There are 2.5 million women in the U.S. who rely on estriol and other compounded bioidentical hormones to stay healthy. Men use them, too. Balancing hormones by using compounded bioidentical hormones INSTEAD OF Big Pharma synthetic hormones is important for cancer prevention. A ban would lead to people using synthetic hormones that are unsafe, that increase their risk of cancer, or going without.

Learn more about the threat to bioidentical hormones and how to save them at SaveMyCompounds.com

Read on to hear what bioidentical hormone advocates are saying is happening with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) right now.

Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) posted the following on their website on November 7, 2019:

“We’ve said before that the FDA is stacking the deck against bioidentical hormones; now it seems incontrovertible. Time is running out for the natural health community to mount an effective defense of estriol and other compounded, bioidentical hormones from an FDA ban. Please take action by signing our petition to the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) study committee, urging them to consider ALL of the evidence in determining the clinical utility of compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (cBHRT).

To briefly recap where we are: estriol and other bioidentical hormones have been nominated to the FDA’s Demonstrably Difficult to Compound List; items that appear on the list when it is final will no longer be able to be made at compounding pharmacies. The FDA convened a NASEM committee to study the clinical utility of treating patients with cBHRT; the findings of this committee will be used by the FDA to make a final decision on the fate of estriol and other compounded hormones.

NASEM has conducted several public meetings to date on cBHRT. During these meetings, the FDA invites experts to present to the NASEM panel, and to us it seems that the FDA is stacking the deck against compounded BHRT. What’s also clear is that the NASEM committee members lack a fundamental understanding of how cBHRT is used to treat menopause, meaning that committee members are susceptible to the FDA’s bias.

What happened recently all but confirmed our charge that the process is rigged against estriol and the other hormones. NASEM sent out an announcement seeking nominations for speakers who “regularly prescribe cBHRT or pharmacists who extensively compound BHRT, and who are willing to share relevant data to inform the committee’s work.”

Sounds good, right? It would be, except for the fact that the request for nominations was sent out the afternoon of Thursday, October 10, and the deadline for nominations was prior to Monday, October 14 (Columbus Day), giving the natural health community just one business day to prepare a response.

ANH-USA and allies have, of course, submitted suitable speakers to put forth the case for protecting compounded estriol, estradiol, and progesterone, but this recent episode simply demonstrates the uphill battle we are fighting against the government to protect cBHRT. Sign our petition below demanding that NASEM give a proper hearing to actual experts on cBHRT.

Action Alert! Write to NASEM, the FDA, and Congress, telling them that the millions of women who use cBHRT demand that it gets a fair hearing. Please send your message here immediately.”

###

You can learn how to balancing your hormones with compounded bioidentical hormones to prevent breast cancer, ease menopausal symptoms, and improve overall health in Ingrid’s book, Protect Your Breasts. You can also find more information about compounding and bioidentical hormones at Women’s International Pharmacy.

On Ingrid’s website ProtectYourBreasts.com, you can find a list of Hormone Imbalance Symptoms, a FAQ on Hormone Testing, and Sample Collection Instructions.

Taking a quality probiotic supplement helps if you are on the go or have an intolerance to probiotic foods. Ingrid recommends a clinical strength probiotic Flora 50/14, Each vegetarian capsule contains 50 billion microorganisms across 14 bacterial strains and is tested free from gluten, dairy, and soy, made by Innate Response who tests every lot of every ingredient. Find Flora 50/14 in Ingrid’s Virtual Dispensary where YOU CAN SAVE 20% OFF ALL YOUR SUPPLEMENTS through Emerson / Wellevate – where the doctors shop.  

The following article was written by Dr. David Williams and posted on his website on 10/07/19. Go to his index for more information on gut microflora, prebiotics, probiotics, and choosing quality probiotic supplements.

“9 Ways Good Gut Bacteria Support Your Overall Health (That Have Nothing To Do with Digestion)”

Over thousands of years, our bodies have evolved to not only live in harmony with the bacteria, fungi, and viruses in and on our bodies, but also to depend on them for certain essential metabolic functions—especially gut bacteria.

As you would expect, our intestinal microflora performs specific functions that improve our ability to digest, absorb, and eliminate the foods we eat; however, the benefits of these bacteria extend well beyond digestion. We’ve yet to understand just how extensive this connection is between gut flora and health, but here are some of the known relationships:

Improves Immune Health

One of the most well-known non-digestive benefits of good gut bacteria is a stronger immune system. This happens in a number of ways, but generally is the result of our microflora’s ability to prevent pathogenic organisms from taking hold in our bodies.

As a natural byproduct of their own metabolism, the microbes living with us produce substances that our bodies use to fortify our defenses against bacteria, yeast, and other invasive organisms. Research has shown, for example, that the bacteria lining your intestines reinforce the barrier that prevents pathogens from seeping out of your GI tract and into the body. This is particularly important in your large intestine, where fecal matter accumulates before being excreted. Without a strong barrier in place, toxins from your feces can be reabsorbed, placing an additional burden on your immune system. (This is often referred to as leaky gut syndrome.)

