In recent years, computerized tomography (CT) scanning has gone commercial, as healthy people pay to have their bodies scanned for general-health screening.
They may be doing themselves more harm than good. Reporting in the September Radiology, David J. Brenner and Carl D. Elliston of Columbia University say that people who routinely get CT body scans without medical cause are exposing themselves to low-dose radiation in amounts that may increase their risk of dying from cancer.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.