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CT Scans Cause Cancer
…
.and Death
Article Link: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/169/22/2049?home 
Radiation from CT scans done in 2007 will cause 29,000 cancers and kill nearly 15,000 Americans,researchers said on Monday.The findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, add to mounting evidence that Americansare overexposed to radiation from diagnostic tests, especially from a specialized kind of X-ray called acomputed tomography, or CT, scan."What we learned is there is a significant amount of radiation with these CT scans, more than what wethought, 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 excessdeaths," Redberg said in a telephone interview."We're doing millions of CT scans every year and the numbers are increasing. That is a lot of excessdeaths."CT scans give doctors a view inside the body, often eliminating the need for exploratory surgery. But CTscans involve much higher radiation dose than conventional X-rays. A chest CT scan exposes the patientto more than 100 times the radiation dose of a chest X-ray.About 70 million CT scans were done on Americans in 2007, up from 3 million in 1980. Amy Berringtonde Gonzalez of the National Cancer Institute and colleagues developed a computer model to estimatethe impact of so many scans.They estimated the scans done in 2007 will cause 29,000 cancers. A third of the projected cancers willoccur in people who were ages 35 to 54 when they got their CT, two-thirds will occur in women and 15percent will arise from scans done in children or teens.The researchers estimated there will be an extra 2,000 excess breast cancers just from CT scans done in2007.
UNNEEDED TESTS
 Redberg, who wrote a commentary on the studies, said U.S. doctors' enthusiasm for the tests has led toan explosion in their use that is putting patients at risk.
 
"While certainly some of the scans are incredibly important and life saving, it is also certain that some of them were not necessary," Redberg said.In a separate study, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman of the University of California, San Francisco, andcolleagues analyzed data from 1,119 patients undergoing the 11 most common types of diagnostic CTscans at four institutions in 2008.They found radiation dosage varied widely between different types of CT studies, from a median ormidpoint of 2 millisieverts for a routine head CT scan to 31 millisieverts for a scan of the abdomen andpelvis, which often involves taking multiple images of the same organ.By comparison, the average American is exposed to about 3 millisieverts of radiation a year from groundradon or flying in an airplane -- a level not considered a risk to health.The researchers said efforts need to be taken to minimize CT radiation exposure, including reducing thenumber of unnecessary tests, cutting the dose per study, and standardizing the doses across facilities.Imaging equipment makers such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips and Toshiba Medical Systems areworking to develop low-dose CT scanners.In Love and Healing Light,Robert O. Young, Ph.D., D.Sc.Founder of 'THE NEW BIOLOGY' ®Creator of the 'SCIENCE OF ALKALINE
LIVING'™ for Health.
 As someone that looks to improve theirhealth we are pleased to offer you thisfree audio, an excerpt of a powerful twohour interview with Dr Robert O. Youngand Anthony Robbins. Click the linkbelow to listen:http://tinyurl.com/krtfr4 Not part of our healing alkalinecommunity? Visit our website at:www.phmiracleliving.com To learn more about the science of Dr.
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