X-Message-Number: 19166
From: "John de Rivaz" <>
Subject: Docs Debate Full-Body Scans 
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 22:45:45 +0100

From infobeat:

Full-body CT scans that can find the tiniest tumors or blood vessel problems
are becoming the hottest new twist in preventive medicine, but experts
question just how beneficial their findings can often be.

In an article in today's New York Times, doctors caution that the
state-of-art high-speed X-rays may in fact give us more information than we
know what to do with, revealing lumps that may be worrisome but entirely
insignificant.

"No one knows the significance of a one-millimeter nodule," Dr. Larry
Kessler, the director of the office of surveillance and biometrics at the
Food and Drug Administration, told the Times. "No one."

Kessler added that the health care system may wind up paying the costs of
further tests and operations that result from the tests.

Companies that offer the tests stand behind them, however, arguing that they
save lives by revealing problems that doctors may not have ordinarily
ordered screening for.

[end]

Additional comment

"the costs of further tests and operations that result from the tests." -
are not only financial - there are finite risks associated with invasive
investigations and operations.

--
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http://www.AlecHarleyReeves.com
http://www.longevity-report.com : http://www.autopsychoice.com :
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http://www.porthtowan.com

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