MadSci Network: Medicine
Query:

Re: X-RAYS IN THE NEWBORN AND DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

Date: Fri Jul 21 12:22:34 2000
Posted By: John Moulder, Faculty, Radiation Biology, Medical College of Wisconsin
Area of science: Medicine
ID: 961975636.Me
Message:

IF A NEWBORN NEEDS TO BE X-RAYED DURING HER FIRST 5 YRS OF LIFE WILL IT >CAUSE HER GENETIC PROBLEMS OR GIVE HER A PROPENSITY TO CANCER?? Ray:

The risks associated with medical x-ray examinations are generally extremely low, giving only a very slight (if any) increase in the probability of cancer occurring many years later. The risk of genetic effects (mutations) from medical X-ray examinations appears to be even lower than the risk of cancer.

The risk of cancer from radiation exposure does depends on the age at irradiation, and children aged 0 to 5 years may have a risk 2 to 3 times greater than adults.

Our estimates of how the risk of radiation-induced cancer depends on the age-at-irradiation comes mostly from studies of the survivors of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki atomic bombs. However, those Japanese children received doses of radiation that were thousands of times greater than those you receive in medical x-ray examinations.

Despite how low we think the risks from medical x-ray examinations are, it still follows that such examinations should also be done when there is a good medical reason to do them (for example, to correctly diagnosis serious illness or injuries).

The U.K. National Radiation Protection Board has a website that deals with these issues in more detail:
Questions about the medical use of radiation

The Health Physics website at the University of Michigan is another good on- line resource:
The Radiation and Health Physics Page

John Moulder
Radiation Biologist
Medical College of Wisconsin


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