This protective mechanism depends on a fatty acid known as butyrate (or butyric acid), which is produced by the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species of gut bacteria. One of butyrate’s main functions is to promote the growth of the mucus membranes that line the intestines and to increase their production of “mucking.” Mucking is a component of mucus that lines and protects the walls of the intestines. The mucus constantly sloughs off and carries pathogens with it.

Gut bacteria also support immune health by keeping the digestive tract at a pH level where it’s difficult, if not impossible, for undesirable bacteria, such as salmonella (which causes food poisoning), shigella (which causes diarrhea), and E. coli (which can cause intestinal disease and chronic kidney failure), to take root and grow. Healthy gut flora also produces a volatile fatty acid which, along with other byproducts, makes it difficult for fungus and yeast to survive.

Finally, good gut bacteria also help keep you regular. The shorter your bowel transit time, the less opportunity there is for toxins to be reabsorbed into your blood stream.

Improves Mental Health

If you don’t believe that there’s a connection between our gut and our mood, try describing how you felt the last time you were nervous, afraid, or angry. If you use phrases like “butterflies in the stomach” or a “stomach tied in knots,” you’ve just proven how true this is.

Within the body, we actually have a “second brain” called the enteric nervous system (ENS). The ENS controls and regulates our intestinal tract and senses environmental threats. It reports information to the brain via the vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve in the body. The vagus nerve links a number of organs with the brain, but about 90 percent of the signals passing along it are traveling from the gut to the brain.

Researchers have known for a long time about this “gut/brain axis,” but for some reason they have always focused on the impact the brain can have on the gut—or control from the “top down.” Even the pharmaceutical companies quickly realized that more than half of individuals with irritable bowel syndrome also have mood disorders. This is why antidepressants are some of the most common pharmaceutical treatments for irritable bowel syndrome. (J Psychiatry Neurosci 09;34(3):230–231)

It may seem strange that there is a neurological connection between the gut and the brain, and that you can treat the brain with antidepressants and see improvement in bowel problems. But what’s even stranger (to me anyway) is that until recently, conventional medicine never considered directly treating bowel problems to improve mood disorders. It’s a two-way street between the brain and the gut, after all. If you change one area, it makes a difference in the other.

Just recently, researchers in France proved that mood disorders can be controlled from the “bottom up” using two specific strains of probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus helveticus Rosell-52 and Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175). In other words, you can effectively treat depression, anxiety, and behavioral problems by normalizing the bacteria in the bowels.

The bacteria combination produced anti-anxiety characteristics in animals as well as beneficial psychological effects in human volunteers. Laboratory and numerous standardized psychological tests revealed lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, a significant decrease in symptoms such as depression, anxiety, anger/hostility, obsessive-compulsive actions, phobias, and paranoia, and an improvement in sleep.

Depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders are just of few of the more common problems that have been closely linked to intestinal problems. As to which came first—the gastrointestinal disorder or the psychiatric illness—it’s hard to tell. But based on trends over the past few decades, I can’t help but think the constant assault on our intestinal flora is the underlying cause of many of the psychological problems we’re now experiencing. 

Boosts Energy Levels

When your body is absorbing nutrients and ridding itself of toxins more effectively, it stands to reason that you will feel an overall improvement in your energy level. But this is also supported by science, which has shown us that probiotics can be an effective way to fight fatigue—particularly chronic fatigue.

Blood and saliva samples were taken for one month in eight athletes who had fatigue and declining performance. All were shown to have a reduced secretion of interferon, and most were found to be infected with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). (Most adults are carriers of this virus.)

When the athletes were given a probiotic supplement (Lactobacillus acidophilus) for a month, not only did their interferon levels improve to levels found in healthy individuals, but only one was found to exhibit EBV shedding in the saliva. Also, the fatigue disappeared, and athletic performance noticeably improved. (Brit J Sports Med06;40(4):351–354)

Admittedly, few of us are athletes—but there’s still a takeaway here. Restoring bacterial flora to optimal levels can have a profound effect on your overall energy level and health. The Epstein-Barr virus is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome, and studies have shown that interferon helps keep the virus in check in healthy individuals. The regular use of a good probiotic supplement is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to improve interferon levels. This, in turn, often becomes a very effective tool for managing problems involving chronic fatigue.

Improves Cholesterol Levels

Much of the cholesterol produced by your liver is converted into bile acids, which are stored in the gallbladder and used to help digest fats. Ultimately these acids end up in the colon, where they are either destroyed or excreted in bowel movements.

People who don’t eat enough fiber (one of the habits that damage gut bacteria) often have too much pathogenic microflora in their GI tract. One of the things those unwanted bacteria do is attack bile acids. Specifically, they break the acids down into several substances, including a toxic product called lithocholate. Lithocholate causes the liver to convert less cholesterol into bile acids.

From here, a couple of things happen. When less cholesterol is converted to bile acids, it begins to accumulate in the blood stream, and levels rise. Also, less cholesterol reaches the colon where it can be excreted in bowel movements. This is especially dangerous because bowel movements are the body’s main method of ridding the body of unwanted cholesterol.

Eating a high-fiber diet effectively supports the good bacteria that leave passing bile acids intact. As a result, your body excretes more cholesterol, and in effect is “tricked” into creating more bile acids.

