x-ray dangers

Points to Consider Before Taking Another X-Ray
By Ben Kim, D.C.

Have you ever sat or stood in front of an x-ray machine, covered with a bulky
lead apron, waiting for someone who was standing behind a lead wall to press
a button that would send ionizing radiation through your body? I don’t know
about you, but I have never felt super comfortable having that tube pointedat
my head or body.

I have long believed that the widespread misuse of x-rays is one of the
deadliest mistakes being committed by health practitioners. Before I get into some
of the realities of how x-rays are misused, here are some startling points
about x-rays and other forms of ionizing radiation that are used for diagnostic
purposes, like CT scans and fluoroscopy:

• For decades, the scientific community has known that x-rays cause
a variety of mutations.

• X-rays are known to cause instability in our genetic material,
which is usually the central characteristic of most aggressive cancers.

• There is no risk-free dose of x-rays. Even the weakest doses of
x-rays can cause cellular damage that cannot be repaired.

• There is strong epidemiological evidence that x-rays area known
cause of almost every type of human cancer.

• There is strong evidence that x-rays are a significant cause of
ischemic heart disease.


If all of the points listed above are true, then how is it that our society
has come to use x-rays so frequently and almost without a thought to the
harmful consequences of all forms of ionizing radiation?

Part of the answer to this question is that most health care practitioners
have been educated to believe that the benefits of taking x-rays for diagnostic
purposes far outweigh the negative consequences of ionizing radiation. This
attitude is well represented by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), who
have this to say about x-rays:

For the exposures encountered in conventional radiography [x-rays], the risk
of cancer or heritable defects (via damaged ovarian cells or sperm cells) is
very low. Most experts feel that this low risk is largely outweighed by the
benefits of information gained from appropriate imaging. X-rays are monitored and
regulated to provide the minimum amount of radiation exposure needed to
produce the image.

I strongly disagree with the NIH on this topic.

While I believe that x-rays can be extremely useful in certain situations, I
also believe that they are usually taken unnecessarily and for the wrong
reasons. Here are a few examples:

Medico-legal protection
In today’s society, I believe that the majority of health practitioners think
first and foremost about protecting themselves against legal action. Rather
than devote all of their energy to thinking about what is absolutely best for
their patients in the short and long term, they perform diagnostic tests and
give recommendations that fall in line with their professional “standards of
practice”. This is undoubtedly so that if the patient does not do well, the
doctor has records to prove that he gave perfectly competent care accordingto his
profession's standards of practice. In deciding whether to do an x-ray or to
go without it, I believe that most doctors make this decision based on their
standards of practice vs. what they would do for their own children.

The Feeling that Something Has Been Done
Many patients want their doctors to do something. They don’t want to hear
about what they should be eating or how much rest they should be getting. Some
patients almost feel cheated if their doctors don’t perform a bloodtest, take
an x-ray, or do some other diagnostic test that makes them feel like answers
are on the way. A doctor who does not give in to these expectations runs the
risk of not having enough patients to make a living.

Marketing
If you have already read about my first working experience as a chiropractor,
you may remember the chiropractor who took full-spine x-rays on all of his
patients. It was absolutely clear to me that the majority of his x-rays were
taken for marketing purposes. If you study radiology, you will learn that
everyone develops degenerative changes around their spines as they age – this is to
be expected, just like wrinkling of your skin. Perhaps you can imagine how a
health practitioner can paint these normal, degenerative changes and other
clinically irrelevant findings in a frightening way to persuade a patient to
receive his or her treatments.

If you don’t have any training in radiology, and your health practitioner
points to x-rays that show areas of your spine that are worn down or “out of
alignment”, and you are told that you are in danger of developing crippling
arthritis in the years ahead if you don’t receive his or her treatments, what are
you to do? Many health practitioners are fully aware of the authoritative power
and influence that x-rays can have on selling their treatments, and many of
them don't hesitate to use this power and influence to its fullest extent. If
you are skeptical about this, you need to participate in a practice management
seminar to experience firsthand how some practitioners are finely trained to
translate using x-rays to making money.

So what does all of this mean for you the next time that your doctor
recommends taking an x-ray?

Some Practical Recommendations on Taking or Not Taking X-rays

1. If a health practitioner recommends that you have an x-ray or CT
scan done, find out exactly what the health practitioner is looking for. More
importantly, find out what the practitioner will recommend that you do for
each possible finding. If you cannot see yourself following through on any of the
practitioner’s recommendations for each possible finding, it seems logical
not to expose yourself to dangerous ionizing radiation in the first place. If
your practitioner is unwilling to address all of your concerns, you really need
to find a practitioner who will.


2. If you decide that taking an x-ray will help you figure out what
the problem is and/or help you figure out how to get better, ask the person
who will take the x-ray exactly what the dose will be. If he or she cannot tell
you exactly what the dose will be, it is likely that you will be exposed toa
higher dose than is necessary. If this is the case, you need to find another
x-ray facility, one that is fully committed to using the lowest possible dose
for its x-rays.


3. If you have x-rays taken, know that these x-rays belong to you.
If you don't feel good about your doctor's interpretation of your x-rays, you
can take your x-rays to other practitioners to ask for as many other opinions
as you wish. You may be asked to sign a form in order for your doctor or x-ray
facility to release your x-rays to you, but make no mistake about it - your
x-rays belong to you.


4. I believe that babies, growing children, and pregnant women
should not be exposed to any x-rays – even dental x-rays – unless they are faced
with a life or limb-threatening situation. Fetuses, babies, and growing
children have rapidly growing cells that are much more susceptible to genetic damage
when exposed to ionizing radiation than the slower growing cells of adults.A
pregnant woman shouldn’t even have an x-ray taken at the dentist’s office,
because her thyroid gland won’t be protected by the lead apron thatcovers her
body. Ionizing radiation to the thyroid gland of a pregnant woman can interfere
with the physical and mental development of her child.

If you want to learn more about the relationship between x-rays and your
health, I highly recommend that you read Radiation from Medical Procedures in the
Pathogenesis of Cancer and Ischemic Heart Disease: Dose-Response Studies with
Physicians per 100,000 Population, by John Gofman, MD, PhD. The harmful
effects of ionizing radiation listed at the beginning of this article are from his
book.

Dr. Gofman is one of the few scientists in this world who has had the courage
to fight for greater public awareness of the dangers of ionizing radiation.


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