You can take as many as 30 X-rays in lifetime
Apr 05, 2005
ROBERT Kateregga, 24, has suffered from chest pain since 1994 when he was in P7 in Masaka. His parents took him to Masaka Hospital where doctors did an X-ray on his chest but failed to find anything wrong.
By Chris Kiwawulo
ROBERT Kateregga, 24, has suffered from chest pain since 1994 when he was in P7 in Masaka. His parents took him to Masaka Hospital where doctors did an X-ray on his chest but failed to find anything wrong.
“On the fourth X-ray, doctors advised me to stop taking any other X-ray,†Kateregga recounted.
He says he is puzzled because he still does not know what caused the pain. But he was also worried that taking repeated X-rays would damage his health.
However, Dr. Israel Luutu, a consultant radiologist at Mulago Radiotherapy Department, dismissed this. “The talk that someone must not exceed a certain number of X-rays in their lifetime is a myth,†he said.
He says that one can take as many as 30 X-rays.
“Even when at about 20 times, you can loose some of your body cells, they can always be replaced.
“There is no limit on X-rays. As long as the patient’s condition is not improving, more X-rays can be administered to that particular affected area in investigation. People should not get worried,†he says.
An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a strong wavelength.
In hospitals, X-ray radiation is made to pass through ‘soft’ parts of the body like organs and skin while ‘hard’ parts like bones, or contrast product containing iodine injected in blood stop the radiation to form the white in the negative.
For Kateregga’s case, Dr Luutu says it made no sense continuing taking X-rays without getting anything. “Five X-rays were enough.â€
The radiologist however warned that extra care should be taken when dealing with the reproductive organs. Directing X-rays there can easily lead to infertility.
“Human reproductive cells (ovaries and testis for men and women respectively) are very sensitive to radiation caused by X-rays. They should be well protected by a lead apron,†he said.
Dr Luutu adds that radiologists should also protect themselves while administering X-rays because the rays can affect them as well.
For pregnant women, when an infection like cervical cancer warrants a body penetrating X-ray, it should be deferred until after delivery to protect the foetus, Dr. Luutu says.
“Pregnant women can only have X-rays on minor fractures, say broken finger, hand or leg. But of course she should be protected with a lead apron and only the affected part be X-rayed,†he says.
He warns that although X-rays are not so dangerous, they should never be taken anyhow.
Medical uses
X-rays can reveal the details of bones and teeth
Radiology is a specialised field of medicine that employs radiography and other techniques for diagnostic imaging.
The use of X-rays are especially useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system.
They are also useful for detecting some disease processes in soft tissue like lung diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer or pulmonary oedema. Abdominal X-ray can detect ileus (blockage of the intestine).
X-rays are also used in ‘real-time’ procedures such as angiography or contrast studies of the hollow organs (e.g. barium enema of the small or large intestine).
Angioplasty, medical interventions of the arterial system, rely heavily on X-ray-sensitive contrast to identify potentially treatable lesions. Radiotherapy, a curative medical intervention is now used almost exclusively for cancer.
Ends
ROBERT Kateregga, 24, has suffered from chest pain since 1994 when he was in P7 in Masaka. His parents took him to Masaka Hospital where doctors did an X-ray on his chest but failed to find anything wrong.
“On the fourth X-ray, doctors advised me to stop taking any other X-ray,†Kateregga recounted.
He says he is puzzled because he still does not know what caused the pain. But he was also worried that taking repeated X-rays would damage his health.
However, Dr. Israel Luutu, a consultant radiologist at Mulago Radiotherapy Department, dismissed this. “The talk that someone must not exceed a certain number of X-rays in their lifetime is a myth,†he said.
He says that one can take as many as 30 X-rays.
“Even when at about 20 times, you can loose some of your body cells, they can always be replaced.
“There is no limit on X-rays. As long as the patient’s condition is not improving, more X-rays can be administered to that particular affected area in investigation. People should not get worried,†he says.
An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a strong wavelength.
In hospitals, X-ray radiation is made to pass through ‘soft’ parts of the body like organs and skin while ‘hard’ parts like bones, or contrast product containing iodine injected in blood stop the radiation to form the white in the negative.
For Kateregga’s case, Dr Luutu says it made no sense continuing taking X-rays without getting anything. “Five X-rays were enough.â€
The radiologist however warned that extra care should be taken when dealing with the reproductive organs. Directing X-rays there can easily lead to infertility.
“Human reproductive cells (ovaries and testis for men and women respectively) are very sensitive to radiation caused by X-rays. They should be well protected by a lead apron,†he said.
Dr Luutu adds that radiologists should also protect themselves while administering X-rays because the rays can affect them as well.
For pregnant women, when an infection like cervical cancer warrants a body penetrating X-ray, it should be deferred until after delivery to protect the foetus, Dr. Luutu says.
“Pregnant women can only have X-rays on minor fractures, say broken finger, hand or leg. But of course she should be protected with a lead apron and only the affected part be X-rayed,†he says.
He warns that although X-rays are not so dangerous, they should never be taken anyhow.
Medical uses
X-rays can reveal the details of bones and teeth
Radiology is a specialised field of medicine that employs radiography and other techniques for diagnostic imaging.
The use of X-rays are especially useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system.
They are also useful for detecting some disease processes in soft tissue like lung diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer or pulmonary oedema. Abdominal X-ray can detect ileus (blockage of the intestine).
X-rays are also used in ‘real-time’ procedures such as angiography or contrast studies of the hollow organs (e.g. barium enema of the small or large intestine).
Angioplasty, medical interventions of the arterial system, rely heavily on X-ray-sensitive contrast to identify potentially treatable lesions. Radiotherapy, a curative medical intervention is now used almost exclusively for cancer.
Ends