15,000 will die from CT scans done in 1 year

[Contrary1]

:wow: 70 million scans done in 2007

Scans have higher levels of radiation than thought, researchers say

"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.

"It's estimated that just from the CT scans done in one year, just in 2007, there will be 15,000 excess deaths," Redberg said in a telephone interview..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34420356/ns/health-cancer/

[silverweb]

1. But they make such pretty pictures of your insides.

And once the very, very expensive machine is paid for, they make lots and lots of money!

:sarcasm:



I hate for-profit medicine with a burning passion. :grr:

[Gabi Hayes]

2. what about MRIs?

I had four done in a six month span two years ago

plus two CT scans

no wonder I've got this thing growing out of my armpit....

[Lyric]

4. MRIs don't involve ionizing radiation.

Ionizing radiation is the dangerous kind; MRIs use only electromagnetic radiation, which has a much longer "wave" than ionizing radiation and doesn't cause tissue damage or mutation like IR does. MRIs are safe.

:hi:

[Gabi Hayes]

7. so, the shorter the wavelength, the more dangerous, as in gamma rays, which

have a really really tiny wavelength?

I used to know all that stuff, but all the xrays/cat scans I've had over the years have roasted my memory

thx

[Lyric]

8. Yep! That's a pretty good rule of thumb.

An MRI has a nice long wavelength, so it isn't going to hurt you any more than radio station broadcasts would hurt you. X-rays and gamma rays (among others) have very short wavelengths, and thus can do a lot of damage to our DNA. The radiation causes nucleic acids that comprise our DNA strands to get deleted or mixed around, which causes mutations. If enough "bad" mutations rack up, a cell could turn cancerous.

Does that help? :)

[cowcommander]

3. Holy cow!

How did this technology even get this commonplace in hospitals if it was that dangerous!?

[w8liftinglady]

5. Shit!I had 4 cts last year!

my head must GLOW!Thanks for this info...I'll research it more.

[kestrel91316]

6. I had 4 CT scans done in 1981 and am fine. I've had none since.