HOW SAFE ARE MAMMOGRAMS AND X-RAY PROCEDURES?

By Regina Chew, RT( R )

As an x-ray technologist I have recently seen a surge of studies and articles regarding the safety of medical
tests and procedures involving radiation. The average patient receives many more of these tests now than
ever before. This is partly due to improved technology making more procedures available, an increase in
medical malpractice suits which makes doctors tend to order more tests, and insurance companies requiring
less expensive procedures before authorizing more expensive ones. Unfortunately, the patient often
receives a greater dose of radiation than is necessary. How important is this? Consider the following and
decide for yourself.

• “Radiation is not inconsequential” – Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, American
Cancer Society
• X-rays use ionizing radiation. This means that as they go through or are absorbed in your body,
they are capable of knocking electrons out of atoms. This can cause abnormal cell function or cell
death.
• “Medical radiation is a very large part of the nation’s cancer problem.” –Dr. John W. Gofman
• Certain tissues are more sensitive to radiation damage: fetal, breast, eye, reproductive organs,
thyroid gland.
• Your age also affects potential harm. The younger the patient, the more sensitivity. This is
because when a damaged cell divides and multiplies, it produces damaged daughter cells. Also,
children have a longer life expectancy in which cancer can develop.
• There is no amount of radiation that is too small to potentially cause harm.
• Every dose of radiation your body receives is stored and added to every previous dose.
• Every mammogram received before menopause increases cancer risk by about 1%.
• A study published in “The Lancet” contests that annual mammograms decrease the risk of dying
of breast cancer.
• Breast compression during a mammogram can lead to the spread of cancerous cells if they exist.
• Breast thermography is a screen for cancer using no radiation or compression, and can detect a
suspicious area up to 10 years earlier by reading heat patterns produced by abnormal metabolic
activity.
• There is evidence of a link between chest radiation and Ischemic Heart Disease.
• A study showed that adolescent girls receiving repetitive spine x-rays for scoliosis (approx. 25
exams) had a 70% higher risk of dying from breast cancer, according to the American Society of
Radiologic Technologists. (This can be drastically reduced by having the patient’s back toward
the x-ray tube rather than facing it and wearing breast shielding, as well as gonadal shielding.)
• CT scans and fluoroscopy (x-ray “video”) use the highest radiation dose. A chest CT scan gives at
least 100 times the dose of a chest x-ray. Fluoroscopy time is measured in minutes of exposure,
rather than milliseconds.
• MRI and ultrasound do not use radiation at all.
• While the new digital x-ray technology reduces radiation dose in theory, many techs use higher
than necessary exposure settings and adjust the screen image down after the exam.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

• Talk to your doctor. The benefits of a test should outweigh the risks. Ask if there are safer
alternatives. If your child is having a CT, go to www.imagegently.org and click on parent info.
• Make sure you are being x-rayed by a licensed technologist. Not all states require licensing for x-
ray machine operators in doctors’ and chiropractors’ offices. License must be posted.
• Ask to wear protective shielding during radiology exams.
• Dental x-rays should be limited also due to proximity to the brain stem and thyroid gland.
• If you are a woman, see your gynecologist annually for a manual breast exam.
 • Do regular breast self exams. (Men get breast cancer, too.)
• Check www.iact-org.org/links.html for a thermography facility in a large city near you.

SOURCES FOR INFORMATION

John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph.D. Radiation from Medical Procedures in the Pathogenesis of Cancer
and Ischemic Heart Disease and Preventing Breast Cancer: The Story of a Major, Proven,
Preventable Cause of This Disease

H. Gilbert Welch, M.D. Should I Be Tested for Cancer? Maybe Not and Here’s Why

Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. “Dangers and Unreliability of Mammography: Breast Examination is a

Safe, Effective, and Practical Alternative” published in the International Journal of Health
Services

Dr. Joel Gray at the Mayo Clinic

Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, D.Phil. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study

Dr. Charles B. Simone, former clinical associate at the National Cancer Institute

Susun S. Weed Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way

Maartje J. Hooning study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology

Dr. Joseph Mercola www.drmercola.com

Mike Adams www.naturalnews.com