X-rays and CT scans expose some Americans to radiation
levels comparable to working in a nuclear power plant. Are such
scans worth it?
Reza Fazel of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and
colleagues looked at health insurance records for over 650,000
people who had at least one imaging procedure in a three-year
period. Most received low doses of radiation, but around 2 per cent
got doses equal to or above the suggested yearly exposure for
someone working in a nuclear power plant (The New England Journal
of Medicine, vol 361, p 849). Fazel says further studies are needed
to work out if such medical scans benefit or damage health
overall.
Some patients got doses above the suggested levels for someone
working in a nuclear power plant
Commenting on the research, radiologist James Thrall at Harvard
Medical School points to a recent study reporting that medical
imaging accounted for a one-year rise in life expectancy in the US
between 1991 and 2004.
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