Posted on 12/14/2009 6:26:49 PM PST by Steelfish
15,000 Will Die From CT Scans Done In 1 Year Scans have higher levels of radiation than thought, researchers say
Dec. 14: According to new reports in the Archives of Internal Medicine, radiation exposure from commonly performed CT scans may contribute to thousands of future cancer cases. NBC's Robert Bazell reports.
Dec . 14, 2009 CHICAGO - Radiation from CT scans done in 2007 will cause 29,000 cancers and kill nearly 15,000 Americans, researchers said Monday.
The findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, add to mounting evidence that Americans are overexposed to radiation from diagnostic tests, especially from a specialized kind of X-ray called a computed tomography, or CT, scan.
"What we learned is there is a significant amount of radiation with these CT scans, more than what we thought, and there is a significant number of cancers," said Dr. Rita Redberg, editor of the Archives of Internal Medicine, where the studies were published.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
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Chill the Corona and skip the aspirin
Lol, I’ll just take the aspirin!
Nice big round numbers. How far past the elbow did they dig to pull that number out.
I guess I had better tell all those X-Ray technicians at the hospital they are all going to die by next year!
Some people are freaking idiots and think we are too.
Hopefully, under the circumstances, your handle was not an apt choice.
29,000 more cancers, 15,000 deaths. How does that compare to the aftermath of Chernobyl? Did we kill more people with CT scans than the Russians killed by melting down a nuclear reactor?
I just (administratively) beat the crap out of my insurance company to get the PT Scan instead. (post-cancer follow-up)
Will not suggest for a moment that a CT isn’t used defensively by physicians. But in the end, the radiation dose while high in the general scheme of things, isn’t going to kill you now or in the future. Maybe if you have them every couple of months for years at a time it might.
FWIW, They can’t prove any of this. If they could, they would have provided the empirical data to support their assertion. CT has been in wider clinical use since the mid 80’s with the Elscint Reticulated units that worked like a pendulum. The GE 8800 and 9800’s of the early 90’s were some of the first helical’s. So we’re looking at about 20 years worth of data max. Now, with the 0.4 sec rotation 128 slice, systems better contrast agents, they offer much more diagnostic images.
I knew this CT tech who was a bit of a perv. He did a scan on this 15 year old girl (the scan was ordered by her physician), and showed me things about certain portions of her anatomy that only god and her husband should ever know.
That’s exactly the way I read this.
Future Obamacare related headlines.
Experts say "More People die under a Doctor's care than die from cigarettes."
New Study Shows people who go to the Doctor less are healthier!
How to lower your risk of contracting a staph infection! (stay away from hospitals)
Wait!! How can you all be skeptical? Scientists NEVER massage or make up data! Next think you’ll be saying the EPA is lying to us about global warm— oh, nevermind...
The studies are based on extrapolating the incidence of cancer from acute high radiation doses to low radiation dose using the linear- no threshold model. Using this model, any radiation dose, increases the risk of cancer. This is generally thought to be a simplistic and conservative assumption. Some ballpark numbers (based on my recollection) to consider: CT dose 750 mrem per scan, chest x-ray 30 mrem, annual background exposure in US 300mrem, transcontinental flight 10mrem, regulatory limit for radiation worker annual exposure 5000mrem. So, the CT dose is not insignificant but the medical benefit from the diagnostic test will likely far exceed the cancer risk. I would be hesitant to have children receive many CT scans but for middle age persons, I wouldn’t worry. Even in the highly unlikely event the radiation exposure did result in cancer, the cancer probably would probably not present itself for 20-25 years.
I’ve had 4 MRIs and 3 CT scans this year. If Goseminoles quits posting, someone call my mom (and a good lawyer).
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I do believe that going to the doctor will kill you. I do my utmost to stay away from them.
bump
My son’s doctor told me that one CT scan was = to 200-300 x-rays.
HOWEVER, my son both of those CT scans. Once for head trauma and once for severe chest pain. (The chest pain turned out to be broken rib heads. *Very* painful, but not fatal. But at the time, they thought he had a much more serious problem like air leaking from a lung or a blood clot in the chest cavity. They had to diagnose him in order to treat him fast.)
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