CT scans cause serious illness in young people

It causes leukemia in children and young people

A large multinational study found that CT scans were significantly associated with an increased risk of leukemia in children and young adults.

High-risk disease

According to Health Day, researchers analyzed radiology records for 276 hospitals in 9 countries, and were linked to population records. The data included nearly one million people under the age of 22 who had undergone a CT scan at least once.

The results showed that exposure at an early age to an average dose of radiation of 8 milligrams is associated with an increased risk of leukemia in children by approximately 16%.

The danger of medical radiation

Dr Magda Bosch de Basia, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, said: “This means that for every 10,000 children who undergo a CT scan, we can expect 1 to 2 cases of cancer in the 12 years following the scan.”

The researchers pointed to US data stating that “CT scanning is the largest contributor to medical radiation exposure among the US population.”