Regulates Hormone Levels

Normally, as much as 60 percent of the estrogen circulating in the blood is picked up by the liver and “deactivated.” It is then dumped into the gallbladder and released with bile into the intestines for excretion. In the GI tract, an enzyme produced by our good gut bacteria, called Beta-glucoronidase, reactivates the estrogen so it can be reabsorbed into the body.

When the bacterial flora is out of balance, the estrogen is neither reactivated nor reabsorbed. Instead, it is lost in the stool. Low estrogen levels have been linked to osteoporosis, PMS, water retention, breast soreness, severe menstrual cramps and heavy flow, slow menstrual cycles, and migraine headaches.

A similar process occurs with many other hormones, as well as folic acid, vitamin B12, bile acids, cholesterol, and vitamin D.

Reduces Yeast Infection Occurrences

Apart from residing in the intestinal tract, beneficial bacteria also reside in the vagina and urinary tract, where they deter the growth of pathogenic bacteria and yeast. They are a primary defense against urinary tract infections (UTIs) and acute cystitis. Approximately 60 percent of women in the United States experience UTIs or acute cystitis during their lifetimes, and 30 percent of those women have multiple occurrences.

We know that the beneficial bacteria reach the vagina by migrating from the colon, out of the body, and into the vagina and urinary tract. Although there are multiple species residing in the vagina, Lactobacillus is the most prominent. As it does in the gut, the lactic acid that these bacteria produce help to keep the pH level of the vagina and urinary tract slightly acidic, which reduces the growth of yeast and harmful bacteria—including E. coli, one of the chief bacteria that cause UTIs.

If we look at women’s genitourinary health from this perspective, it’s easy to understand why some women experience recurring problems with UTIs. If the balance of bacteria is off in some way, pathogens are more likely to adhere to the bladder wall and cause infection.

Though antibiotics will effectively clear up the symptoms of a UTI, they also will kill off the friendly microflora that is needed to protect the urinary tract in the first place. This sets the stage for an ongoing cycle of infection.

The most effective way to break this cycle is not additional medication, but rather re-establishing healthy flora by eating fermented foods and/or taking probiotic supplements high in the Lactobacillus species.

Improves Oral Health

The primary benefit of probiotic flora in the oral cavity—the mouth, throat, and by extension, the nose, sinuses, and ear canals—is in support of our immune system, since often our first exposure to viruses and bacteria comes through the mouth and nose.

More than 600 species of bacteria have been identified within the oral cavity. Most of those species probably play a lesser role in health, but higher numbers of the more prominent beneficial species directly correlate to a reduced incidence of everything from bad breath and dental caries to ear infections, strep throat, and tonsillitis. 

The most effective way to increase the number of good bacteria in the oral cavity is through the use of probiotic lozenges, particularly those which contain the species Streptococcus salivarius. Tests have shown that using a lozenge that incorporates the K12 strain can help restore the natural bacterial flora of the mouth and throat. These bacteria produce compounds referred to as “bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances” or BLIS, which act as natural antibacterials and help control the growth of invasive microorganisms that cause infections.

Supports a Healthy Weight

More and more research is emerging that draws a direct link between our weight and the health of our gut flora(including its role in the success of gastric bypass surgery), but this shouldn’t be a surprise. The connection has been known, and manipulated, for years by the agricultural industry.

Antibiotics—which kill the natural bacterial flora in the human body that influences how we break down and absorb the nutrients that help keep us lean and healthy—are known as growth promoters. Farmers have been using antibiotics for more than half a century to fatten cattle, pigs, and chickens. With the use of these medications, animals gain more weight more quickly, on less food. I’ll say that again: antibiotics stimulate growth with less food.

There is other research on the topic of weight and gut flora as well, two of the more interesting and recent pieces being related to how gut bacteria influence which foods we crave. Here are a few more examples:

• Butyrate—one of the fatty acids produced by good gut bacteria—has been suggested to promote feelings of satiety (a feeling of fullness and satisfaction). This, obviously, can help prevent overeating.
• A Japanese company gave 87 overweight individuals 100 grams of fermented milk twice a day. The milk consumed by half the group contained the bacteria Lactobacillus gasseri. After 12 weeks, those individuals lost an average of 2.2 pounds—and there was no weight loss in the other group. (Eur J Clin Nutr 2010 March 10. E-pub ahead of print PMID:20216555) Specifically, the participants lost 4.6 percent of their visceral fat (fat around the stomach) and 3.3 percent of their subcutaneous fat (fat just under the skin). Their hip circumference was reduced by 1.7 cm (almost ¾ of an inch) and their waist went down by 1.5 cm (just over ½ inch). Researchers feel that Lactobacillus gasseri somehow decreases the amount of fat absorbed from the intestines.
• Researchers evaluated the use of antibiotics in 11,532 children born in Britain’s Avon region in 1991 and 1992. Almost 30 percent of the infants were given antibiotics sometime during the first six months of their life. By age 38 months, the children in the antibiotic group had a 22 percent greater likelihood of being overweight. (Int J Obes (Lond) 21 October 2012 [Epub ahead of print]) Antibiotics. Doing it at such a critical period of development, such as early childhood, has long-lasting effects.

