Is That Scan Or X-ray Really Worth It?

The medical worlds own admission speaks better than I can! It's important to understand that many medical procedures are not an exact science, and this includes CT scans, which is touted as the ultimate word.

To establish the necessity of a heart scan Hopkins researchers reviewed 18-months of medical records for 2,000 subjects. Half of the group received a CT scan, while the other half received a standard checkup.

Subjects in the CT scan group were given more heart procedures, more follow-up tests, and more medications (primarily statins and aspirin) than subjects who didn't get scanned.

And what was the benefit of all that extra treatment?

Nothing but side effect dangers from the medications!

Rates of heart attacks, heart disease deaths and other cardiac events were the same in both groups.

Lead researcher, Dr. John W. McEvoy, told the Chicago Sun Times that CT testing in patients with low or intermediate risk of atherosclerosis doesn't appear to be useful, especially when excessive radiation exposure,unnecessary follow-up procedures, and drugs with unhealthy side effects become part of the package.

Chest X-rays and Lung Cancer

A study done of 264 lung cancer patients it was found that 25% of lung cancer patients had negative chest x-rays within the prior year to be diagnosed. Is that
good? Not if you are the lung cancer patient.

CT Cancer Detecting Seriously Flawed

In the case of CT scans for lung cancer, this new study showed that radiologists reviewing images of the same patient taken just minutes apart found substantial
"changes" in the tumors, in some cases noting they had gotten up to 31 percent bigger or 23 percent smaller.

Yes, that is minutes apart showing changes and doctor’s make life altering changes in treatment based on those flawed scans! How is that for inconsistent? As the study's lead author pointed out in
Reuters,
changes of up to 10 percent can happen simply because of expected variations in the imaging tests, which is a large discrepancy considering many oncologists rely on these tests to make treatment decisions. Further, what this means is that lung
cancer patients may be exposing themselves to the risks of the CT scan for nothing, as if the test result is unreliable, indicating a tumor has grown when it really has not, or vice versa, the test was a waste.
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Becoming aware of the risks of medical scans is part of becoming a smart consumer and knowing your health care options. With that in mind, the
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter offers some good suggestions for questions you should ask
before undergoing a CT scan!

There are dangers in testing, so think twice before undergoing
any scan or x-ray!http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

© by Lena Sanchez

** Author Lena Sanchez, a retired Medical Office Nurse
and Medical Office Consultant, took charge of her life
in 1992 found healthy drug-free alternatives and pain
relief from a multitude of health issues. Now committed
to helping others do the same by educating on actually
treating illness and disease rather than masking symptoms.
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