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Had Full Body Normal PET And CT Scan. Scared After Reading Negative Effects Of Radiation. Suggest?

Posted on Sun, 29 Sep 2013

Question: I am a 25 year old male. I had a full body PET/CT scan done on me 6 months back. Nothing unusual came out. But now i am scared after reading all the negative effects of radiation. How much radiation in mSv I may have received ? What supplements can I take to counter this?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Body repairs spontaneously...

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Radiation through full body CT scan contains low levels of ionizing radiations. To be precise, full body CT scan uses 10 mSv of radiation. This dose is too low to cause any deleterious effect on the body. It is proven that body is capable repairing itself with short term low exposure as the one you described.

Some acute effects are seen beyond 100 mSv exposure and not when it is under 10 mSv. You do not need to take supplements; body heals on its own. Keep drinking plenty of fluids.

Hope this helps. Write back for clarifications.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Prasad J (25 hours later)

It was a full body PET+CT (not just a CT scan) with FDG F-18 (injected intravenously). I must be more than 10 mSv then.Is there any increased cancer risk associated with it ? Also i read that radiation damage gets accumulated with time and since I am only 25 risk may be quite high, right?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (33 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Be least worried...

Detailed Answer:
Chronic and repeated exposure have accumulative effects. In a case of single exposure if radiation is less than 100 mSv, body repairs spontaneously and there is no accumulative effects.

Average radiation with full body PET scan is about 12 mSv. With 18 FDG, in some case radiation can go up to 30 mSv. Still not sufficient to cause any long term risks.

Be least worried. I am sure there is no significant risks of cancer in this case. I hope your PET scan report comes normal too.

Let me know if you have other enquiries.

Regards

Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar