nuclear-news

Medical use of ionising radiation is under scrutiny

Some health screenings may do more harm than good Miami Herald by Katharine W. Foster 4 Nov 09
“…..the explosion in preventative health exams has triggered a debate over which tests are necessary and which ones simply drive up the cost of health care — or actually harm a patient.

Some doctors warn that certain screenings may do more harm than good because they expose the body to unnecessary radiation or raise questions that lead to further, invasive probing. Research suggests that some CT scans increase the risk of radiation-induced cancer.

Some doctors warn that certain screenings may do more harm than good because they expose the body to unnecessary radiation or raise questions that lead to further, invasive probing. Research suggests that some CT scans increase the risk of radiation-induced cancer.

CT scans are “being used for all sorts of diagnostic purposes not envisioned in the past, such as detecting heart disease, [conducting] virtual colonoscopies,” says Dr. Jeffrey Neitlich, chairman of the Department of Radiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

“Patients shouldn’t be scared away from CT scans if they need them, but shouldn’t have them routinely.”

A study in the August New England Journal of Medicine suggests that as many as 4 million Americans a year are exposed to high doses of radiation from diagnostic scans, with a nuclear heart stress test called the myocardial perfusion scan being the single biggest contributor.

Particularly worrisome to Neitlich are full-body scans on healthy people. There has been “no scientific publication demonstrating that a whole-body CT scan has any impact on life expectancy or quality of life. Therefore, at least at the current time, it’s just excess radiation without any proven benefit,” he says.

Some health screenings may do more harm than good – Living – MiamiHerald.com

November 4, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear spin, radioactive