Hello again r2-ga,
Thank you for your question.
Please tell me all the dangers of full body scans as a prevention tool
in health.
The main dangers are those associated with:
- The increased possibility of cancer induction from x-ray radiation
exposure.
- Abnormal test results, for a benign or incidental finding, leading
to unneeded, possibly invasive, follow-up tests that may present
additional risks and
FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ct/risks.html
===============================================
FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health:
===============================================
According to the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, the
benefits of full body scans as a preventive tool may not be great
enough to offset the potential harms such screening could cause.
“At this time the FDA knows of no data demonstrating that whole-body
CT screening is effective in detecting any particular disease early
enough for the disease to be managed, treated, or cured and
advantageously spare a person at least some of the detriment
associated with serious illness or premature death. Any such presumed
benefit of whole-body CT screening is currently uncertain, and such
benefit may not be great enough to offset the potential harms such
screening could cause.”
In addition “Public health agencies and national medical and
professional societies-the American College of Radiology, the American
College of Cardiology / American Heart Association, the American
Association of Physicists in Medicine, and the Health Physics Society
do not recommend CT screening.”
==============
Radiation Dose
==============
“CT screening subjects the individual screened to radiation exposure
from X-rays. The dose a patient receives during a typical CT procedure
is generally much larger than the radiation doses associated with most
conventional x-ray imaging procedures. The principal risk associated
with the radiation dose resulting to a person from a CT procedure is
the small possibility of developing a radiation-induced cancer some
time later in that person's life. For a patient with a medical need,
the benefit of a diagnostic or therapeutic CT procedure recommended by
a physician normally far exceeds the small cancer risk associated with
a CT procedure. For a person without symptoms, CT screening is
unlikely to discover serious disease, and the potential harm to the
individual may be greater than the presumed benefit.”
“FDA has never approved or cleared or certified any CT system
specifically for use in screening (i.e., of individuals without
symptoms), because no manufacturer has ever demonstrated to the FDA
that their CT scanner is effective for screening for any disease or
condition.“
FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ct/
“Compared to most other diagnostic X-ray procedures, CT scans result
in relatively high radiation exposure. The risks associated with such
exposure are greatly outweighed by the benefits of diagnostic and
therapeutic CT. However, for whole-body CT screening of asymptomatic
people, the benefits are questionable.”
“An abnormal finding, for example, may not be a serious one, and a
normal finding may be inaccurate. CT scans, like other medical
procedures, will miss some conditions, and "false" leads can prompt
further, unnecessary testing.”
FDA Website
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ct/ctscansbro.html
==============================================
American Association of Physicists in Medicine:
==============================================
American Association of Physicists in Medicine Policy Statement on
Whole-Body CT Scans:
“The use of computed tomography (CT) for total body screening of
asymptomatic patients has not currently been found to be
scientifically justifiable or clinically efficacious. The greatest
concerns surrounding this procedure are:
(1) that the procedure will lead to the discovery of minor anomalies
that have no influence on patient health, but their identification
will lead to added medical examinations with associated risks and
unnecessary medical expenses, and
(2) The wide-scale use of significant radiation exposures from total
body screening CT for a yet unproven screening procedure.
Total body CT screening should not be confused with the scientific CT
studies of screening for lung cancer in high-risk patients or cardiac
scoring to identify calcification in coronary vessels. Scientists in
the AAPM will continuously assess the scientific literature as to the
efficacy of total body CT screening and make revisions to this policy
statement when appropriate.”
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
http://www.aapm.org/announcements/CT.html
==============================
American Institute of Physics:
==============================
Robert Gould, president of the American Association of Physicists in
Medicine (AAPM) states:
"The procedure does carry a certain risk," Gould says, "and we're not
dealing with a trivial amount of radiation. There's no demonstrable
benefit from receiving that amount of radiation."
The medical physicists of AAPM says that total-body scanning is "not
scientifically justified" for patients without symptoms.
