Study: CT scans raise cancer risk
Millions of Americans, especially children, are needlessly getting dangerous radiation from "super X-rays" that raise the risk of cancer and are increasingly used to diagnose medical problems, a new report warns.In a few decades, as many as 2 percent of all cancers in the United States might be due to radiation from CT scans given now, according to the authors of the report.Some experts say that estimate is overly alarming. But they agree with the need to curb these tests particularly in children, who are more susceptible to radiation and more likely to develop cancer from it."There are some serious concerns about the methodology used," but the authors "have brought to attention some real serious potential public health issues," said Dr. Arl Van Moore, head of the American College of Radiology's board of chancellors.The risk from a single CT, or computed tomography, scan to an individual is small. But "we are very concerned about the built-up public health risk over a long period of time," said Eric J. Hall, who wrote the report with fellow Columbia University medical physicist David J. Brenner.

新的报道警告人们，上百万的美国人，尤其是孩子是不需要接受来自X射线的有威胁的幅射，X射线用来诊断疾病的次数增加，会加大患癌症的风险。 通过作者的这篇报道可知，近几十年来在美国多达2%的癌症患者可能是由于来自CT扫描的幅射所致。有些专家认为这种估计过于敏感了。但还是同意有必要停住，尤其是不让孩子接受这种扫描，因为孩子更易受幅射影响且更可能因此患癌。美国大学放射委员会主席Arl Van Moore博士说，关于方法学的应用有太多的过度关注，但这个作者使大家对一些确实严重的潜在公共卫生问题产生注意。Eric J. Hall说，进行CT扫描或电脑断层摄影对个人来说危害不大，但我们在相当长的一段时间就已经非常关注公共健康风险的累积。Eric J. Hall和哥伦比亚大学医学物理家David J. Brenner编写了此报道。