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Judicious use of medical radiation

Radiation risk or timely diagnosis, Kevin MD,com SKEPTICAL SCALPEL, MD | CONDITIONS | JULY 8, 2014 “………..An article in Scientific American puts some of the radiation risk into perspective. It is long, but worth reading as it explains how risk has been calculated, the best guess as to the true level of risk, and what radiologists are doing to lower the radiation exposure associated with CT scanning.

According to that article, “Any one person in the U.S. has a 20 percent chance of dying from cancer [of any type]. Therefore, a single CT scan increases the average patient’s risk of developing a fatal tumor from 20 to 20.05 percent.”

No one ever comments about weighing the potential harms that may have been prevented by a timely CT scan diagnosis against the radiation risk.

CT scans should be ordered judiciously. The area scanned and the amount of radiation should be limited as much as possible.

But if you need a CT scan to help diagnose your problem, go ahead and have it. Bottom line: When it comes to accuracy in diagnosis versus radiation-induced cancer risk, parents overwhelmingly chose the former.

“Skeptical Scalpel” is a surgeon blogs at his self-titled site, Skeptical Scalpel. http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/07/radiation-risk-timely-diagnosis-parents-choose.html

July 12, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | children, radiation