The dangers are:
- Relatively high radiation exposure
- A heightened risk of "false positives" that can lead to needless
surgeries and potential complications
Radiation concerns:
“Radiation exposure is AAPM's main concern. Whole-body scans expose a
person to "significant radiation exposures" for a diagnostic medical
procedure, in the words of the AAPM statement. In general, medical
professionals avoid exposing patients to radiation, unless the
potential benefits outweigh the small risk from the radiation. But the
benefits of whole-body scans are unknown, since no scientific data on
this question exist, points out medical physicist Ralph Lieto, the
chair of the AAPM Radiation Protection Committee, which wrote the
statement on whole-body scanning. The risk that x-rays damage DNA in
healthy cells and cause cancer in later years increases with dose.”
(..)
“As a result, a typical whole-body CT scan may deliver an "effective"
radiation dose about 250 times greater (15 millisieverts) than a
patient receives in a chest x-ray, estimates AAPM president Gould.”
False alarms.
“Critics also worry that whole-body scans may increase the possibility
of "false positives" ---frightening false alarms that may prompt more
expensive tests, even surgery that could risk complications.”
American Institute of Physics
http://www.aip.org/isns/reports/2002/052.html
============================
Palo Alto Medical Foundation
============================
Physicians and organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American College of
Radiology question the use of CT scanning for healthy, asymptomatic
patients.
"The many false-positive results produced by total-body CT scans can
lead to tremendous anxiety and unnecessary operations and testing,"
(..)
"Patients may receive false assurances and fail to complete needed
evaluations and treatment if a total-body CT scan produces a normal
result," Dr. Hufty said. "Many things can be amiss that are not shown
on a CT scan, such as infectious, hematological, metabolic or
endocrine abnormalities.
(..)
“Radiation exposure is also a concern. According to the National
Radiological Protection Board, a CT full-body scan delivers an
equivalent effective dose of radiation equivalent to 500 chest X-rays,
and a mammogram is equivalent to about 8.5 chest X-rays.”
Palo Alto Medical Foundation
http://www.pamf.org/news/2002/0702_totalscan.html
=================================================
The following article “Risk in exposing your interior” dated
Mar. 30, 2003 points out two dangers in preventive full body scans.
- Cumulative radiation exposure
- False sense of security
“A report from The Mayo Clinic stresses that having a full body scan
takes more thought than deciding on a beauty treatment. That some of
these clinics have substandard equipment which provides poorly
detailed images and that patients are left with a false sense of
security. And thinking themselves 100% perfect, they may forgo a
regular medical examination.”
“Another worry is radiation because today so many diagnostic
procedures depend on X-rays. Medical consumers fail to realize that
radiation is like an elephant -- it never forgets the amount it's been
given over a lifetime. It's these cumulative effects that worry the
U.S Food and Drug Administration. They're concerned that this run-away
growth in full body scanning is exposing people to risky levels of
radiation.”
Source: C-Health
http://chealth.canoe.ca/health_news_detail.asp?channel_id=53&news_id=6347
Full Body Scans May Not Be Wise For Some:
"The kinds of things that turn up frequently turn out not to be
problems that need to be pursued and sometimes the pursuit of those
problems can hurt people," preventive screening expert Dr. William
Taylor said.”
“The problem, Sweriduk admits, is that patients need surgery to
determine whether lung abnormalities are cancerous or simply benign --
procedures that can be costly and dangerous.”
The Boston Channel
http://ia.thebostonchannel.com/health/1120231/detail.html
Nagging symptoms or a strong family history of disease warrant a scan.
But for others, experts agree the change for a false positive result
outweighs the possible benefits.
"Many people who we find a microscopic cancer will undergo all kinds
of biopsies, surgical procedures. And then after it's all done, you've
only done more harm to the patient," Dr. Berlin says.
It's called over diagnosis and it's one of the dangers of full body
scans. The other, doctors say patients can get a false sense of
security.”
WGN News
http://wgntv.trb.com/news/local/eveningnews/wgntv012302medicalwatch,0,5949170.story?coll=wgntv-evening-news-2
Search Criteria:
Preventive full-body scans +dangers
full-body scan OR scans danger OR dangers OR risks OR risk
I hope the above information helps you in your research. As always if
anything is unclear please request clarification and I'll be glad to
offer further assistance.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga |
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