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CT SCANS
I just read that CT scans are harmful to your body. This article scares me because I have had a number of CT scans since I’ve had part of lobe taken out for cancer.
Research published in JAMA Internal Medicine (April 14, 2025) projected the number of future cancers due to radiation exposure from computed tomography (CT) examinations. The investigators used data from the University of California San Francisco International CT Dose Registry and modeled the effects of the radiation.
They estimated that approximately 103,000 cancers are likely to result from the 93 million scans conducted in 2023 on 60 million people. The risks are highest in children and adolescents, but many more adults undergo CT scans.
The scientists conclude that:
“CT is frequently lifesaving, yet its potential harms are often overlooked, and even very small cancer risks will lead to a significant number of future cancers given the tremendous volume of CT use in the United States.”
“In this study, approximately 5% of annual cancer diagnoses or 100 000 cancers were projected to result from CT utilization in 2023. Despite public attention to the potential adverse effects, CT use has grown significantly in the United States since 2009. In 2023, 93 million CT examinations were performed in the United States; in 2007, the number was 68.7 million—a 35% increase incompletely explained by population growth. Justification of use and optimization of dose, including consideration of the need for multiphase examinations, are the tenets of CT imaging and must be applied uncompromisingly to mitigate potential harm.”
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The odds are certainly extremely low for you to suffer an ill effect.
Many of the scans are done to reassure patients they have received
the best diagnostic tests. There are often incidental findings leading to further
unnecessary tests. Physicians are under pressure to avoid missing diagnoses
and suffering the wrath of malpractice lawyers. I will be having my fourth in July hoping for a negative.
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3 ReactionsThank you for your reply, starting to feel a little better.
they usually list the radiation dose in a file on the CD.
I also read somewhere, that the risk can/will be reduced with new technology,
so ask for it and compare
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2 ReactionsMy friend is a radiologist I was worried about it being harmful he told me that years ago it took 30 minutes to do a brain scan but today it takes just a few minutes a lot less exposer and they are coming up with help on radiation exposer about every day
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2 ReactionsThanks for your reply.
Ask your doctor if you can switch to a low dose CT.
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1 ReactionI believe that they use low dose ct for routine maintenance but sometimes they have to use the ct more when needed for further investigation. It’s definitely not a perfect system but the government is not going to use the MRI to replace the ct, apparently it’s too expensive for them to do so. I always worried about the radiation exposure when I go for routine tests but I do it because the alternative is not an option when looking for changes inside. I hope that they will find something better for us to keep safe without fear of radiation exposure.
You’re so right. I guess we really don’t have a choice.
the choice is, which CT to use, where to travel. Some have less radiation than others.
They are even photon-counting low dose high resolution CTs now,
I saw it in the German news (2021,bronchiectasis-related), presumably because a German company is involved.
It may be expensive and still rare,
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1 Reactionsearching a bit more ...
there were 20 worldwide in early 2022, one near to me in Hannover
million scans 2021-2024
180 worldwide 60 in North America in 2024
in 10y photon counting will dominate CT
I thought I saw it first in connection with bronchiectasis (BE)
but can't find that now .
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