All concepts, explanations, trials, and studies have been
re-written in plain English and may contain errors. I am
not a doctor
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CT scans and Cancer Risk
by Adriane Fugh-Berman.

10/18/2006 - CT scans are done more than 150,000 times a
day in the United States. Ct scans use multiple x-rays to create
3-D images that are useful for diagnosing illnesses, but they
also expose people to far more radiation than conventional
x-rays.
	In fact, one CT scan exposes a patient to the
lower range of radiation received by some Nagasaki
bomb survivors. Up to one in a thousand patients will develop
cancer from this exposure. Sixty million CT scans a year will
thus cause cancer in thousands of people.
	Yet most consent forms are silent about this. The
cancer-causing effects of CT scans are routinely discussed in
the medical literature, and some researchers worry about long-
term effects. Others pooh-pooh the risk, arguing that the
benefits are worth it.
	Yet the actual patients having CT scans are not
informed. Instead they are informed of the much rarer risks of
complications from iodine dye. Serious allergic reactions are
dramatic but most people survive even severe allergic reactions,
especially when they happen in a medical center.
	Cancers may take decades to show up, but can be
devastating. Some researchers suggest that since the background
risk of getting a fatal cancer is one in five, what's the harm in a
little more risk? However, the concern is not just that risk of
cancer increases but that it will happen earlier if it happens.
	Silence on medical radiation risk is not a
conspiracy of doctors - they mostly don't even know about the
problem. One survey found that less than half of radiologists,
and less than 1/10th of emergency room doctors realize that
CT scans increase the lifetime risk of cancer.
	Doctors may not realize that risk versus benefit
works better with diseases than with testing to get a diagnosis.
Imaging is only part of making a diagnosis, which is only the
first step toward deciding treatments.
	These risks should be mentioned to patients. Often
they can be avoided or reduced. In many cases, CT scans can
be replaced with MRI or ultrasound (echo), which do not
expose patients to harmful radiation.
	One reason for CT scans is the high number of CT
scanners. Once purchased, they bring in more money, the more
often they are used.
	Necessary CT scans can be made safer by protecting
non-target areas of the body. Protective garments and shields
that reduce radiation to the most sensitive tissues (like breasts,
eyes, and thyroid glands) are commercially available but little
used.

Source: Medscape.
Source: The Hastings Center Report.