Contributes to Longer Life

The more diverse our bacterial flora is, the more effective it is and the better our overall health tends to be. To see this, you need look no further than a study that examined gut microbes in the elderly.

When researchers looked at the gut bacteria of 178 elderly individuals over the age of 65 (average age 78, none of whom were being treated with antibiotics), they found that the microbes varied extensively depending on where the individual lived and the state of their overall health.

The people who lived independently in the community had the most varied microbacterial flora and were the healthiest. People who lived in long-term assisted living homes had less diverse microbacterial flora and were frailer.

The research team, led by Paul O’Toole of University College Cork in Ireland, tied this difference to the diet of each respective group. Though the foods eaten by people who moved into long-term residential facilities changed immediately upon entry (becoming much more uniform and based on government-issued nutritional data), it took about a year for the profile of their bacteria to change. It was during that transition time when the individuals’ health started declining the most. What makes this study so intriguing to me is the speed at which a person loses his or her health to a decline in the numbers and variety of intestinal bacteria. The clear takeaway from this is that eating a varied diet that includes fermented foods is a key to maintaining gut flora and, by extension, strength and vitality.

###

Originally Posted on Moms Across America’s Blog on October 10, 2019:

Today we live in a toxic soup. Chemicals that mimic or disrupt the hormone estrogen abound. Exposure to and consumption of these excess estrogens, disruptors, and GMO foods play a role in many health problems, especially breast cancer. In the U.S. currently, 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer. The American Cancer Society is projecting a future increase to perhaps 1 in 5. Taking action for breast cancer prevention is more important than ever.

Most breast cancer cases are estrogen-positive, meaning that the cancer grows in the presence of excess estrogen, either from natural sources or chemicals mimicking estrogen (xenoestrogens). Other chemicals are endocrine disruptors. “An endocrine disruptor is anything that affects the synthesis of a hormone, the breakdown of a hormone or how the hormone functions,” explains Linda Birnbaum, federal toxicologist, in her Scientific American article. 

The following are the 10 most important actions to take to reduce estrogen load and avoid endocrine disruption:

1) Test your hormone levels. Hormone imbalance is a breast cancer risk factor, and estrogen dominant women are at greater risk. My website has a detailed section on Hormone Imbalance Symptoms and FAQ on Hormone Testing. My book Protect Your Breasts, available on my website ProtectYourBreasts.com, explains estrogen dominance and how to balance your hormones without synthetics.

2) Replace white body fat with lean muscle mass. Natural and xenoestrogens bind to estrogen receptor sites found in fatty tissues, like breasts, where estrogen can be stored, making obesity a major risk factor.

3) Eat only “Certified Organic” meat and dairy. Choose grass-fed, which is leaner and less likely to have GMO feed contamination. The two primary sources of estrogen in the diet are non-organically raised meat and dairy products, where the animals are injected with bovine growth hormone and fed GMO grains. 

4) Choose “Certified Organic” foods. GMO food products, the pesticide residues, and the mutated microbes on them disrupt the gut/liver’s ability to break down excess estrogen, damage tissues, and cause chronic inflammation. Cancer is an inflammatory condition. Watch Moms Across America’s interview with scientist Dr. Michael Antonio about the alarming results of a new study showing that glyphosate, found in Monsanto/Bayer’s Roundup and 700+ other glyphosate-based herbicides, can trigger aggressive breast cancer cell growth. Go to the Take Action page on my website for resources on avoiding GMO foods and pesticide residues.

5) Eat fish oil or walnuts. Avoid flax and soy high in phytoestrogens.

6) Buy/ store food and water in glass, not plastic or lined cans. Plastic residues are a source of xenoestrogens.

7) Use a water filter.

8) Minimize exposure to insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. This may take educating neighbors and elected officials.

9) Minimize alcohol consumption, which can increase estrogen, disrupt hormone balance, damage DNA, and decrease liver function.

10) Reduce/manage stress, which causes cortisol imbalance. Helpful links can be found on my Take Action page.

Thermography, using an infrared camera, is the earliest detection tool and a risk assessment tool that has allowed me in my clinical practice to observe how xenoestrogen exposure changes breast tissue. A diet high in conventional meat and dairy products or pesticide exposure increase the metabolic activity in the breasts, seen as an increase in heat and blood vessels in the images. Thermography also shows us that women can take effective actions to reduce their risk of breast cancer or its recurrence.

The good news is that women can make diet and lifestyle choices to reduce their estrogen load, prevent breast cancer, and improve their overall health. In my book Protect Your Breasts, available on my website ProtectYourBreasts.com, I offer my comprehensive Proactive Breast Wellness (PBW) program to reduce estrogen intake, support the liver which breaks down excess estrogen, and support the adrenal and thyroid glands which influence estrogen levels in the body. Moreover, we can actually track this positive change by observing breast tissue over time! If cancer does emerge, we can catch it early. Women have a non-surgical option to freeze the cancer, called cryoablation and can follow the same program to prevent its recurrence.

