Unnecessary Radiation

Just quickly browsing the paper this morning, I noted three persons of some notoriety that had died of cancer. The World Health Organization or WHO recently stated that over 7 million people died of cancer in 2005 and that by 2015 84 million people would die from the disease (of which there are many types).

The leading causes of cancer are not genetic, but environmentally related. Cancer, the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells, is often triggered by an exposure (external, internal, involuntary and voluntary). The biggest risk is, of course, tobacco use or second hand smoke inhalation (1.5 million of the above total was attributed to tobacco use). Probably the second biggest is inactivity and diet. Other exposures can include chemicals in the air or in our homes, the sun and tanning beds. But one that we may not think about and should is our exposure to radiation in routine X-rays and CT scans.

Not all illnesses or injuries present symptoms at the time of onset. You may feel the effects of food poisoning within hours of eating the bad food, or a burn from the stove within seconds, but not realize that the time you just spent in the sun has caused DNA damage to your skin. This delayed response is a big concern for smoking related cancers and today’s topic – cancer related to radiation through medical tests.

People are exposed to more radiation from CTs then from X-Rays. Either way, these are not meant to be used as every day diagnostic tools. In some instances, for example heart disease risk and lung cancer screens, the CTs may be more risky than they are effective in ruling out a problem. I tell you this because these scans may be marketed as preventative but could actually put you at risk for the condition you are trying to avoid. It is far better to avoid tobacco, inactivity, unprotected sun exposure, radon, asbestos, and saturated fats, to name a few, then to rely on a test to tell you that you ALREADY have the disease.
And because the damage from any of the above is cumulative, beginning exposure in childhood significantly increases the chance of cancer. Because CTs are now common place, this could especially increase cancer cases from radiation in our children, when they are older.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr06/en/