The risk of cancer associated with popular CT scans appears to be greater than previously believed, according to two new studies published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
via online.wsj.com
The Wall Street Journal reports about two studies published in the "Archives of Internal Medicine" that show the cancer risk from radiological diagnostic tests may be larger than previously thought.
Since Crohn's patients tend to undergo more than their fair share of CT scans, small bowel x-ray scans, pill cams, and other types of radiological tests, this really concerns me personally.
When you add to this that some of the immune suppressing medications used to treat Crohn's have been shown to be associated with risks of cancers, the unease becomes even larger.
In fact, Crohn's disease itself seems to impart a greater chance of the patient getting colon cancer than the general population. My grandmother died from colon cancer, by the way.
I want to feel better, but not at the expense of my future. For now I am staying away from immuno-supressant medications. At some point I may need to go that route. But I will put it off as long as I can and hope that there are better treatments available in the future.
If my doctor wants to see something on a CT scan, I will trust her judgment but I hope to not have them overdo these types of test. I've had a lot already!
