Friday, April 23, 2010

Radiation from "safe" CT scans causes 29,000 cancers a year, kills 14,500 Americans

I just had a CT scan earlier this year, after first being run through the medical ringer by a series of doctors and specialists who told me I could have a serious condition that might need “early detection.”

Before the scan I specifically asked my doctor, as well as the CT technician, whether there was any danger of radiation induced cancers. They both told me the risk was so negligible as to be non-existent. The scan was "perfectly safe" I was told.

Do you think I’d have had the CT scan if I’d known 29,000 people a year end up with cancer from them, and half of them die? Need I answer that question?

Of course, the scan found nothing. So it was a complete waste of time and money, and now I learn it posed a huge risk to my health, as well.

Of course, everyone got their money. So all’s well, right? After all, that’s what it’s all about. The money.

I later solved my problem on my own by throwing away all of the drugs the doctors had given me, and taking a daily Saw Palmetto capsule instead. Took about three days and I was pretty much back to normal.

Getting older sometimes isn’t very much fun, because of the way the human body has a tendency to function less efficiently. But learning how the medical profession takes advantage of this pesky little fact of life in order to enrich themselves really gets my goat.

Is it any wonder there’s a constantly growing mistrust – even disdain -- of doctors and the medical profession in general these days?

-- Steve

Radiation from "safe" CT scans causes 29,000 cancers a year, kills 14,500 Americans
http://www.naturalnews.com/028621_CT_scans_cancer.html

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Computerized tomography (CT) medical scans cause at least 29,000 cases of cancer and 14,500 deaths in the United States every year, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Shocking as this figure is, a second study published in the same issue and conducted by researchers from the University of California-San Francisco suggests that the reality may actually be much worse.

CT scans are diagnostic tests in which radiation is used to take a cross-sectional picture of a patient's organs. They have become far more common in the United States over the past 30 years, increasing in frequency from 3 million per year in 1980 to the current rate of 70 million per year.

In the first study, researchers from the National Cancer Institute used current estimates of CT scan radiation exposure to calculate the cancer risk produced by the procedure. They found that at current rates of use, the scans kill nearly 15,000 people a year, and cause twice as many cases of cancer. The risks vary by age, with younger patients at much higher risk because they have more time in which a cancer can develop.

The researchers estimated that a three-year-old female receiving an abdominal CT scan has a one in 500 risk of developing cancer as a direct result. The risk decreases to one in 1,000 by age 30 and three in 10,000 by age 70.

The University of California study suggests that these numbers are actually far too low, however. Current estimates of how much radiation exposure a patient receives from a given CT scan are based on old studies that scanned inanimate objects equipped with sensors. The new study actually measured the radiation dose received by 1,119 patients undergoing CT scans at four different hospitals in the San Francisco area.

The researchers found that actual radiation exposure was anywhere from four to 13 times higher than prior studies had suggested.

Rosaleen Parsons of the Fox-Chase Cancer Center suggests that patients keep their medical records to avoid unnecessary repetition of tests, and ask their doctors about alternatives to radiation-based scans.

Sources for this story include: www.usatoday.com; online.wsj.com.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Steve. I have done some reaserch on how to eliminate radiation from the body and i found out that the Japanese after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Nuclear bombing took ALOE ARBORESCENS which contains the 23 AMINO ACIDS.Therefore they were very less effected by the Radiation problem caused by Nuclear damige. infact photos of the period show that people had a plant of ALOE ARBORESCENS outside their windows. Can this be true? and if sow people could take ALOE after they had a CT SCAN to lower their radiation levels so to NOT DAMIGE THE DNA.we all know that damiged DNA may leed to CANCER . thank you. ciao raffaello

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  2. Good points, Raffaello! What's funny is that shortly after having the CT Scan done, I actually started drinking aloe vera juice! I hadn't seen any of the research you are talking about, but something just kept nagging at me to start taking aloe vera juice, so I went and purchased some and have been taking it ever since. Now I know why. I love how God works! Thanks much for your comment.

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  3. Hello, I am really afraid. My Doctor wants me to have a CT-Scan. I have minor lower ab. pain due to a what my orthopedic surgeon had told me was due to a low back injury I had a few months ago. However, i just had another urine and blood test which indicates CPR is HIGH @ 1.70. And my Sed Rate is 2.? Whatever any of this means? Can someone help me. The other problem I have is that I just had another CT Scan 5 years ago. I am wondering how safe it would be to do it again, 5 years later? I am of course aware of the dangers of intense radiation from these machines. Any ones help on alternatives or advice would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you
    Dirk

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  4. I just had an uneccessary CT brain scan after having a concussion. They did not know if it was minor or major. I requested an MRI instead and they would not. Well I was dehydrated, on an IV with crazy vitals, couldn't barely move without puking more bile so I couldn't really get up and walk to a different hospital to request an MRI. Of course we needed to know whether I had bleeding anywhere in my brain so since they refused to do MRI, I had to let them do CT scan -which found NO bleeding or probs at all -it was only a mild concussion. Glad I didn't have something serious, but sad that my body was violated in such a way as to irradiate my brain. Please let me know if you or anyone finds out anything other than Aloe juice for me to take. Also which type of Aloe is best, which brand etc?
    Thanks

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  5. The nutritional supplement Vinpocetine increases blood flow to the brain, increases oxygen to the brain, reduces swelling, heals damaged brain cells, protects the brain from free radical damage, promotes ATP production (cellular energy production) in the brain and more. It is not specifically a radiation treatment. But it does have many amazing benefits for the brain. See http://thesilveredge.com/nsupplements.shtml#vin

    Also, the immune-boosting supplement beta-glucan has some radiation-protective benefits. You can learn more about that here: www.NSC24.com

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  6. Can anyone tell me where to look up or some who can tell me what 6 to 7 Cat scans in 6 months can do to a 51 yr old, these were abdominal CTs, I had Diverticulitis and had Colectomy with a few complications?

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  7. Have had my last CAT scan in Feb 2011 and have another booked for April 2011, due to two small polyps showing on liver, one has grown a small amount since a CAT scan in 2008, after having an operation for bowel cancer (all very successfull) I am now concerned about radiation and scans, so will be going shopping for some Alo juice. many thanks for advice Kaz

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