Online Guide for Senior Citizens Resources in the USA
Full-Body CT Scans
What You Need to Know About CT Scans by Carol Lewis
You've seen the full-page ads. Dozens of clinics nationwide are touting a new service for health-conscious people: full-body CT scans--high-tech computerized X-rays that promise early warnings for cancer, cardiac disease, and other abnormalities.
But the practice is controversial because the long-term benefits and risks have not been researched. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the CT X-ray system only as a diagnostic tool to be used when symptoms exist, or when there is reason for further testing. But no studies have been done to support using CT scans for screening people without symptoms, or when there is no suspicion or indication of a problem or disease.
Thomas B. Shope, Ph.D., a radiation physicist in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, says the agency's concern is that "some of the kinds of things screening CT may find are not necessarily of any health significance." In addition, because no screening test is 100 percent accurate, the FDA is concerned that many people will get false-positive results, leading them to seek additional, possibly risky tests or surgical procedures. While there is a small danger of this when symptoms exist, its occurrence is far more probable when they do not. Further, the use of any X-ray imaging procedure is always accompanied by a concern about the possible effects of radiation exposure.
"The effective dose from a CT procedure can be hundreds of times larger than the effective dose from a conventional radiographic procedure," says Shope. During a CT scan, an X-ray tube housed inside a doughnut-shaped machine rotates around and transmits radiation through a person's body at various angles. Detectors inside the machine measure the radiation transmitted through the body and these data are converted into electrical signals. A computer gathers these signals and produces three-dimensional images that are displayed on a monitor. A technologist or radiologist can change the contrast or brightness of the displayed image, or use other image processing or display techniques to emphasize areas or tissues of interest.
Using CT systems for diagnosis in medicine has been accepted as a valuable medical practice based on a wealth of experience. And physicians may use it for any condition or disease, as long as they deem the use legitimate within the doctor-patient relationship. Therefore, although the device was approved as a diagnostic tool for specific purposes, the FDA has limited authority to control how it is actually used. The agency continues to approve CT systems and their enhancements on the basis that they are to be used in the diagnoses of symptomatic people.
The American College of Radiology "does not believe there is sufficient scientific evidence to justify recommending total body computed tomographic (CT) screening for patients with no symptoms or a family history suggesting disease." The organization says there is no evidence that the procedure is either cost-effective, or effective in prolonging life.
Robert Smith, director of cancer screening at the American Cancer Society, says his organization also "discourages full-body scanning" for the same reasons.
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Information for Seniors in the United States
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Information for Seniors in the United States
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Information for Seniors in the United States
Below is some information we have gathered to assist Seniors living in the United States. When times are hard, we are here to help. Everything you see here has been hand-picked for your benefit.
theusseniors.com
Directory for Seniors in the USA
Your Internet Community – Your News – Your Health – Your Stories – Your Friends – Your Family – Your Photos – At "Seniors In The USA" you can Exchange Social Calenders, share recipes, photos, and more!
www.SeniorsInTheUSA.com
Link and Resource Directory for Seniors living in the USA
Resources for the United States Senior: Find out how to become a happy, healthy, and more ethical member of an already mostly unhappy society.
www.seniorsoftheusa.com
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