A leading medical professional warns that private health clinics are putting women’s lives at risk with a bogus breast cancer test they claim to be more accurate than NHS mammograms.
Numerous alternative clinics offer women heat scans in order to detect breast cancer. This suggests that clients have the radiation-free tests are safer than standard mammography.
The thermal imaging technique works on the idea that tumors show up as hot spots. However, Dr. Sarah Wallaston, a trained GP and chairman of the House of Commons Health Select Committee, says that they are giving women false reassurance that they are clear of breast cancer.
Some experts assert that there is no credible evidence that the thermography tests accurately spot cancer and accuses clinics of making deliberately misleading claims they are a safe alternatives to mammography.
Further investigation has discover that clinics are cherry –picking academic studies that back thermal imaging in addition to exaggerating the shortfalls of mammography.
Additionally clinics are misleading patients by quoting accuracy rates of up to 97% when an objective scientific review found accuracy is far lower.
Clinics have also been found to be over-playing fears about the radiation dangers of mammograms, when the risk of the procedure triggering cancer is tiny.
The clinics have profited from growing concerns that mammograms can miss cancers in young women with dense breast tissue and lead to unnecessary surgery in others by spotting benign growths. However, the NHS estimates that mammograms save 1,300 lives a year.
