[Sustain] Articles: Cell Phone Health Hazards & CT Scan Dangers

[Eric Brooks]

GQ - Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health

To flip pages in this article you have to enter the next number in the 
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http://www.gq.com/cars-gear/gear-and-gadgets/201002/warning-cell-phone-radiation

and

15,000 will die from CT scans done in 1 year
Scans have higher levels of radiation than thought, researchers say

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34420356/ns/health-cancehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/us/16radiation.html

updated 2:14 p.m. PT, Mon., Dec . 14, 2009

CHICAGO - Radiation from CT scans done in 2007 will cause 29,000 cancers 
and kill nearly 15,000 Americans, researchers said Monday.

The findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, add to 
mounting evidence that Americans are overexposed to radiation from 
diagnostic tests, especially from a specialized kind of X-ray called a 
computed tomography, or CT, scan.

"What we learned is there is a significant amount of radiation with 
these CT scans, more than what we thought, and there is a significant 
number of cancers," said Dr. Rita Redberg, editor of the Archives of 
Internal Medicine, where the studies were published.
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"It's estimated that just from the CT scans done in one year, just in 
2007, there will be 15,000 excess deaths," Redberg said in a telephone 
interview.

"We're doing millions of CT scans every year and the numbers are 
increasing. That is a lot of excess deaths."

CT scans give doctors a view inside the body, often eliminating the need 
for exploratory surgery. But CT scans involve much higher radiation dose 
than conventional X-rays. A chest CT scan exposes the patient to more 
than 100 times the radiation dose of a chest X-ray.

70 million scans done in 2007
About 70 million CT scans were done on Americans in 2007, up from 3 
million in 1980. Amy Berrington de Gonzalez of the National Cancer 
Institute and colleagues developed a computer model to estimate the 
impact of so many scans.

    Video
   Doctor: Radiation danger from CT scans 'serious'
Dec. 14: Dr. Rita Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of 
California at San Francisco and the editor of the Archives of Internal 
Medicine, says commonly performed CT scans are exposing patients to more 
radiation than previously thought.

Nightly News
They estimated the scans done in 2007 will cause 29,000 cancers. A third 
of the projected cancers will occur in people who were ages 35 to 54 
when they got their CT, two-thirds will occur in women and 15 percent 
will arise from scans done in children or teens.

The researchers estimated there will be an extra 2,000 excess breast 
cancers just from CT scans done in 2007.

Redberg, who wrote a commentary on the studies, said U.S. doctors' 
enthusiasm for the tests has led to an explosion in their use that is 
putting patients at risk.

"While certainly some of the scans are incredibly important and life 
saving, it is also certain that some of them were not necessary," 
Redberg said.

In a separate study, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman of the University of 
California, San Francisco, and colleagues analyzed data from 1,119 
patients undergoing the 11 most common types of diagnostic CT scans at 
four institutions in 2008.

They found radiation dosage varied widely between different types of CT 
studies, from a median or midpoint of 2 millisieverts for a routine head 
CT scan to 31 millisieverts for a scan of the abdomen and pelvis, which 
often involves taking multiple images of the same organ.

By comparison, the average American is exposed to about 3 millisieverts 
of radiation a year from ground radon or flying in an airplane — a level 
not considered a risk to health.

The researchers said efforts need to be taken to minimize CT radiation 
exposure, including reducing the number of unnecessary tests, cutting 
the dose per study, and standardizing the doses across facilities.

Imaging equipment makers such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips and 
Toshiba Medical Systems are working to develop low-dose CT scanners.

   Understanding different types of scans

CT scan
Computed tomography (CT) scans use X-rays and computers to produce 
images of a cross-section of the body. Some patients are required to 
drink a contrast liquid before the scan or have it injected into a vein 
to help emphasize blood vessels, bowels or other structures. Patients 
lie still on a table as the donut-shaped X-ray tube rotates around them, 
sending doses of radiation through them at various angles. Most CT scans 
take just a few minutes. CT scans generally provide good detail about 
bony structures.

MRI scan
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a magnetic field and radio waves 
to create detailed images of the organs and tissues within the body. 
Most MRI machines are large, tube-shaped magnets. The machine looks like 
a tunnel that has both ends open. Patients must lie very still during 
the scan, which can take about an hour. Inside the machine, patients 
hear repetitive tapping and thumping sounds made by the internal part of 
the magnet. During the scan, the magnetic field temporarily aligns the 
water molecules in the patient's body and radio waves cause them to 
produce faint signals that create cross sectional images that can be 
combined to produce a 3-D image.

PET scan
A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test designed to 
show how a patient's tissues and organs are functioning. Patients 
inhale, swallow or receive an injection of a small amount of radioactive 
material, which usually accumulates in areas that have the highest 
chemical activity, often corresponding to areas of disease. PET scans 
can help evaluate heart disease, cancer and neurological problems. 
During the test, patients lie on a narrow table that slides into the 
opening of the PET scanner, which is similar to a CT machine. Patients 
must remain very still during the 30 minutes it often takes to complete 
the scan to prevent images from being blurred. Unlike a CT or MRI scan, 
a PET scan reveals cellular-level metabolic changes in an organ or tissue.

X-ray
A conventional X-ray exam uses electromagnetic radiation to make 
specific images of a patient's bones, teeth and internal organs. X-rays 
are used to assess conditions ranging from broken bones to pneumonia to 
cancer.
Source: Mayoclinic.com, Clevelandclinic.org
Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.