[ RadSafe ] CT scans and cancer

[John Jacobus]

As a matter of fact, I recently answer a person's
concerns (fear of cancer) on radiation risks who had
insisted on getting an x-ray procedure.  I pointed
noted that he has insisted on the exam, and should not
be whining about his risk concerns.  (If you want a
copy of the question and answer, I can dig it up.)

Patients will "shop" for physicians who will give them
the drugs they think they need.  They will even go on
the Internet and look up the symptoms of the disease
they think they have to present to the physician.  In
an extreme condition it is call Munchausen syndrome,
and as noted is a challenge for physicians.
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic322.htm

Personally, I believe many patients just wants
somebody to talk to, and may not accept that what they
have are minor physical ailments that they have
focused upon.  

--- alstonchris at netscape.net wrote:

> Steven
> 
> I can't answer that question.  But, if physicians
> are ordering these 
> scans simply to accommodate pushy parents, rather
> than by reason of 
> indication, it's a major failure of medical
> practice.  Something 
> similar has gone on, for decades now, in the use of
> antibiotics.  E.g., 
> parents have a sick kid, the pediatrician says that
> it's a viral 
> infection and should be allowed to run its course
> (with appropriate 
> support, i.e., fluids, antipyretic meds, etc.), but
> the parents insist 
> that the kid be given antibiotics, which are
> generally useful only 
> against bacterial infections.  And the doctor
> prescribes them (he/she 
> is usually afraid of losing their business).  This
> is one reason for 
> the great increase in the number of
> antibiotic-resistant microbes with 
> which we have to deal; and that is a deadly serious
> affair.
> 
> Cheers
> cja
> 
> 
> [According to] Dr. Alan Brody, a radiologist at
> Cincinnati Children's
> Hospital Medical Center, three out of 10 parents in
> one study insisted 
> on
> CT scans instead of observing the child's condition
> for awhile even 
> after
> they were told of the radiation risk.
> What is with the 30 percent of pushy parents who
> want the scans
> done anyway?
> Steven Dapra
> sjd at swcp.com
> 
> 
>
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+++++++++++++++++++
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." -- Sir Winston Churchill

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com


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