About 65% of women who have followed my PBW supplement protocol, made lifestyle, dietary, and environmental changes, and balanced their hormones improved their infrared scans and laboratory testing in 6-12 months. Watch the slideshow presentation and see breast cancer prevention in action with telling images showing xenoestrogen exposure before starting the PBW program and images after following the program.

BEFORE following the PBW Protocol

Below is a post menopausal woman and she was eating conventional meat and dairy which may contain bovine growth hormone and antibiotics. She was on too much Estradiol in her hormone replacement mixture without any bio-identical progesterone after a hysterectomy. She was having a host of menopausal symptoms including insomnia.

AFTER following the PBW Protocol for 1-1/2 years, her menopausal symptoms have cleared up

Note below that all the large dilated vessels have shrunk down to light wispy vascular patterns. She now eats an organic gluten free diet and has lost weight. Her cholesterol levels were elevated to 300 and have gone to just above 200. Her “good cholesterol” HDL has improved and her LDL dropped 30 points. She is no longer borderline hypothyroid and her Vitamin D levels are optimal and she now rarely gets colds.

My book Protect Your Breasts comes with Nutritional Supplement Protocols and Worksheets that are easy to follow, a FREE resource download with hundreds of articles/ websites, and FREE relaxation guide. The new edition also has an updated chapter on Cryoablation — the future of breast cancer care – with revisions from Surgeon/ Cryoablation Specialist Dr. Dennis Holmes. Find videos on my Cryoablation Videos page.

###

Ingrid Edstrom is the Author of the book Protect Your Breasts and founder of Proactive Breast Wellness (PBW), LLC. Ingrid has been providing the PBW program for her patients since 2006. She is also the owner of Infrared Breast Health, LLC. Ingrid became nationally certified as a Clinical Infrared Thermography Technician, CTT in 2007. Ingrid has been nationally certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner since 1978 following her Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Rhode Island in 1974 with a Minor in Clinical Nutrition. Ingrid was awarded a Masters in Health Education from Boston University in 1981.

I was fortunate enough to work with two women who had this procedure done by Dr. Peter Littrup, an interventional radiologist who gained FDA approval for a device he invented and used to freeze prostate cancer tumors using liquid nitrogen.
 
 
 
 

Case Study: Patient Receives Cryoablation for Breast Cancer

Mary L. is a patient who refused standard surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for breast cancer, and instead chose cryoablation by Dr. Littrup in 2010. View her thermography scan, conducted by me, prior to her cryoablation treatment. Here’s her story:

Mary L~ 3 Months Pre-Cryoablation

Mary was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal Stage II carcinoma, and had a 2 cm x 2 cm tumor in her left breast with dimpling at 12:00. Mary had a very abnormal thermogram with a 2 degree Celsius Delta thermal shift over the mass and blood flow leading to the tumor. The red circle, highlighted by the white arrow, surrounds the region of the tumor.

Mary L~ 8 Months Post-Cryoablation

Mary returned 8 months post-cryo and the large/spongy mass was 4 cm x 6.5 cm. (Before, the hard mass had been 2 cm x 2 cm.) There was no thermal activity over the soft mass, and the blood vessels that were observed on infrared 3 months prior to her cryotherapy were now absent.

I was initially alarmed by the size of the soft spongy mass, but Dr. Littrup told me that this was common after cryotherapy due to the “immune effect” – which occurs about 85% of the time. This is the process where the immune system is able to recognize the protein structure of the cancer cells, and the body sends out white blood cells and cytokines to clean out the dead tissue frozen by the liquid nitrogen. In this way, the body naturally creates immunity to the cancer.

It’s important to NEVER surgically disturb or needle biopsy the spongy area, which is comprised of dead tissue and white cells. A biopsy will interfere with the body’s immune system process and may cause a life threatening infection.

Mary L~ 2 Years Post-Cryoablation

Checking the patient again 2 years post-cryotherapy, I found a 1.5 cm thermally inactive “cold” mass of scar tissue without any blood flow.

Dr. Littrup confirmed that the spongy mass shrinks about 80% in size leaving a small bit of scar tissue.

More About Cryotherapy

In addition to being used for breast cancer treatment, cryotherapy is also used to treat breast fibroadenomas (instead of cutting them out), to destroy precancerous skin moles and to eliminate cervical abnormalities.

With the improvement of imaging techniques and the development of devices with better temperature control, physicians are now using cryotherapy as a treatment for patients with other forms of cancer, like liver and pancreatic cancer.

For those who are interested in additional detail, here is an overview of cryoablation taken from the book They’re Mine And I’m Keeping Them:

In a 30-minute office procedure, local anesthesia is first administered. Then cryoprobes are inserted, guided by ultrasound, and cells are frozen. Afterward, the patient may take 2 Tylenol and go back to work. Many say the procedure is less uncomfortable than a core biopsy.

Ablation occurs in frozen tissue by three mechanisms:

(1)  Ice crystal formation within cancer cells disrupts membranes and interrupts cellular metabolism, among other processes. 

(2)  Coagulation interrupts blood flow to the tissue, in turn causing ischemia and cell death.

(3)  This induces the so-called programmed cell death cascade.

