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Move to reduce dangerous radiation exposure of children

Doctors and manufacturers aim to decrease CT radiation exposure, especially for kids Facs Stocks By Fierc eHealthCare , 03/03/2010
The high-powered imaging technology of CT scans allows doctors to see into crevices of the body that cannot be viewed as well by other methods. But the radiation exposure from the CT scans also can increase the risk of cancer, especially for children.

While children account for just 5 percent to 10 percent of about 70 million CT scans conducted annually, their smaller size and longer life expectancy pose greater risks than for adults. A study published last fall by the Lancet found that 20 percent of children older than two years and almost 25 percent of children under two years, who received CT scans after head trauma, did not need them due to a very low risk of developing serious brain injury versus the cancer risk from radiation exposure. The Lancet study evaluated health records from the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network for over 42,000 children at 25 hospitals.

Doctors and manufacturers aim to decrease CT radiation exposure, especially for kids | FavStocks

March 4, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | cancer, nuclear, radiation, radioactive