Introduction
New health technologies are presupposed to save but are never free from controversies. Such is Computerized Tomography (CT), which has raised concerns about its capability to free people from ailments and its numerous side effects. The concerns of its practice have been shifted from the cost of the procedure to the long-term effects on individuals’ bodies and its unclear target group. Though there are no optimum standards recognized for CT scanning, medical professionals recommend not a high or low dose, as this can aggravate the problems rather than diagnosing them.
Screening using Computerized Tomography
This is a type of scanning whereby images in the body of human beings are shown using X-rays at the cross-sectional level. These images appear like slices that are used for several diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in a human’s body which have been presented for screening. CT screenings help to diagnose a disease to know how to cure it completely. The scanning speed of the multislice CT scanner allows for fast full-body CT trauma studies in emergencies as well as health check-ups. It is commonly done using doses of 1-5 mC1 1-131 (Wackym 1162).
A person who has presented him/herself for screening using the Computerized Tomography technology has to give consent which is commonly in written form. This is to ensure that there is no violation of rights and help in avoiding the long arm of the law as the individual who had presented him/herself for this screening can sue the medical practitioners after the side effect afterward. It is recommended that the patient get proper advice from a professional medical practitioner before opting for this diagnosis. This can also help in determining the proper procedure for the screening as not all procedures are fit for every individual who seeks diagnosis with this technology. The extent to which a young person can be exposed to the CT screening cannot be the same as that of an adult due to the disadvantages highlighted.
Benefits Accrued
On certain measures, Computerized Tomography is recommended for several reasons. One, the procedure can be used to diagnose diseases, trauma, or abnormality. Certain ailments are beyond a doctor’s suggestion of a prescription and have to be intensely looked into. As the method helps the medical practitioner get a clear view of the problem by analyzing the tissues and ‘slices’ in the body of a patient, he/she is in a position to know the right prescription for the ailment.
Two, the computerized tomography technology enhances planning, guiding, and monitoring of therapy in an individual. One can only plan on his/her upkeep if he/she knows the disorder in the body. The computerized technology has a way of monitoring the progress after the procedure and this way, the doctors would be in a better position to advise and guide the individuals suffering on the best way to maintain them. After a complete diagnosis, the doctors will eventually rule out any traces left of the condition in the individual’s body.
Potential Risks
This method is characterized by numerous potential risks one can get after the procedure. The benefits resulting from this computerized tomography procedure have been said to have been outweighed by the potential risks, implying that the methods are not necessary for everyone, and not recommended in totality (Reises 87) give three main long-term effects accruing for a computerized tomography operation. These are given as cancer, Heredity disorder, and organ-related absorbed ailments.
Cancer: there is the potentiality of increased lifetime risk of cancer when numerous operations are done on a body of an individual. There are small possibilities of Intravenous (IV) contrast and long-term Cancer development when the body is exposed to radiation for a long time.
Heredity disorders: This operation can have adverse effects on inducing disorders in an individual’s body, which can be passed to the generations to come in the heredity line of the individual.
Organ-related disorders: the organs in the body are the most prone areas to be adversely affected by a full-body CT exposure. This operation scans the whole body and thus exposing delicate organs and tissues to be affected by the radiations.
The organs in the body are the most prone areas to be adversely affected by a full-body CT exposure. This operation scans the whole body and thus exposing delicate organs and tissues to be affected by the radiations (Reises 87).
Others
The radiations emitted during the computerized tomography scanning are such strong that the body of the patient is exposed to radiations equivalent to that of an atomic bomb affecting people 2.4 kilometers away (Eldridge 134). As well, the operation and its findings lead to other added invasive testing or operations that result in added risks; with little benefits. Also, it has been documented to result in more false-positive benefits (Mahadevappa 178). The risks, therefore, mean that the process of scanning is more disadvantageous to the whole process rather than benefiting the individual under operation.
