CT scans not safe for humans, experts warn

'Although the use of computed tomography (CT) scans has become increasingly common, there is no reliable evidence that such scans are safe, according to a paper recently published in the journal Radiology.

"The number of CT exams in the U.S. has increased by about 10 percent each year over the past decade," said lead author John Boone, of the University of California-Davis. "This trend underscores the importance of developing a better understanding of the health risks of radiation exposure versus the benefits of enhanced diagnosis."'

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Medical Imaging Radiation Causes DNA Damage and Cancer; Doctors Prescribe More

'The health risks associated with radiation exposure, whether it comes from cancer treatments or medical imaging scans, are much more significant than most people probably think. The latest published data on radiation exposure suggests that roughly 25,000 Americans develop cancer every year as a result of medical radiation exposure, and many more experience DNA damage that could eventually lead to the development of cancer and other health problems in the long term.'


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Killing Children With X-ray Images - Death by Procedure

'Children are more radio-sensitive than adults and children undergoing CT scans have triple the risk of leukemia and brain cancer after two or three CT scans according to a recent article in the Lancet. Doctors think the benefits usually outweigh their risks, but "radiation is known to carry a hard-to-calculate, elevated, long-term probability of induced cancers", according to Marta Hernanz-Schulman, MD, chair of the American College of Radiology Pediatric Imaging Commission.

Children are especially vulnerable to ionizing radiation because they absorb more radiation per volume of tissue than adults. Ionizing radiation applied to children is especially damaging as children are growing and have more radio-sensitive cell divisions occurring than an adult. Additionally, a longer life awaits children than adults, presenting them with more time for radiation-induced cancers to develop.'


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Radiation Cruelty in Hospitals

 

'Modifying physician behavior is hard thing to do but we have to do it and do it now in the radiation departments. How doctors and hospitals relate to and use radiation in both diagnosis and treatment of disease needs to come under full review and in most cases be brought to a halt.

Radiation at extremely low levels is a health hazard that
medicine is not dealing with as shown by its use of dangerous
levels of radiation in both its diagnosis and treatment of disease.

We have talked earlier about evacuation as a prudent response to radiation exposure so as to avoid ever-higher levels of nuclear contamination. In this chapter we call for doctors to abandon the use of CAT scans and mammograms as well as a complete abandonment of the use of radiation in cancer therapy. Dentists also must abandon at a minimum their three-dimensional scans that expose their patients to unnecessary extra radiation.'


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