Cancer survives in the body by camouflaging itself from the immune system. After a tumor is frozen, the body absorbs the dead tissue. The protein structure of the tumor remains intact after freezing, so the immune system can “see” the cancer and recognize that it is a “foreign body.” When it does, this triggers a complex immune process that often builds antibodies to the cancer.  These antibodies then kill other tumors throughout the body.

Cryosurgery is a Win-Win for Women

Cryotherapy is a big win for breast cancer patients because it conserves the breast, eliminates the need for surgery and kills the cancer. Remarkably, it also kills satellite breast cancers (in other regions and lymph nodes) 85% of the time as part of the “immune effect.”

Author’s Note

My case study slides of Mary L. were presented to 400 researchers at the 5^th International Cryoablation Conference, which was held outside Beijing in July 2016. Laura Ross-Paul, author of the book They’re Mine And I’m Keeping Them, delivered this presentation.

I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with Laura Ross-Paul, a breast cancer survivor who received her cryotherapy treatment from Dr. Littrup in 2003. Laura, who calls herself a “patient pioneer,” was the first woman to receive Dr. Littrup’s cryoablation as the primary treatment for multi-focused breast cancer.

Her book was co-authored with her husband, Alex Paul, and Dr. Peter Littrup. It documents the story of how she and her husband bucked the system and ultimately saved her from disfiguring cancer treatment.

About the Author:

Ingrid has been in practice for 35 years as a nationally certified Family Nurse Practitioner  with an additional  Masters in Health Education. She has become a thought leader in the prevention of breast cancer and effects of toxic exposure to herbicides/pesticides/bovine growth hormones resulting in abnormal Thermography scans. She is president and author of Proactive Breast Wellness, a comprehensive, empowering program to assist women in reducing breast cancer risk or its reoccurrence. Learn more at www.proactivebreastwellness.com.

We are trying to bring cryoablation to the Pacific Northwest!! Reduce your risk or reoccurrence of breast cancer with the Proactive Breast Wellness program. You can also follow your breast health with thermography, go to www.infraredbreasthealth.com to learn more.

The Early Freeze Protocol is a proposed approach for dealing with “something suspicious” found through early imaging of breast cancer. It is a Proactive cancer preventative measure.

The Best Breast Cancer Screening Tests

6 Reasons Why I Recommend Thermography

In the past two weeks, I’ve had two friends tell me that they have had bilateral mastectomies for DCIS, or Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. This absolutely breaks my heart because DCIS is NOT cancer.  But, increasingly, due to high resolution mammograms, DCIS is being picked up on breast cancer screening tests. And, depending upon what advice a woman is then given, she may well be advised to get treatment, which she rarely needs.

DCIS is widely misunderstood.

Currently DCIS is considered Stage 0 cancer, but for years, some experts have been recommending that changes be made to this classification, and even to the name.

One proposal calls for a new classification called “indolent” instead of “cancer” for tumors that are unlikely to cause harm. So DCIS would be called “indolent lesions of epithelial origin,” or “IDLE.” This certainly makes way more sense considering that 99.9 percent of the time DCIS is something a woman will die with but not die from!

The Alarming Rise of Mastectomies

A large study of over 51,000 women found that the number of women who decided to have both breasts removed (double mastectomy) after being diagnosed with DCIS in one breast more than tripled between 1998 and 2005.

And, the likelihood that a woman would decide to have prophylactic mastectomy on the other healthy breast increased during the time studied: In 1998, 4.1% of the women had prophylactic mastectomy. In 2005, 13.5% had prophylactic mastectomy.

Screening tests have led to a great deal of over diagnosis and over treatment, a view supported by breast cancer surgeon Dr. Laura Esserman, who happens to be a heroine of mine. In an article published in October, 2015 in JAMA Oncology, breast cancer surgeon, Dr. Esserman says:

Now DCIS accounts for approximately 20% to 25% of screen-detected breast cancers. The cells that make up DCIS look like invasive cancer both pathologically and molecularly, and therefore the presumption was made that these lesions were the precursors of cancer and that early removal and treatment would reduce cancer incidence and mortality. However, long-term epidemiology studies have demonstrated that the removal of 50 000 to 60 000 DCIS lesions annually has not been accompanied by a reduction in the incidence of invasive breast cancers.

The problem is that women have been trained to be so afraid of breast cancer that they’ll often willingly sacrifice their breasts just to relieve their anxiety—or what a doctor friend of mine calls “surveillance fatigue.”  Plus, most doctors are trained to do something when they have a diagnosis. And given the number of them who have been sued for “failure to diagnose,” it’s not surprising that so many women agree to sacrifice their breasts rather than take what they are taught is a huge risk, even when it isn’t.

For these reasons, it’s not surprising that the number of women having prophylactic mastectomies “just in case” has soared. The rates of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy more than tripled from 2002 to 2012 even though studies have shown that removing healthy breasts doesn’t improve survival. And, with celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne and Angelina Jolie having double mastectomies preventively, I expect this rate will continue to rise.

