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A lot of
comments about CAT scans
There is
a good deal of hysteria about low levels of radiation.
Back in the 1950s anything to do with nuclear physics
was held in high regard - the atom bomb had just won us
the war.
In the
1960s and 70s there was a reaction against this hubris
when the dangers of radiation became apparent and
everyone withdrew with shock and horror.
Three
Mile Island, Windscale and Chernobyl really frightened
people.
Ever
since that time there has been a small industry damning
everything to do with radiation. Irradiated food was
withdrawn from Supermarket shelves in Britain because
people were terrified of the word 'radiation', even
though the food was not radioactive and the process
protected against food poisoning. In a hilarious clip a
TV news program showed a young woman puffing at a
cigarette while swearing that she would never feed her
child irradiated food. People generally have no idea of
how to assess risk. If they did no-one would by a
lottery ticket.
Are we
right to be scared of CAT scans? There is no doubt that
the X-irradiation involved is a lot more than you get
from a chest X-ray. However, used sensibly the benefit
of a CAT scan far outweighs the risk. It is not
practical to substitute an MRI scan for CAT scans. The
image is not so good and they are complementary not
competing techniques. Also while a CAT scan takes just a
few minutes, MRI takes 45 claustrophobic minutes.
We should
never take unnecessary X-rays of any kind, and I do not
approve af a CAT scan as a screening process, but when
it is necessary, don't deny yourself the benefit.
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