and there is also the risk of reaction to the dye that is used to do the scans.
That risk becomes really sizeable if you have kidney problems.
My wife reacts to the “contrast.”
Some high deductible and Health Savings Account plans have been performing pooring on rate increases lately. I was wondering why, but there are hints that those who sign up for these plans may be using up their savings, and deductibles, on procedures like this.
After that MSNBC guy though, I find it hard to blame folks
for wanting the best care.
Considering the fact that for most heart attacks, the first symptons are the last symptoms. - Consider Tim Russert.
If Every person was CT scanned when they turn, say 50, for clogged arteries, many lives would be saved.
As for the concern about x-rays, If you drop dead of a Heart attack, the exposure to x-rays will not matter.
This is just common Sense.
Bill from Nutley
Things change! Remember that relatively speaking, the technology is still in its infancy.
And one of the biggest priorities in innovation is to reduce the radiation level. While the current background risk to a child of getting lethal cancer in their life is about 23%, one or more CT scans may raise this by as much as 1%. However, that is strongly balanced by the downward trend of cancer lethality across the board.
In another area, the number of “slices” a CT scanner could do in the early 1990s was 2. Now it is 320. This radically speeds up the time involved and increases resolution, though it increases radiation dose as well. But it shows the innovation involved in improving the technology.
On top of that, recent innovations in nanotechnology are now making it possible to take a prophylaxis prior to radiation exposure that limits the damage of ionizing radiation.
Finally, alternative systems to CT scanning are also making advances. For example, the South African diamond mines have innovated a low power whole body X-Ray machine to look for diamonds. This could soon become standard equipment in emergency rooms.