According to a recent New York Times article, two new studies reveal that more doctor's need to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of exposing their patients to radiation. The two studies were published Tuesday in the journal Radiology. One study found that "certain nuclear-based breast imaging exams that involve injecting radioactive material into patients expose woman to far higher doses of radiation than regular mammography, increasing their risk of cancer in vulnerable organs beyond the breast, like kidneys, bladder or ovaries." Furthermore, the United States population's annual radiation dose from medical procedures has significantly increased between 1980 and 2006.
For some doctors, its regular practice to consult a radiation chart that lists the amount of radiation exposure that results from certain tests before ordering a diagnostic test that involved radiation. Doctors then consider the individual patient's total past exposure, and weights the risks and benefits of each test and any alternative approaches to radiation exposure.
Researchers found that "digital mammography has an average lifetime risk of inducing 1.3 fatal breast cancers in 100,000 woman aged 40 at exposure, a single breast-specific gamma imaging (B.S.G.I) exam was estimated to involve a lifetime risk 20 to 30 times greater in woman aged 40, and the lifetime risk of a single positron emission mammography (P.E.M) was 23 times greater." Additionally, the study found that mammography only increases a woman's risk for breast cancer while B.S.G.I and P.E.M exams increase the risk of cancer in other organs, such as intestines, kidneys, bladder, gallbladder, uterus, ovaries and colon.
Some experts are concerned that the use of imaging technologies will become more widespread and casual, ultimately, placing patients at risk for over exposure to radiation and risk for cancer.
Source: New York Times "Radiation, Risks Are Focus of Breast Screening Studies" 08/24/2010
