Antinuclear

UK govt clamping down on unnecessary medical radiation

Radiation fears lead to curb on CT scans, Ministers stop short of banning whole body scans for the worried well  Sarah Boseley,   guardian.co.uk,   6 April 2010, A clampdown on clinics offering MOT health checks to the worried well – which can include whole body scans – was signalled by the government today, amid concerns over the exposure of healthy people to unnecessary radiation.

The Department of Health said it accepted all nine recommendations of the government’s advisory committee on medical aspects of radiation in the environment (Comare), which called for action more than two years ago.Comare warned that CT (X-ray computed tomography) scans could increase a person’s cancer risk. It wanted whole body scans, which are carried out on a speculative basis to see if anything might be wrong, to be banned, on the basis that the risk from exposure to radiation exceeded the benefit.It said CT-scanning machines were contributing significantly to the radiation exposure of the population. Some 15% of our exposure in the UK comes from medical sources – almost half of that from CT scans.

Calling for greater regulation of CT scans, Comare recommended an end to their use for spinal conditions, osteoporosis and assessing body fat. There was a limited case, however, for the continuation of CT scanning for heart disease among those of intermediate risk and for colon cancer, though only in the over-50s unless referred by a specialist….

Radiation fears lead to curb on CT scans | Society | The Guardian

April 7, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1 | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive