A new shocking study suggests that a routine diagnostic procedure that is carried out millions of times annually in the US could cause more than 100,000 new cases of cancer annually, with almost 10,000 cases in children.
A new research carried out by the Cancer Research Institute in London indicates that computerized tomography (CT) scans, which are ironically used to detect a wide variety of problems, including cancer, could represent 5% of cancer cases.
This would place the risk caused by computerized tomography cancer at approximately the same level as alcohol.
The researchers pointed out that their findings hide in the United Kingdom, which has one of the lowest computed tomographs in the developed world thanks to its strict policy of only allowing the procedure when it is necessary clinic.
The United States, on the other hand, is a completely different story.
It is estimated that 93 million computed tomographs were made in the US. In 2023, compared to only 3 million in 1980.
The study co -author Amy Berrington, leader of the Epidemiology Group of Clinical Cancer in the ICR, and her team calculated that these computerized tomographs could lead to 9,700 cases of cancer in American children.
As such, researchers emphasize the importance of anxing unnecessary scanning and guaranteeing appropriate doses, especially risk is higher in younger patients.
“While computerized tomography scans are immensely beneficial to diagnose and detect many conditions, including cancer, involve exposure to ionizing radiation that has shown that there is to increase the risk of developing cancer,” Berrington said in a press release.
“It is important to keep in mind that for the individual patient, this short -lived risk is small and the benefits far exceed the risks if the scan is clinically justified. But when millions of computerized tomographies are carried out throughout the population, those little ones.”
Researchers also advise medical professionals who remain attentive to potential risks and discourage healthy people to undergo full body explorations sacrificed by private clinics.
“We urge the doctor to make sure the scanning are only done when necessary, and that the doses are appropriate for the patient,” said Berrington.
“In the USA, Cancers related to TC could now explain 5% of all types of cancer of these cans could be avoided by avorating unnecessary scanns and ensuring that correct doses are used.”
How much radiation do you get from computerized tomography? Varies
Last month, researchers are alarm that the radiation doses of computerized tomographs vary widely among clinics, with little supervision, which leads to increases in cancer risk.
“Many patients still routinely receive radiation doses two or three times for what they should go,” Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a professor at the University of California Faculty, San Francisco, told NBC. “We continue to do more and more CTS, and the doses continue to rise.
“It’s unfathomable,” he added.
Smith-Bindman said that the radiation dose that a patient receives from one machine could be 10 or 15 times more than another.
In 2009, she and other researchers estimated that radiation is the fault of 2% of cancers.
It has also been shown that obtaining multiple computerized tomographs increases the risk of cancer. In a 2009 study, scientists found that the risk of life cancer for people who undergo a computerized tomography is only 0.7% higher than 45% of the general population, but they have multiple scanning, and probabilities shoot up to 12% to 12% more.
Another study determined that people who undergo a computerized tomography before the age of 22 have a significantly higher risk of developing blood cancers, while repeated head CTs have been left at greater cerebral tumor risk.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services implemented new rules in January to demand stricter evaluations of the computed tomography doses, among other measures.