Many doctors are clueless about radiation risks from scans
When it comes to CT scans, most mainstream docs have itchy trigger fingers.
They’ll order one up for just about anything.
But how much does the mainstream really understand about all the risks and radiation they’re exposing you to?
A new study on mainstream doctors and radiologists… the same people behind the CT scan craze… has yielded some shocking results.
And it’s proven just how important it is to ask three crucial questions before you or anyone you love agrees to a scan.
Around 29,000 Americans develop cancers that can be traced back to CT scans every single year.
But that doesn’t seem to be slowing the mainstream one bit. In 1980 around 3 million scans were done a year — now, we’re up to over 80 million!
And recent research has found that around a third of them are done for no good reason at all.
So why would the mainstream put us through the risks of CT scans — over and over again — for little or no benefit?
Well, you can bet money is a big part of the equation. But researchers from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada have stumbled upon another big issue.
It turns out that some mainstream docs aren’t as educated about the dangers of CT scans as we’d like to think.
A research team surveyed health providers, and found they were consistently uninformed about how much radiation you’re getting from a CT scan.
In fact, they were badly underestimating the total amount.
That’s bad enough — but, unfortunately, the misinformation didn’t stop there.
Many of the docs, radiologists, and imaging technicians surveyed mistakenly thought that safer scans — like MRIs and ultrasounds — deliver ionizing radiation, even though they don’t.
Amazingly, a full 20 percent of the participating physicians, as well as 6 percent of the radiologists, and 7 percent of technicians surveyed mistakenly believed MRIs caused patients to be exposed to radiation.
In addition, 11 percent of the doctors and 7 percent of techs were under the impression that ultrasounds were a source of radiation.
The lead author of the study, Dr. David Leswick, called the results “troubling” — and you can say that again.
The fact that some of the very people ordering CT scans don’t realize how dangerous they are — or that there are safer alternatives — is an outrage. It’s practically criminal.
Along with CT scans, we can also get doses of radiation from PET scans and, of course, X-rays, (which include mammograms and dental X-rays). Dr. Marvin Lipman, the Consumer Reports’ chief medical advisor says that while the risk from a single scan is small, “the effect of radiation is cumulative,” the more you get, the higher your cancer risk.
So the next time your doctor says a CT scan (or other radiation imaging) is needed, here are three important questions you need to ask:
#1: Is the test is really necessary? I know, that may sound crazy but remember that experts found a third of them aren’t needed. If he’s just playing it safe, remind him that sometimes the safer alternative is no scan at all.
#2: Can an MRI or ultrasound be substituted for a CT scan?
#3: Are you getting the lowest effective CT scan dose? If your doc or radiologist don’t know, make sure they find out. The amount of radiation from a CT scan can vary quite a bit, and that’s even at the same hospital and for the same medical reason. A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics found that avoiding the highest doses could cut radiation-related cancers by 50 percent.
Sources:
“Health-care providers do not fully understand cancer risk from CT scans” Elsevier Health Sciences, June 23, 2016, ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com
