystic breasts -risk of rupture -radiation exposure |
No obstacles to interpret test | No obstacles to interpret test |
