It is one of the ironies of medicine that radiation, as in x-rays, CT scans, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine can cause cancer yet can be used to detect and treat cancer. Perhaps because of this irony, most of us know very little about radiation dangers. Often we simply trust our doctors and care-givers to do what is right. In the majority of cases this mutual trust system works well. But what happens when the system fails?
The Dangers of Medical Radiation by Olive Peart
It is one of the ironies of medicine that radiation, as in x-rays, CT scans, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine can cause cancer yet can be used to detect and treat cancer. Perhaps because of this irony, most of us know very little about radiation dangers. Often we simply trust our doctors and care-givers to do what is right. In the majority of cases this mutual trust system works well.
But what happens when the system fails?
A recent study suggests that 15,000 people are projected to die within the coming years from the radiation they received from x-ray procedures!
How can we protect ourselves?
Last year 3000 patients were treated for serious radiation burns at a wound care facility.
Read how to protect yourself from medical radiation!
Excerpt
A recent study suggests that 15,000 people are projected to die within the coming years from the radiation they received from x-ray procedures!
There have been reports of patients experiencing acute radiation effects including reddening of the skin, hair loss or cataract formation, all resulting from the over use of medical radiation.
The amount of radiation patients are exposed to have dramatically increased over the past 20 years. A new study by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) concluded that Americans were exposed to seven times more radiation from medical procedures in 2006 than in 1980s.
Organ and tissue damage from radiation, and radiation-induced cancer, may take years even decades to manifest. It is therefore seldom that a radiation mistake will result in a law suit. Yet, in 2009 the nation’s largest wound care company treated 3000 patients with serious radiation burns. Many required hyperbaric oxygen chambers to promote healing.
The problem is that in many states the people who operate radiation producing equipment do not need a license. That means the person taking your x-ray, CT scan (CAT scan), nuclear medicine scan or giving your radiation therapy has little or no training. Even worse, often the doctor or physician is unaware of the dangers of radiation and the medical physicist, who is responsible for calibrating the radiation emitting equipment, has no license and no certification.
Many states do not require the reporting of errors and even if an error is reported the penalty is nonexistent or not enforced. The American College of Radiology notes that only about 20 percent of radiotherapy units in the country are accredited.
We worry about radiation at airports. We worry about power lines and cell phones yet we are willing to tolerate the massive doses of radiation given to us by health care providers. Americans are getting the most medical radiation in the world. The US accounts for half of the most advance procedures that use radiation and the average radiation dose to individual in US has grown six fold over the last few decades. A reports documents a New Hampshire teen who was about to get a CT scan to check for kidney stones. Fortunately the radiologist discovered the child had already had 14 CT scans for previous checks of kidney stones. This child is now a cancer risk! It’s hard for us to conceive of the danger of something we cannot see, feel or hear. But the effects are real unfortunately sometimes not showing up for years. Radiation dose never goes away. The effect simply accumulates in your body.
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