By Jan Thomas

Ask Dr. Susanna Choi, head of Integrated OBGYN in Parker, to discuss what makes a woman healthy, and a large smile will spread across her face.
“It’s important to look at the emotional, physical and spiritual,” Choi said. “If I can make the milieu — the entire being — healthy, the individual will be healthy.”
Looking beyond the surface for health-improving options and daring to try something different is one of the reasons Choi’s clinic was the first in the Denver area to use infrared imaging to facilitate early breast cancer detection. Choi estimates conducting about 450 breasts scans since adding the technology to her practice in 2006.
“I’ve been practicing medicine for more than 20 years. I know I’ve missed breast cancer in clinical exams, and I know mammograms have missed it because they don’t provide a complete picture. It’s because of those cases that I chose to add infrared tests to the clinic,” she said.

Colorado’s breast cancer incidence rates for women of color are relatively low when compared to the population as a whole — 12 percent lower for Black and Hispanic women than for non-Hispanic whites from 1998 to 2003, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Statistics. However, the news is mixed upon closer examination.
According to the Department’s 1998-2003 report, “The incidence rate for breast cancer in Colorado Hispanics (1998-2002) was 14 percent higher than in U.S. Hispanics and the rate in Colorado Blacks was 12 percent lower than in U.S. Blacks.”
What’s more, early detection did not improve between 1998 and 2003, and later detection was seen among non-Hispanic whites.
Choi uses an analogy to explain why breast cancer is so challenging to detect.
“The breasts are like bread dough,” she explained. “Cancer can be brewing in there for 10 years before it’s large enough to detect with a mammogram or clinical exam.”
While Choi considers home exams, annual clinical exams and mammograms to be an essential part of every woman’s breast health regimen, she also advocates adding infrared imaging — in this case provided using the Sentinel Breast Scan — to the mix.
The theory is that cancer cells work harder and emit more heat than their healthy counterparts. Breast scans detect differences such as temperature and blood flow irregularities, and alert the doctor to exam certain areas more closely. Exams generally take 4-10 minutes, are painless and do not involve radiation. The system generates a report immediately so doctors can discuss results with patients before they leave the clinic.
Ultimately, Choi said women benefit most when they put breast cancer in context.
“Breast cancer is an aging disease,” Choi said. “One in 10 women at 80 years of age will have it. If the cells are primed for cancer, you’re going to get it, so early detection is a good idea. It’s also important to remember that breasts do not lie on an island. They’re influenced by that milieu of overall health.”
With another of her famous analogies, Choi noted, “For many people, the body is like an old house. You’re tempted to just start redecorating. But before you start hanging up new curtains, you need to do a good housecleaning. Stir up some dust.”
That housecleaning needs to include reducing stress, improving nutrition, getting enough sleep, exercising and having a thorough physical exam — the like of which will take 30 minutes or more in an obstetrics and gynecology practice.
“Unfortunately, too many people would rather take a pill than work on their lifestyle,” Choi said. “That’s not a solution I support.”

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