Archive for the ‘The Irish Times’ Category
DOCTORS PRESCRIBE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS - Irish Times Health Plus 8th December 2009
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009DOCTORS PRECSRIBE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.
More conventionally trained doctors are embracing an integrated approach to health. Sylvia Thompson finds out why.
A growing number of conventionally trained medical doctors are combining their medical knowledge with expertise in complementary therapies to provide an integrated approach to health care.
Many of these doctors top up their medical training with courses in homeopathy, herbal medicine, acupuncture, nutrition and environmental medicine. Some continue to work in general practice while others work in integrative or holistic health centres because they believe the focus of conventional medicine has become too narrow. (more…)
New thermal technique may detect cancer earlier
Tuesday, June 28th, 2005
Iva Pocock
A new technology to Ireland has been greeted with caution by a breast care consultant surgeon in Tallaght hospital. Mr James Geraghty, who leads the breast care unit in the hospital, said the technology which uses infrared imaging to identify possible tumours “may have its uses in the futures as a non-invasive means of detecting cancer”.
However, medical thermography is “still largely in the area of research” and is not standard practice in teaching hospital in Ireland.
The technology has been introduced by the Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine in Kildare, run by acupuncturist Felipe Reitz and homeopath Jean FitzGerald. They say studies suggest that thermography can detect early cancer cells 10 years before any other examination.
“When a cancer is forming, it develops its own blood supply in order to feed its accelerated growth, a process known as malignant angiogenesis. And cells can start this process well in advance of when they turn malignant,” said Mr Reitz. “When they do, the increased blood supply causes abnormal heat activity in the breast, which a specialised infrared camera can pick up.”
For this reason it is a useful non-invasive, preventative tool, for women in their 20s and 30s, he said. “In the absence of any other positive tests, an abnormal breast thermogram indicates a 22 times greater risk for future breast cancer. This gives a woman time to act.”
However, medical thermography is not a substitute for mammography, the standard breast tumour detection technology used in Ireland, said Mr Reitz.
“I’m not saying the thermography machine is the only thing. It’s a compliment to help people be preventative. I agree with mammograms but we still lack preventative method. The two technologies should work together.”
Breast thermography has a false positive of 10 per cent (10 out of 100 women who are shown to have no problem will actually have a breast abnormality whereas mammography has a 15 per cent false positive rate, said Mr Reitz.
Mr Geraghty urges patients with symptoms such as lumps, nipple discharge or change in skin colour to see a specialist clinic. At the Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine, patients whose breast thermography show any sign of heat spots are referred to their GP or specialist consultants.