CT Scan Radiation Increases Cancer Risk [View All]

Medically unnecessary CT scans are not harmless, they may end up contributing to as many as 2 per cent of all US cancers. Increasinguse of CT scans, particularly among pregnant women, is a concern. This study, funded by the federal govt, is published in today's New England Journal of Medicine. I don't have a subscription to NEJM or would publish a link...

From Science Daily

In a Nov. 29, 2007 article in The New England Journal of Medicine, David J. Brenner, Ph.D., and Eric J. Hall, Ph.D., from the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center, argue that the potential carcinogenic effects from using CT scans may be underestimated or overlooked. This is of particular concern, because perhaps one-third of all CT scans performed in the United States may not be medically necessary, the radiation researchers say.

It is estimated that more than 62 million CT scans per year are currently given in the United States, compared to three million 1980. Because CT scans result in a far larger radiation exposure compared with conventional plain-film X-ray, this has resulted in a marked increase in the average personal radiation exposure in the United States, which has about doubled since 1980, largely because of the increased CT usage.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071128172402.htm