Cancer risk from repeated radiation exposure could outweigh the benefits
Bolaleman
patients to “worrisome” amounts of cancer-causing radiation, according
to research1 published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Imaging tests like X-rays and Computerised Tomography (CT) scans are
used to diagnose or screen for several conditions including lung
disease and brain injury. But they involve exposure to doses of
radiation that carry a small risk of cancer. These doses are
cumulative, and each time a person is exposed the amount of radiation
is added to that of any previous exposures. So the hazards of medical
imaging accrue over a person’s lifetime.
Although medical staff are routinely monitored for radiation exposure,
their patients are not. In a new study, medical researchers led by
Reza Fazel, of the Emory University School of Medicine in Georgia, USA
studied healthcare records to calculate, over a three-year period, the
cumulative radiation dose from medical imaging for nearly one million
Americans.
They found almost 70% of this population had been exposed to radiation
from medical imaging. The majority were exposed to low doses of
radiation, but many had undergone multiple imaging tests, and “doses
of moderate, high, and very high intensity were observed in a sizeable
minority [of people]”.
Some imaging tests involving radiation exposure may have little
benefit and are often requested without medics fully considering the
risks, suggests Michael Lauer, director of the National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute Divisions of Prevention and Population Sciences at
the National Institutes of Health, in an accompanying editorial2.
Most doctors know that exposure to radiation can cause cancer, but
believe that the potential benefits of imaging outweigh the risks even
when patients have multiple tests. Cancers caused by radiation appear
many years after exposure, so this risk is not at the forefront of
doctors’ minds when they send their patients for tests.
But Lauer argues that doctors should be more aware that the burgeoning
use of imaging could be associated with an increasing risk of cancer.
The use of CT scans has quadrupled since 1992, he writes, and
“physicians are referring their patients for so many imaging tests
that as many as 2% of cancers may be attributable to radiation
exposure during CT scanning”.
There is not enough evidence to show that scans are beneficial, adds
Lauer. “Most radiographic imaging tests offer net negative results” he
explains. “There is little high-level evidence of benefit, whereas
cumulative radiation exposure can produce real harm.” He concludes by
calling for studies to provide stronger evidence that the benefits
gained from imaging procedures justify the known risk of harm from
radiation.
Source: http://www.eht-forum.org/news.html?fileId=news090827064718&from=home&id=0
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