I am 65-year-old and does a lot of radiation cause cancer?

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern. It is quite natural to be concerned about radiation hazards, particularly when doing several scans consecutively. However, please be assured that the radiation of each scan is kept "as low as reasonably achievable" (ALARA) so that it does not have a significant risk when you get repeated scans. Hence, please ward off your worries, and follow your doctor's suggestions regarding imaging and treatment.

Kindly revert in case of further queries.

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

I understand your concerns about radiation risks are significant since you have to get repeated CT (computed tomography) scans. The kind of cancer risks associated with medical CT scans is "stochastic," which can happen to anyone irrespective of dose or number of scans. Hence, the solution is to keep radiation exposure to ALARA. The stochastic risks also have some calculations, where it says that a CT of the abdomen is associated with a one in 10,000 to one in 1000 risk of cancer. And of course, that risk theoretically increases when you have to get more scans, so if someone gets four CT abdomen, their risk is something like four in 1000. And according to certain statistics, about 40 % of the population gets cancer in their lifetime, so your concerns are genuine and valuable. Please be assured that the medical professionals are always aware of these statistics and are trained from the ground up to assess the risk versus benefit ratio before advising any procedure or scan. You can indeed discuss your previous scans and your concerns with your treating physician so that they may consider alternatives if possible. For example, MRV (magnetic resonance venography) does not have any radiation or radiation risk. So, your doctor can choose MRV instead of CTV (computed tomography venography).

I hope you get well soon.