Is the use of ionising radiation in medicine beneficial to human health?
Yes. Benefit to patients from medical uses of radiation has been established beyond doubt. Modern diagnostic radiology assures faster, more precise diagnosis and enables monitoring of a large proportion of diseases. It has been estimated that in about one half of cases, radiological procedures (plain film radiography, fluoroscopy, computed tomography) have a substantial impact on the speed of diagnosis and in a large fraction of cases they are of decisive importance. Furthermore, several screening procedures (such as mammography) have been developed which are beneficial for specific populations at relatively high risk of some diseases. In addition a number of interventional radiological procedures (e.g angioplasty), introduced in the last 10-20 years, contribute significantly to the effectiveness of treatment of very serious and life threatening diseases of the cardiovascular, central nervous system and other organ systems. These procedures are also cost-effective. Nuclear medicine use
