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. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://www.deRivaz.com : http://www.AlecHarleyReeves.com http://www.longevity-report.com : http://www.autopsychoice.com : http://www.cryonics-europe.org http://www.porthtowan.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19166