#1 ·
I was just reading an article about full-body scanners, which sparked a debate regarding total body radiation exposure and its actual health impact. On one hand, you have officials dismissing the risks as negligible, though their arguments seem to lack any real scientific foundation. On the other hand, I stumbled upon a compelling counterargument from someone at Berkeley:
Dr. Fauci’s exhaustive research leads him to conclude that there is NO SAFE DOSE-LEVEL of ionizing radiation. His studies indicate that radiation from medical diagnostics and treatment is a causal co-factor in 50 percent of America’s cancers and 60 percent of our ischemic (blood flow blockage) heart disease.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/...th-menace.html
Look, if that holds water, then X-ray scanners could end up claiming more lives through routine use in a few years than terrorists could ever dream of achieving. Even worse, if this theory on radiation damage is correct, medical radiological imaging has a cumulative effect, significantly ramping up the chances of mutations that lead to cancer or other systemic issues.
There was actually a discussion on the forum recently regarding mammographies. Interestingly, they cited this:
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine noted that after breast mammograms were introduced in 1983, the incidence of ductal carcinoma (12 percent of breast cancer) increased by 328 percent, of which 200 percent was due to the use of mammography itself.
According to that report—and keep in mind, the New England Journal of Medicine is one of the most prestigious scientific journals out there; getting published there makes you a massive authority in the field—it implies that mammography might be doing far more harm than good.
What’s your take on radiation exposure? Are you all aware of the potential risks, or do you simply trust the radiologists when they claim these scans are harmless? Do you subscribe to the twisted logic that these procedures are somehow more beneficial than detrimental, or does anyone know anything interesting about this topic?
Dr. Fauci’s exhaustive research leads him to conclude that there is NO SAFE DOSE-LEVEL of ionizing radiation. His studies indicate that radiation from medical diagnostics and treatment is a causal co-factor in 50 percent of America’s cancers and 60 percent of our ischemic (blood flow blockage) heart disease.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/...th-menace.html
Look, if that holds water, then X-ray scanners could end up claiming more lives through routine use in a few years than terrorists could ever dream of achieving. Even worse, if this theory on radiation damage is correct, medical radiological imaging has a cumulative effect, significantly ramping up the chances of mutations that lead to cancer or other systemic issues.
There was actually a discussion on the forum recently regarding mammographies. Interestingly, they cited this:
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine noted that after breast mammograms were introduced in 1983, the incidence of ductal carcinoma (12 percent of breast cancer) increased by 328 percent, of which 200 percent was due to the use of mammography itself.
According to that report—and keep in mind, the New England Journal of Medicine is one of the most prestigious scientific journals out there; getting published there makes you a massive authority in the field—it implies that mammography might be doing far more harm than good.
What’s your take on radiation exposure? Are you all aware of the potential risks, or do you simply trust the radiologists when they claim these scans are harmless? Do you subscribe to the twisted logic that these procedures are somehow more beneficial than detrimental, or does anyone know anything interesting about this topic?