European Thermo-what?

This article is from Jackie Bell, clinical educator at AlfaThermo Diagnostics.

 

Here’s an analogy of how it works: Think of a greenhouse with a wood stove in it. The stove burns wood to heat the greenhouse for the growth of the plants. To keep it a constant temperature on cold days and nights, the greenhouse windows are kept tightly closed to retain the heat. On warm days and nights the greenhouse windows are opened to let the heat out, thus keeping the greenhouse temperature within a cozy range and the plants healthy and vibrant.

 

Our body is a bit like that greenhouse. We also "burn" and metabolize fuel and maintain a constant internal temperature range that keeps us alive and healthy. Like the greenhouse, on cold days we must retain the heat and on warm days emit it. One way we do this is through the capillaries, which are like the windows in the greenhouse. On a warm day the blood carries our heat to the skin surface via tiny capillaries (for example, the flushed face). On a cold day the body constricts the capillaries (yes, with goose bumps) to shunt the blood and heat to our core. The ebb and flow of the blood to the skin surface helps keep our core temperature within a certain range.

 

There's more. Each organ and gland in the body has blood and nerve supplies. And each organ and gland controls the capillary blood leading to the skin surface near it. Before WWII the French did a great job mapping the skin and locating the visceral-cutaneous connections, to where on the skin each organ influences the capillary blood flow. The Germans elaborated on this in detail (of course), gleefully knowing that along side of the capillaries run the tiny nerves of the Autonomic Nervous System (which they adore). Here they saw their opportunity to capture the competence of a patient’s Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) qualitatively, which was their objective.

 

Since they knew that organ disturbances influence the degree of blood circulation to the skin, and blood flow to the skin is regulated by the ANS, these very wise European medical doctors created a functional test by taking skin temperature measurements at designated points all over the body - before and after the skin is exposed to room temperature air (clothes on, clothes off). Each point specifically corresponds with underlying organs, glands, and even lymph, sinuses, and teeth. They called the test Computerized Regulation Thermography, which I (brilliantly) renamed European Thermography.

 

If I lost you, here's the bottom line: Your organs are as healthy as the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) that surrounds them. It’s the ANS, the automatic part of your nervous system, that performs every metabolic process in your whole body, from blinking and digesting to bone building and wound healing. These German doctors and scientists knew that if they could understand the details of where a patient’s ANS is not working well and why, then they could address the underlying causes of a disease process and set the ANS free to heal and restore the body. They discovered that tracking skin temperature changes in a functional test would give them this pertinent information. 

 

How well your body is able to change the skin temperature at each point reveals the health of the underlying organs. And not only can we gather information about the health of each underlying organ (such as the breasts, prostate and colon, for instance), but we can gather information about the health of each organ in context of the whole body. From this integrative approach we can then understand what therapies are best suited for you, whether for health restoration or for maintenance and prevention.

 

That’s why European Thermography is insightful and so very empowering.

Say it with me: Ther-maw-grah-fee.

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