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Just a few reasons to join the IAMT:
- Industry Support
- Research and Development
- Yearly Conferences
- Continued Education
- Discount on Conference and Materials
- Networking
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."
Author: Unknown
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I AM THERMOGRAPHY NEWSLETTER October 2010
You, the thermographers are Thermography and you are not alone. We hope you enjoy this first newsletter and will join the IAMT so we can work together to make thermography part of the future of medicine. |
| Welcome future IAMT Members!
The board members, editor, and secretarial staff, want to introduce you to the only Medical Thermography Association dedicated to providing a true forum for the growth, professional support, and education of Medical Infrared Imaging. We believe that in numbers there are infinite possibilities.
As you are aware this field is growing rapidly and there are concerns of maintaining quality imaging and professionalism. This organization is the start of working together to ensure these high standards are regulated.
Join today and be part of the decision making and the beneficiaries of many new and exciting opportunities.
Pleast note that the IAMT is open to all medical thermographers, regardless of equipment and affiliation to any other thermography associations.
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BC Awareness Statistics
Did you know that more women die every year in the U.S. from unintentional accidents than from breast cancer?
 
Doctors would have to screen 1,904 women between the ages of 39-49 for 10 years (19,040 mammograms) to possibly prevent one death.
Approximately 1,000 women between 50-59 years of age screened for 10 years (10,000 mammograms) may be expected to reduce the absolute risk of dying from six in 1,000 to four in 1,000, or the possibility of saving two lives.
For women that have a mammogram every year for 10 years, more than 60% will be called back for re-screening or biopsies because their test results look suspicious (false positive or non-cancerous). This includes unnecessary risk from biopsy procedures and severe and lasting emotional effects related to the fear of dying.
Mammography, biopsy and the detection of breast cancer. v5.1 © Ralph W. Moss, PhD
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Meet Our Board
President
Martin Plotkin, M.D., M.D.(H), F.A.A.O.S.
President
Martin Plotkin, MD  |
As the Medical Director of Wellness Concepts in St Charles, IL., Martin Plotkin, M.D., is an American Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon, teaching faculty at two leading U.S. medical schools for nearly 3 decades. He is Homeopathics certified by the Board of Homeopathic Examiners of the State of Arizona, has Fellowship Training in Functional Medicine. University of Wisconsin trained in Prolotherapy and Fellowship Training in Bio-Identical Hormones testing and prescribing.
Vice President
Jay Mead, MD  |
Dr Mead, one of the founding members of the IAMT, is the Medical Director and President of Labrix Clinical Services, Inc. He is a leading expert in salivary hormone testing. He is a board certified pathologist, a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force Reserves and cofounded and directs a complementary and alternative medical clinic; The Center for Integrative Medicine
Secretary
Judy Donatelli, RN, RDCS  |
Judy spent several years working as a medical surgical floor nurse,
before becoming certified in medical ultrasound. She is owner of
Soundwaves Inc., a medical ultrasound company. She is co-owner
and President of Three Rivers Thermography Natural Health and
Imaging Center, and also co-owner of Imaging Partners International.
Treasure
Carol Chandler, D.O.M.  |
Carol Chandler, Dr. of Oriental Medicine is a Nationally Board Certified Acupuncture Physician and Owner of the Natural Medicine Center in Lakeland, Florida. Carol is President and CEO of Med-Hot Thermal Imaging, the founding sponsor of the IAMT. For the past ten years she has been coaching and training clinical thermographers all over the US, in addition to imaging thousands of patients herself.
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Effect of Screening Mammography on Breast-Cancer Mortality in Norway
Mette Kalager, M.D., Marvin Zelen, Ph.D., Frøydis Langmark, M.D., and Hans-Olov Adami, M.D., Ph.D.
N Engl J Med 2010; 363:1203-1210September 23, 2010
Background
A challenge in quantifying the effect of screening mammography on breast-cancer mortality is to provide valid comparison groups. The use of historical control subjects does not take into account chronologic trends associated with advances in breast-cancer awareness and treatment.
Methods
The Norwegian breast-cancer screening program was started in 1996 and expanded geographically during the subsequent 9 years. Women between the ages of 50 and 69 years were offered screening mammography every 2 years. We compared the incidence-based rates of death from breast cancer in four groups: two groups of women who from 1996 through 2005 were living in counties with screening (screening group) or without screening (nonscreening group); and two historical-comparison groups that from 1986 through 1995 mirrored the current groups.
Results
We analyzed data from 40,075 women with breast cancer. The rate of death was reduced by 7.2 deaths per 100,000 person-years in the screening group as compared with the historical screening group (rate ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63 to 0.81) and by 4.8 deaths per 100,000 person-years in the nonscreening group as compared with thehistorical nonscreening group (rate ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.93; P<0.001 for both comparisons), for a relative reduction in mortality of 10% in the screening group (P=0.13). Thus, the difference in the reduction in mortality between the current and historical groups that could be attributed to screening alone was 2.4 deaths per 100,000 person-years, or a third of the total reduction of 7.2 deaths.
