Originally posted by Rondec CT Scans are actually very problematic and over used in the medical field. A couple of individual scans are not probably an issue, but it is recommended to keep your lifetime radiation exposure at the equivalent of 25 chest CTs or less. That's surprisingly easy to get to these days if you have an illness like kidney stones and frequent the Emergency Department much. CT Scans just give significantly higher levels of radiation compared to plain film x rays.
MRIs seem to have much less long term risk.
This is something that has long bothered me. I have been exposed to sizable amounts of radiation, if taken collectively, beginning when I was an 11 year old child who was taken to a different neighborhood MD than usual, an older man, to get a shot of penicillin for my recurring tonsillitis. But he had to show off his new toy and had me stand behind a screen while he and my mom sat for an internal view of my entire body. As they talked, I quickly became fidgety so I danced around and stuck out my tongue, causing my mom to scold me, then the doctor turned the thing off. A fluoroscope, as it turned out. Fortunately, we subsequently went back to our regular doctor.
We also had a shoe store not far away that used a fluoroscope to fit shoes, with which if in the area, we kids would run in just to look at the bones in our feet.
Also at age 11 I took a spill in some mud, fell with the small of my back onto a sizable rock. The pain went away after some days, but I had recurring back issues in future years, resulting in numerous x-rays from time to time by various doctors including chiropractors. Exercise has been the only therapy that actually helps me. Then I developed stomach trouble most likely from taking aspirin for my back, whereupon a doctor of foreign origin said he would order an "x-ray of my stomach", done in hospital. A lie by omission. I wound up undergoing an upper and lower G.I. seres, again via fluoroscope. After I figured out what was about to happen, I asked the staff doing the work about the radiation, to which I was told it is so minimal it would have to be done weekly for a year to be of any danger to me!! I later found this to be BS. I finally found a really good GI doctor who uses flexible scopes only.
The worst lie of all was when I consulted a GP doctor in 1986 regarding my long-standing on-and-off irregular heartbeat. Sometimes it would put me through a rough night. He set an appointment for a thallium stress test. I asked what it is, and he said I would be injected with thallium, a radioactive substance. I expressed concern regarding that, and was told the exposure was only the equivalent of a chest x-ray, which is very small. Upon arrival at the hospital, the radiologist and the cardiologist were both there, so again I asked how much radiation would be involved, and got the same answer. The result was "indication of low degree of reduced blood flow". Upon getting the report back at the GP's office, he advised for gradually increased cardio exercise, and to repeat the test again after one year to check for progress. (maybe every year!) But I moved to another suburb which was far too distant to continue with that doctor, so I never bothered with a subsequent re-test. Quite by accident some years later, I discovered that test to be the equivalent of a CT- NOT a chest x-ray!! Then more years later, I discovered it was not just similar to a CT of the heart and chest, it was in fact similar to a full-body CT scan, the highest radiation of all diagnostic tests!! And it never did provide a diagnosis of my irregular heartbeat. A friend went through the same thing, and the test indicated a worse problem so he was put through a heart catheter exam, where his heart was found to be in great shape- well above average!
More years later, after I retired, I consulted with my GI doctor regarding standard checkups, and mentioned I'd been having a lot of the heartbeat issue lately, whereupon with no hesitation he said, "we'll have you do a thallium stress test" (!) after all those years, this was still a standard protocol! I said "I am not doing any thallium!" Right away, he said- "Very well, we'll schedule you for a standard stress test." This was done, and I was hooked up on a monitor along with several others, each having our own along with a treadmill for each. I was lucky- it was acting up badly that morning, and it showed on my monitor, while the others had smooth patterns. I told the cardiologist, just wait, when I get going good on the treadmill, it will smooth out. Exactly what happened. I was fine while the others got worse and had to quit. The cardiologist made my diagnosis right there, which had an exact medical term, and is not dangerous. I turned down an offer for a drug. That was in 1999. A few years later, I accidentally discovered if I take a certain type of magnesium supplement daily, in balance with dairy products or any other source of substantial calcium, this problem will not occur!! I had found the answer myself!
None of the radiation I've been exposed to has ever helped me in any way- only saddled me with possible harm. I've had MRI's and they seem to be ok and useful, with better imaging. But the greatest threat to my health has been from going to doctors! Other than my GI doc, my dermatologist, and my ophthalmologist, my own policy is keeping away from them!