Radidation Roulette
Last night, I watched a documentary on the Passionate Eye called Radiation Roulette. It was about all of the radiation to which our bodies are constantly subject from both natural and human-made sources, and the subsequent links to cancer. I was quite shocked to learn that in a CT scan, your body is exposed to the equivalent amount of radiation as if you had about 275 X-Rays. I've had a CT scan, and no one at the hospital deemed it necessary to share this information with me. In fact, Radiation Roulette revealed that most doctors (GP's) know very little about radiation itself and the amount of radiation received from various tests. A survey was given to doctors to test their knowledge, and some questions had as high as a 97% failure rate. On average, the doctors' estimates of levels of radiation from various tests were 1/6 of what they actually are. One of the radiation experts (his name escapes me at the moment) suggested that women avoid mammograms due to the exposure to radiation — apparently, the breast is quite sensitive to radiation. Instead, he suggested that self-examinations be learned and regularly administered. Now, I'm not saying you should never have an X-Ray, CT scan, or mammogram, but I think everyone should be doing their due diligence before undergoing any tests involving exposure to radiation, especially elective ones.
Posted at 09:39