Conclusions
The availability of screening mammography was associated with a reduction in the rate of death from breast cancer, but the screening itself accounted for only about a third of the total reduction. (Funded by the Cancer Registry of Norway and the Research Council of Norway.)
Source Information
From the Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo (M.K., F.L., H.-O.A.); the Departments of Epidemiology (M.K., H.-O.A.) and Biostatistics (M.Z.), Harvard School of Public Health; and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School (M.Z., H.-O.A.) - all in Boston; and the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm (H.-O.A.).
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Featured Thermographer  Carol Conti, RT, CTT
Carol spent most of her working career as a mammographer, beginning in 1973; decades before the mammography equipment became computerized. Even in those days she knew of thermography.
In the mid 80's Carol and a fellow colleague started a mobile mammography business in Southern California. For all those years women have asked Carol if there was a better way to screen the breast for cancer without radiation and "squeezing" the breast; and she always had to say "no". Now her answer is "YES"!
After years of resisting the benefits of thermography, Carol's friend Dr. Shaida Sina finally convinced Carol to do further research on Thermal Imaging. Carol was astounded that infrared imaging had profoundly changed, even over the past 5 years!
Carol Conti made her decision and founded 'Northern Arizona Thermal Imaging'.
The purchase of her thermal camera included hands-on training with Carol Chandler who has become a life-long friend and mentor. During this training Carol Conti experienced her first breast thermogram, "to see how it feels". This initial exam on May 1, 2009, was noteworthy in that it showed "severe fibrocystic changes". In July, 2009, Carol noticed a new dimple in her left breast that she contributed to wearing front-hooking bras. However, when this dimple did not resolve she had her husband, Frank, perform another breast thermogram on her which would forever change her life. Dr. Jay Mead, M.D. wrote "These findings appear suspicious and should be clinically correlated and monitored for change".
The subsequent mammogram was negative an ultrasound guided biopsy proving that the "suspicious findings" were indeed breast cancer.
The biopsy was performed in August and, by the time Carol had her mastectomy in September, the cancer had doubled in size. She realized that had she relied on mammography alone, it would have been at least a year before the cancer would have become evident. With this realization Carol says "my path in life has become very clear to me". Thermography has become her personal story.
Over the years, while experiencing the evolution of mammography, Carol had become a nationally respected Mammographer. Now as a Thermographer, she will be instrumental in elevating Medical Thermal Imaging to the new "gold standard" for early detection. After years of imaging disease, Carol has switched to the "other side" and is proud to offer "thermography for prevention". |
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A Worthy Cause Ken Hoffman,D.Ac, L.Ac, CCH
 1991, the National Breast Cancer Coalition's trained advocates have lobbied at the national, state and local levels for public policies that impact breast cancer research, diagnosis and treatment. The Coalition's sister organization, the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, empowers and trains their advocates to be effective in every aspect of the fight to end breast cancer. They give women the tools to make their own informed decisions and take a leadership role with legislative, scientific and clinical decision makers. NBCC also helps guide the public through the maze of information on breast cancer. NBCC meets all 20 Better Business Bureau Charity Standards, has received an "A" rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, and is ranked four-stars by Charity Navigator, so you can be assured your money is well spent. Learn more about the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund at www.StopBreastCancer.org.
Dr. Ken Hoffman, D.Ac, L.Ac, CCH and Lauren Hoffman, CCT, have been offering Thermography since 2004. For the entire month of October Sophia Natural Health Center is offering a "Buy 1 - Get 1 Free" by encouraging their existing patients to bring a friend or family member for their first breast scan, and receive their own breast scan for free! This promotion is designed to help educate women to prevent breast cancer and to raise donations for the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund. At the end of the month, they will donate a portion of the proceeds to the NBCC.
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 Imaging Partners has been certified by Med-Hot in conjunction with the IAMT and Physician's Insight as the training site for new thermographers. Imaging Partners is located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and is owned by Judy Donatelli and Susan Wilson. Judy and Susan began their journey in medical thermography in 2005 and enjoy sharing their experience on how to own and operate a lucrative and viable thermography business. For more information on training please call 412- 548-3612 or e-mail Judy at judydonatelli@gmail.com. |
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Welcome to the first IAMT Newsletter! I am honored to be communicating with all of you and am looking forward to what great things we can accomplish together. At this time I am welcoming any and all comments. I would like your input on what type of articles you wish to see and also would appreciate articles from you about yourself or other thermographers making a difference. Through this newsletter I hope to provide the means so we can share and learn from each other. Let me know your thoughts and looking forward to next months edition. Please e-mail me at newsletter@iamtonline.org.
Sincerely,
Sue Wilson |
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