The Benefits Outweigh the Risks

The dangers of medical imaging (including CT scans) are widely publicized. In fact, a recent report by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement argued that medical imaging exposes Americans to seven times more radiation than in 1980.

The society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) works to promote the values of nuclear molecular imaging, and provides meetings and networking for thousands of people in the medical community. This article (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/141423.php) was published in March 2009 shortly after a damning paper was published, that detailed the negative effects of radiation in medical imaging. Here, we are told about the benefits of imaging. The main purpose of imaging is to provide diagnostic treatment that could help in the treatment of an illness. The president of SNM spoke out for the benefits of medical imaging, and it is hard to ignore his points.

He points out that medical imaging caused treatment to change in one out of three patients that undergo some form of imaging. This has massive implications in terms of the specificity of treatments, as well as targeting a disease earlier in its development. Another crucial benefit is that medical imaging can decrease the need for exploratory surgery - this would reduce risks of open surgery, such as infection.

When considering the risks of imaging, it is important to realize much of the risk can come from human error in the operation of imaging equipment. Indeed ensuring that all technicians have been fully trained can make a major improvement in the quality of medical imaging. This is unfortunately not always the case.

While it is true that medical imaging does involve exposure to radiation, we must remember that most medical procedures involve risk. This brings up one of the most important realizations about medical imaging; that it is a medical procedure. This means that like any other procedure, there are risks and benefits. Therefore the debate should not be whether or not there are risks, but do the risks outweigh the benefits? The information in this article would definitely suggest that the answer is no.