MEDICAL IMAGING - IF LOOKS COULD KILL

Course overview

If Looks Could Kill the Role of Medical Imaging in America s Epidemic of Cancer and Heart Disease Copyright 2006 by Dr. Harvey Kaltsas, AP, DIM, Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM) Long ago, Hippocrates admonished doctors, First, do no harm. For generations, doctors of traditional Chinese medicine have lived by this axiom. Sadly, over the past century, our counterparts in Western medicine have been less careful. Perhaps a half million people have died each year because of unwarranted trust placed in X-ray technology and ignorance as to the dangers of ionizing radiation. As practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, we are first and foremost educators about health, and we seek to prevent disease. We understand that the seven pillars of good health are clean food, clean air, clean water, proper exercise, rest, peace of mind, and light. Light may be interpreted here as the entire spectrum of electro-magnetic radiation to which humans are exposed. Some forms are healthy, others are not. This CEU course provides information essential to help your patients avoid the most dangerous aspects of iatrogenic disease caused from unhealthy forms of light. It makes crystal clear the role of ionizing radiation (from nuclear power plants, weapons, and especially from X-ray diagnostic imaging) as an essential co-factor in creating over 50% of the cases of cancer and 60% of the cases of heart disease in the USA, an indictment so serious as to be incredible were it not for the meticulous research behind it. Tragically, this situation has flown under the radar of professional and public awareness for too long. After reading the accompanying course materials and answering the CEU exam questions, you will wonder what to do and what to say to your patients. One approach not to take is to ask for more studies to be conducted to prove the links between radiation, cancer, and heart disease. The work establishing causation has already been done. Another unproductive effort would be to focus on demanding political solutions. Powerful vested interests have influenced government for decades to keep muddled this very clear issue, despite the best efforts of dedicated public servants at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Energy can be better spent in other areas. Here are four suggestions paraphrased from Dr. John W.Gofman, M.D., Ph. D., who has pioneered research in this field: 1. Inform you local media about the issues involved to raise public awareness. These are public health issues, and as a doctor you are the appropriate spokesperson to raise a clarion call. 2. Encourage your patients to ask their other doctors what amount of radiation they would receive from recommended diagnostic procedures. If a doctor gets defensive or won't answer, either the doctor was never properly educated about the health effects of radiation or he doesn't understand his essential role as health educator. Patients always have the option to boycott facilities which can not at least tell them the expected radiation dose. 3. Meet with deans of medical schools to request they include education about the risks of ionizing radiation in the curricula of physicians to be. 4.Establish a cash prize to the radiologic office which develops and demonstrates exactly how to achieve a 3-fold reduction in average dose for the five procedures which presently cause the most breast irradiation in radiologic and non-radiologic offices. If the entire American profession of acupuncture would convey this knowledge to our patients, we could become such a great force for preventive medicine in this country.