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CT Scans, radiation and cancer

The Dangers of Radiation, Leukemia, Feb 22 2010 The most serious problem with the widespread use of CAT scans is the radiation these devices leave in our bodies. CAT scans are not simple chest X-rays, which deliver only a small amount of radiation. Instead, they expose the patient to a significant amount of radiation, and radiation in significant doses has been shown to increase the risk of cancer..

…A CAT scan of the abdomen, on the other hand, provides about 10.0 m5v, or the equivalent of 500 chest X-rays or 3.3 years of natural background radiation. And a 64-slice wholebody CAT scan provides 15.2 m5v for men and 21.4 mSv for women (women’s denser body tissue and breasts require higher doses to get clear images) — quite a difference, especially when you realize that the radiation you receive is cumulative.
Now compare these numbers with the level of radiation to which Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were exposed: an average dose of between 5 and 20 mSv, with some doses as high as 50 mSv. A single CAT scan can easily exceed that average.
Effectiveness

Here’s what most people do not realize: there is absolutely no data to prove that CAT scans are medically useful for people who do not have any symptoms. According to the FDA website:

The FDA has never approved CT for screening any part of the body for any specific disease, let alone for screening the whole body when there are no specific symptoms of disease at all. No manufacturer has submitted data to FDA to support the safety and efficacy of screening claims for whole-body CT screening.

….the American College of Radiology, the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, and the American Medical Association, among others, do not recommend CAT scans. Medicare and most insurance companies do not cover CAT scans for screening because the tests have never been shown to provide information in addition to what we can already learn through doing a medical history, a physical exam, and blood tests.

The Dangers of Radiation | Leukemia

February 24, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, radiation, radioactive