As a caring physician, I’m certainly not going to be a Monday morning quarterback and ask a woman why she didn’t do more research about DCIS before having drastic and often unnecessary surgery. That would be pouring salt into her wound. On the other hand, this all too common situation makes me more determined than ever to help educate women about breast health, including the fact that far too many women are being over diagnosed and over-treated for so called breast cancers that are not cancers. (By the way, the same thing happens with thyroid and prostate conditions!)

Monitoring Your Breast Health

Before succumbing to what I refer to as October Pink Madness, please know that there are tried and true ways to maintain breast health, and also monitor it. One of those is paying attention to your dreams. That’s right—My colleague Dr. Larry Burke has published studies showing that a dream about having breast cancer is often very accurate at diagnosing the problem. But there are other more conventional approaches, including thermography.

Why Thermography Is Your Best Breast Test Option

Every year when Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) comes around I am saddened and surprised that thermography hasn’t become more popular. Part of this is my mindset. I’d rather focus on breast health and ways to prevent breast cancer at the cellular level than put the emphasis on testing and retesting until you finally do find something to poke, prod, cut out, or radiate. I understand that mammography has been the gold standard for years. Doctors are the most familiar with this test, and many believe that a mammogram is the best test for detecting breast cancer early. But it’s not. Studies show that a thermogram identifies precancerous or cancerous cells earlier, produces unambiguous results — which cuts down on additional testing —  and doesn’t hurt the body.

As you may know, thermography is a form of thermal (infrared) imaging. My colleague, Philip Getson, D.O. has been a medical thermographer since 1982. Dr. Getson explains how thermography works this way:

It is widely acknowledged that cancers, even in their earliest stages, need nutrients to maintain or accelerate their growth. In order to facilitate this process, blood vessels are caused to remain open, inactive blood vessels are activated, and new ones are formed through a process known as neoangiogenesis. This vascular process causes an increase in surface temperature in the affected regions, which can be viewed with infrared imaging cameras. Additionally, the newly formed or activated blood vessels have a distinct appearance, which thermography can detect.

Remember, heat is an indication that inflammation exists, and typically inflammation is present in precancerous and cancerous cells, too. It’s also present in torn muscles and ligaments as well as arthritic joints, which thermography can also detect!

Early Breast Cancer Detection and Accuracy

Today, women are encouraged to get a mammogram, so they can find their breast cancer as early as possible. The most promising aspect of thermography is its ability to spot anomalies years before mammography. Using the same ten-year study data, (Spitalier 1) researcher Dr. Getson adds:

Since thermal imaging detects changes at the cellular level, studies suggest that this test can detect activity eight to ten years before any other test. This makes it unique in that it affords us the opportunity to view changes before the actual formation of the tumor. Studies have shown that by the time a tumor has grown to sufficient size to be detectable by physical examination or mammography, it has in fact been growing for about seven years achieving more than twenty-five doublings of the malignant cell colony. At 90 days there are two cells, at one year there are 16 cells, and at five years there are 1,048,576 cells—an amount that is still undetectable by a mammogram. (At 8 years, there are almost 4 billion cells.)

Thermography’s accuracy and reliability is remarkable, too. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, a great deal of research was conducted on thermography. In 1981, Michel Gautherie, Ph.D., and his colleagues reported on a ten-year study, which found that an abnormal thermogram was ten times more significant as a future risk indicator for breast cancer than having a history of breast cancer in your family. (Gautherie 2)

With thermography as your regular screening tool, it’s likely that you would have the opportunity to make adjustments to your diet, beliefs, and lifestyle to transform your cells before they became cancerous. Talk about true prevention.

Clearer Results, Fewer Additional Tests

It seems like the world was set on its ear in November 2009 when the United States Preventative Services Task Force said it recommended that women begin regular mammograms at 50 instead of 40, and that mammograms are needed only every two years instead of annually between the ages of 50 and 74.  Some women felt this was a way for the insurance companies to save money, but I cheered these new guidelines. The Task Force concluded that the risk of additional and unnecessary testing far outweighed the benefits of annual mammograms—and I couldn’t agree more.

Even before the U.S. Preventative Task Force’s recommendation, Danish researchers Ole Olsen and Peter Gotzsche concluded, after analyzing data from seven studies, that mammograms often led to needless treatments and were linked to a 20 percent increase in mastectomies, many of which were unnecessary. (Goetshe 3) Dr. Getson expounded, “According to the 1998 Merck Manual, for every case of breast cancer diagnosed each year, five to ten women will undergo a painful breast biopsy. This means that if a woman has an annual mammogram for ten years, she has a 50 percent chance of having a breast biopsy.”

If you’ve ever had an unnecessary biopsy or been scared by a false positive result on a mammogram, please consider getting a thermogram.  You can always use it in conjunction with the mammogram to figure out your treatment options.

