Radiation: Too Much of a Good Thing
Radiation is wacky. We spend half our lives being terrified of it, and the other half rushing to the hospital to be voluntarily exposed to it. We're frightened at the thought of dirty nuclear bombs and concerned about too much exposure to medical radiation. On the second point, your concern may be more immediate. Recently, the National Research Council issued a press release, of which the very first line read: "A preponderance of scientific evidence shows that even low doses of ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays and X-rays, are likely to pose some risk of adverse health effects..." Yet at this very moment, doctors all over the country are ordering x-rays, CT scans and PET scans for their patients. Radiation indeed seems to be wacky.
Just about everything gives off radiation, even people. Radiation comes from sun, and from rocks; it comes from nuclear bombs and nuclear power plants, as well as X-ray machines, CT Scanners, smoke detectors and a whole bunch of other things. Exposure to too much radiation can damage certain types of cells in our bodies. What's more, the effects of radiation exposure can be cumulative- the more exposure you receive, the more likely the possibility of developing health problems.
X-rays have been used by doctors for many years. They allow medical professionals to see things in our body with a degree of certainty that they would otherwise only guess at. Millions of lives have been saved or improved by the use of radiation in medicine; from destroying cancerous tumors, diagnosing hidden aneurisms, identifying broken bones and improving the quality of your visits to the dentist.
For a long time, our only data on how harmful radiation is came from the survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Japanese cities that were leveled at the end of World War II by two American nuclear devices. It's only been in the last few years that researchers have had more data to work with, and consequently, have developed more accurate models of just how damaging radiation can be.
One
of the problems that has arisen in recent years is the over-use of full body CT scans: A type of x-ray that can literally see inside your entire body in such detail that it can show trained technicians and doctors tiny tumors, calcium buildup in the arteries of the heart, and other anomalies. This science provides doctors with a tremendous advantage in diagnosing patient problems However, it does have its consequences- one of which is a significant dose of radiation. According to recent research, even a single full body CT scan can generate as much as 250 times more radiation than a traditional x-ray.
This means that we'd better start keeping track of our own radiation exposure. It means that when you're directed by your physician to get a scan, be sure to mention how many other scans you've already received, and ask if this is one is really necessary. Weigh the risks and act accordingly.
Over a period of time, a person could be exposed to a considerable amount of radiation. Recently, the Institute for Environmental Health Sciences included x-radiation and gamma radiation to its list of known carcinogens, because "human studies have shown that radiation causes many types of cancer including leukemia, cancer of the thyroid, breast and lung."
So while you should follow your doctor's advice to get scanned when he/she deems it prudent, you may also want to forgo that so-called preventive CT scan because there is a very real possibility that over time, you will increase your chances of developing cancer - one of the very outcomes you were trying to avoid in the first place.
About the Author
Gary Bryant, a consumer health advocate, is the executive producer of the award winning web resource, BreakThroughDigest.com. He is also the author of Searching The Web for Health, A Guide to Reliable Medical Informat
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