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I did 3 brain CT scans in the period of two months, the first two in the first weeks of July and the other on the last week of August.
I know that CTs are harmful because of radiation, but could this make me die from radiation poisoning? What is the limit of CTs one can do in the period of 1 year?
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Reply # - August 31, 2018, 12:02 PM
I don’t think that in the
I don’t think that in the case of head CT scans you have to be worried so much. The radiation burden with head CT scans is much lower than with chest CT scans or abdomen with pelvis CT scans. Here is the comparison : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2066089/
Reply # - August 31, 2018, 08:37 AM
Hi lindafernand,
GRACE Community Outreach Team
Hi lindafernand,
Welcome to GRACE. As the information daxys provided points out, the radiation burden from brain CTs is significantly less than that of CTs of other body areas. In addition, the risk of using a CT should always be balanced against the benefit gained from the information it provides.
If you are concerned about radiation exposure it’s possible that, depending upon the reason for the scan, you might be able to have an MRI instead. MRIs use no radiation and are actually better at detecting cancer in the brain, as discussed here: http://cancergrace.org/forums/index.php?topic=5180.msg31898#msg31898
JimC
Forum moderator