6 Reasons Why I Recommend Breast Thermography

In addition to early detection and accurate test results, here are some other reasons I like thermography:

1. Good for young, dense breasts and implants. Younger breasts tend to be denser. Thermography doesn’t identify fibrocystic tissue, breast implants, or scars as needing further investigation.
2.  Detect cell changes in arm pit area. The arm pit area is an area that mammography isn’t always good at screening.
3.  Great additional test. Thermography can be used as an additional test to help women and their care teams make more informed treatment decisions.
4.  It Doesn’t Hurt. The pressure of a mammogram machine is equivalent to putting a 50-pound weight on your breast, which can be quite painful for most women.
5.  No radiation. Another reason the United States Preventative Services Task Force reversed its aggressive mammogram guidelines was because of the exposure to radiation. It’s well known that excessive doses of radiation can increase your risk of cancer. (Semelka 4). It’s ironic that the test women are using for prevention may be causing the very problem they’re trying to avoid in the first place! And this doesn’t even touch on the harm done to the body from unnecessary biopsies, lumpectomies, mastectomies, chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and so forth.
6.  Thermography is very safe. Thermography is even safe for pregnant and nursing women! It’s merely an image of the heat of your body.

Thermography is a better technology for all of the reasons I’ve already described. Plus, it gives results that are unique to you, time after time. But Dr. Getson says there are some things you need to know. For one, not all thermographic equipment is the same. When you are choosing a thermography center, be sure to ask what the “drift factor” is for their machines.  Anything over 0.2 degrees centigrade leads to poor reproducibility. Also, the room in which the study is performed should be free of outside light and the temperature should always be at 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit, with a proper cooling system in place.

Be sure that your thermography center of choice is backed by qualified, board-certified physicians who are specifically trained in the interpretation of these images. And, be sure that the physician is available to explain and discuss all findings. Finally, make sure the images are “stat”-ed or marked up for future comparison.

The Best Test for You

As with anything, I suggest you let your inner guidance help you in all decisions about your health. If you feel it’s best to get a bi-annual or annual mammogram, then by all means continue with them. Just be aware of the drawbacks and risks associated with the test.

And, don’t be intimidated or feel guilty if you prefer to forgo mammography completely. A thermogram can tell you how healthy your breasts are rather than just screening them for cancer.  When done properly, it also has the potential to truly detect breast cell anomalies long before mammography can detect cancer. This allows you to implement lifestyle changes that can improve the health of your breasts proactively.

In honor of Breast Health Awareness month, I encourage you to check out thermography for yourself and your loved ones!

Learn More — Additional Resources

Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, by Christiane Northrup, M.D.

References

1. Spitalier et al., “Does Infrared Thermography Truly Have a Role in Present-Day Breast Cancer Management?” in M. Gautherie and E. Albert, eds., Biomedical Thermology: Proceedings of an International Symposium (New York: A. R. Liss, 1982), pp. 269–78; R. Amalric et al., “Does Infrared Thermography Truly Have a Role in Present-Day Breast Cancer Management?” Progress in Clinical and Biological Research, vol. 107 (1982), pp. 269–78.
2. Gautherie and C. M. Gros, “Breast Thermography and Cancer Risk Prediction,” Cancer, vol. 45, no. 1 (January 1, 1980), pp. 51–56.
3. Gotzsche, P. and Olsen, O., “Is Screening for Breast Cancer with Mammography Justifiable?” The Lancet, vol. 355, no. 9198 (Jan. 8, 2000), pp. 129–34; Gotzsche, P. and Olsen, O., Cochrane Review on Screening for Breast Cancer with Mammography, The Lancet, vol. 358, no. 9290 (Oct. 20, 2001), pp. 1340–42.
4. Semelka, R., Imaging X-rays cause cancer: a call to action for caregivers and patients, Medscape, Feb. 13, 2006, reviewed and renewed Feb. 16, 2007.

Ingrid was a guest lecturer for ZRT Laboratory and conducted a one hour FREE webinar on May 26, 2016 for providers and women nationally.

To view the archived webinar, click here: http://hubs.ly/H035cLl0

This 1-hour educational webinar outlines proactive steps you can take to protect your breast health, inlcuding:

• Practical suggestions for lifestyle changes for women who want to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer or help decrease reoccurrence rates.
• See how environmental influences negatively impact breast tissue as seen through the lens of an infrared camera.
• Suggestions to decrease weight and/or insomnia, balance hormones and improve your mood.
• Learn about a cutting-edge treatment option for breast cancer – cryoablation – which allows a doctor to treat the cancer without surgery in an out-patient office visit.

Ingrid spoke on her research regarding environmental estrogens / xenostrogen exposure, how it increases your breast cancer risk or risk of reoccurrence and what you can do to limit that risk through her Proactive Breast Wellness Program.

Took a road trip to Eugene with my two sisters and our daughters to visit Ingrid Edstrom at her Proactive Breast Wellness office where we all had our breasts imaged through Thermography.

With her infrared camera she can catch breast problems, or “hotspots”, well before a mammogram. (She tells me six years before!). She can see the effects of getting too many pesticides in your food which tends to make the imaging warmer. Her motto is “Prevention is the Cure” and has a wealth of information about turning breast health around through vitamin and herb supplementation. We were all super impressed and thankful we had it done. Ingrid has a very informative site which you can reach at www.proactivebreastwellness.com where you can glean info and/or by her four cd boxed set of breast wellness info. You can also find out about infrared imaging at www.InfraredBreastHealth.com or call her office at 541-302-2977.
Happy Breast Health!!