Sure CT scans and other similar tests SOUND harmless enough.
Heck, they sound like everything you WANT from your healthcare: important… urgent… helpful… and reassuring.
But when a doc sends you out for an imaging test, he might NOT be helping you.
He could be BILKING you, or at least your insurer for a test even most experts now admit often ISN’T needed.
But wait, it gets even worse than that.
Because while THEY get paid for those CT scans, YOU get something else.
You get dosed up with high levels of radiation. And those unneeded imaging tests are slowly and quietly turning into a significant source of cancer.
But you DON’T have to be a victim of this unthinkable swindle.
What you DON’T know about CT scans CAN hurt you
A few years back, the mainstream launched its “CHOOSE WISELY” campaign to cut back on unnecessary tests and treatments. And that included those unnecessary imaging scans.
The good news? At that point… right as that campaign was unveiled… the number of imaging tests was ALREADY starting to drop.
Ready for the bad news? They jumped right back up again!
It’s almost as if the campaign had the OPPOSITE effect of what was intended. Since 2012, the number of scans jumped by between 1 percent and 5 percent, according to new figures published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
That upsurge includes MRIs… ultrasounds… and the one we’re the most worried about today: CT scans. CT scans can hit you with the equivalent of 70 times the radiation of a single x-ray.
In fact, they pack so much radiation that one analysis a few years ago found that the CT scans done in a single year could cause 29,000 cancers and 15,000 cancer deaths in the years that follow.
It’s almost the definition of insanity.
You get a test that’s supposed to check for cancer. It finds nothing. You’re safe!
Except you’re not… because the very test that found you DON’T have cancer could CAUSE the disease.
Protect yourself from unneeded imaging tests
You DON’T have to be a victim.
There are two steps you can take to protect yourself from unnecessary radiation and the risks that come with it.
Step 1: This is the obvious one. Do you really need that test? Ask. And that’s especially important when it comes to CT scans, x-rays, and PET scans. You’d be surprised at how often they’ll admit that maybe you don’t need it, or at least can wait and see for a little bit. Sometimes a scan IS necessary. Just make sure yours is.
Step 2: Step 1 does nothing for the radiation exposure you’ve already faced. And it’s not JUST from CT scans, either. A variety of everyday things from microwaves to air travel to the RF radiation from cell phone towers increase your overall lifetime exposure and your risk.
But you can fight back with natural antioxidants. Alpha Lipoic Acid, for example, can help shield cells from the free radicals that attack after radiation exposure. And N-Acetyl Cysteine can help chase damaging free radicals out of your body.
In other words, it’s as simple as one, two three.
One, reduce your exposure. Two, reduce its impact. And three you will have reduced your cancer risk too.
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