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ASK THE DOCTOR
Are X-rays Safe?
Many patients want to know
“How much radiation will I
get from an x-ray and what effect,
if any, will that radiation exposure
have on my health?”
Radiation is found everywhere in naturefrom
the sun’s rays, the soil we walk on,
food and water that we ingest and even
inside our own bodies. The radiation
used in medicine to produce x-rays or
CT (computed tomography) images, is
the same type as this naturally-occurring
radiation found on Earth. To understand
how much radiation you will be exposed
to from an imaging test, it is most easy to
make a comparison to the exposure from
natural sources of radiation.
The average background rate of radiation
that every person is exposed to from the
environment just by living in the United
States is about 3 mSv (millisieverts) per
year. For comparison, a typical x-ray of
the chest provides 0.08 mSv of radiation
to the human body, about the same
as 9 days of exposure to natural radiation.
A mammogram provides 1.0 mSv
of radiation, about 4 months of natural
radiation exposure. A chest CT involves
more radiation dose- usually 8 mSv- the
same amount as 2.7 years of exposure to
Dr. Emily D. Billingsley, Radiologist
naturally occurring radiation in the United
States. Most importantly, this added
amount of radiation exposure from medical
tests is negligible to a person’s lifetime
risk of developing cancer. No studies
of radiation exposure in humans have
demonstrated an increase in the incidence
of cancer at the doses used in diagnostic
radiology.
As a radiologist, I am extensively trained
to perform and read imaging studies- x-
rays, CT, MRI and ultrasound, to name a
few. Just as importantly though, radiologists
like me are also trained in physics in
order to understand how radiation is used
to create medical images and how to use
radiation safely. In both hospital and outpatient
settings, radiologists design protocols
for imaging tests in order to provide
the best information about the part of the
body being studied while also keeping the
radiation exposure to a minimum.
I’ve added some links to our website,
www.bayradiology.net, to provide more
information for patients and their families
about radiation exposure in medicine.
v v v
Emily D. Billingsley, M.D.
is a diagnostic radiologist with Bay Radiology
Associates, PL and a diplomat of the
American Board of Radiology. She completed
her fellowship training in Musculoskeletal
Radiology in the Department of
Radiology at the University of Florida, and
did her residency in Diagnostic Radiology
at the Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center in New Orleans. She received
her Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana
State University School of Medicine.
THE BAYS MEDICAL SOCIETY
“Helping Our Physicians Help Patients”
Need a Physician? Utilize our
online “Find a Doctor” directory
and choose a member of
The Bays Medical Society:
thebaysmedicalsociety.com.
Outpatient Surgery and Procedures
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74 THE CIRCUIT September/October 2012