X-ray worry

[Bigcitylad]

My little girls has scoliosis which is very mild, she had 3 or 4 X-rays at about 5-6 months and a chest X-ray at 4 years, they say the scoliosis isn't getting worse, better infact, but, I recently read a report saying there is a link with childhood cancer and x-ray and haven't been able to get my mind off it.  I have also read reports saying there is no link with low dose X-ray but don't know what to believe now.  Am I worrying irrationally.  I just can't get my mind off the fact that we subjected her to this.

[Bigcitylad]

He fobbed me off saying the risk was minimal, but my Anxiety /OCD mind keeps reading reports and studies to the contrary.  Are there any radiologists on here?

[gymdandee]

Why don't you call your child's doctor and the Radiologist and ask them so you can put your mind at ease?

[Bigcitylad]

Still worried about this, can Anyone put my mind at ease?

[Bigcitylad]

that's not how i read it, it says to me that X-Rays are linked to increased ALL, most of the news agencies that ran with the story also said this.  From the study - "Specifically, the researchers found that children with acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) had almost twice the chance of having been exposed to three or more X-rays compared with children who did not have leukemia"  

Am i reading this wrong?

[gymdandee]

If you HAVE acute lymphoid leukemia then X-rays aren't good

[Bigcitylad]

Not sure I understand that, do X-rays cause ALL

[gymdandee]

"acute lymphoid leukemia" That's if you have acute lymphoid leukemia!

[Bigcitylad]

Thanks, but that report goes on to say  “The results of our study were not what we expected.” and "The study found an increased risk from X-rays for ALL" (acute lymphoid leukaemia)

Is that reliable or could other factors have increased the risk.

[gymdandee]

The dose of ionizing radiation from a single chest X-ray is roughly equivalent to the amount one would get from natural surroundings in 10 days, which is still considered low.

“The general clinical impression has been that the level of radiation a child would be exposed to today from a conventional X-ray would not confer an additional risk for cancer,” said Patricia Buffler, UC Berkeley professor of epidemiology and principal investigator of the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study.