Controversies Surrounding CT Scanning
Computerized Tomography scanning is not free from controversies as highlighted below: One, there is an absence of well-documented benefits that outweigh the radiation risks (Mahadevappa 178). Two, it has been noted that the whole body screening computerized tomography screening at a relatively low dose results in more false-positive results, while the high dose is more dangerous to the body of an individual. The skin can become red, tissues are injured, some of the hair is lost and a pregnant mother develops birth defects.
CT requires added monitoring of the diagnosis which can add to other potential risks, while it has the potential to cause allergic reactions or kidney failure because of contrast agent or ‘dye’ which can be sued in cases directed at improving visualizations. Medical professional associations have not given a go-ahead to the full-body operation using CT scanning for healthy individuals (Mahadevappa 179).
Concerns Raised On Whole Body CT Scanning
Several concerns have been raised by medical practitioners, who have shown to reject this form of diagnosis. The concerns are deep and give many people a reason of ignoring this form of operation. One, it helps in exposing the body and body contents to unnecessary radiations emitted during the operation. The radiations are noted to be dangerous and equivalent to those emitted by an atomic bomb affecting people as far as 2.4 kilometers away.
Two, there is false reassurance of a normal study, as it is not all diseases that can be diagnosed using CT scanning, and even not all can be detected. Three, the procedure does not prescribe any particular age group or category of people. The youths are advised against this operation as it can affect their body tissue more than the adults. Four, findings have been discovered showing that the procedure warrants follow-ups after an operation which exposes it to more potential risks on the body of the patients. Fifth, this method cannot effectively differentiate the healthy and the unhealthy individuals and especially those who have hidden diseases (Neuhaus 7).
Youth versus the Adults
Computerized Tomography scanning cannot be done the same way to youths and adults. It is highly advised against the youths whose bodies are vulnerable to more risks than to the adults. Especially the children, as they have a longer lifetime, meaning that the radiations would affect them gradually putting them at risks transcended in the whole of their lifetime. Also, the small size of a child cannot absolve the high dose of CT scanning which is only recommended on adults. Their tissues are more vulnerable to intensive damages than those of the adults, as they are still growing.
Preventive versus Curative Measures
It is recommended that the operation be used to prevent rather than to cure ailments. When diagnosing, it means that the machine and its radiation waves are being injected and penetrating more to the tissues, while slowly damaging them. But when preventing, the scanning is done wholly and at once, which helps show the ailments in the body of a patient, and the diagnosis can be done using other methods other than using the same technology. It is therefore recommended that the method be used as preventive measures rather than in curing (Eldridge 135).
Conclusion
In any method applied in protecting the health of individuals, there must be advantages and disadvantages of it. However, when the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, it means that the method is not a favorite to many. This is evident in Computerized Tomography scanning or Computerized Axial Tomography scanning. It has more cons than pros, a lot of risks, and concerns raised by those in the sector. Though a very modern way of improving the health of people, it has faced automatic rejections reading from the highlighted disadvantages and concerns from the professional medical practitioners.
The CT scanning, and more so the full-body operation uses radiations in its operations, which are passed in the body of an individual who has sought a specialized diagnosis. By doing so, there are risks of contracting other diseases which by far and large are capable of mutilating body tissues after an intensive operation. It is thus a disadvantage to the patient, and that is why many in the health sector have disapproved it and are advising the people not to go for it when they seek to have their health issues addressed.
Works Cited
Eldridge, Lynne. Avoiding Cancer: One Day at a Time. USA: Beavers pond press, 2006. 134.
Mahadevappa, Mahesh. MDCT Physics: The Basics Technology, Image Quality, and Radiation Dose. USA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2009. 178.
Neuhaus, Susan. Radiology in Surgical Practice. USA: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2006. 7.
Reise M.F. Multislice CT, 3rd ed. Germany: Springer, 2009. 87.
Wackym, Snow. Ballenger’s Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery. USA: Peoples Medical Publishing House, 2009. 1162.