A Compelling
Reason
Why John Gofman is
Correct in
Identifying Medical
X-rays as
a Major Cause of Cancer
Copyright 2001 by Darrell Stoddard
The January 2000 Lancet article,
summarized below, presents credible evidence that medical X-rays are a major
cause of cancer. This reaffirms John
Gofman's monumental
study linking cancer to medical X-rays. See Better Than a Cure
for Breast Cancer
(http://www.healpain.net ) for a review of the
most thoroughly validated and comprehensive cancer study of the last
century.
Never does Gofman say X-rays
should not be used, especially exams with digital mammography
instruments that have reduced radiation exposure by
a factor of more than 10 times. Gofman cites this reduction as
the model for
what should be done, but has not yet occurred with other X-ray
instruments
and tests. One CT scan exposes the patient to as much radiation
as
5 to 25 mammograms. One fluoroscopy exam (a
common X-ray test where
the beam stays on) may expose the patient to as much or more
radiation
than 250 mammograms. There are
700,000 fluoroscopy exams each
year in the U.S.
If with low-dose
mammography (see Lancet article below), the total
number of deaths per thousand women screened is increased by
six for each breast cancer death avoided, what does this suggest for
X-ray
examinations that may expose patients to 250 times as much radiation as
mammography? Answer: One death for every 16 such
examinations,
or in the U.S., 43,680 excess deaths each year from fluoroscopy
examinations
alone. The number of deaths could be more than this or less, but
the total is significant - even momentous, when this is radiation
that
could be easily reduced by 50% or more, with no loss of information and
no reduction in the quality of health care. (Calculation based on
the
maximum total radiation exposure of 24 low dose mammograms, 2 each year
for 12 years; compared to exposure of one lower dose fluoroscopy
examination
and 700,000 such exams in the U.S. each year. In practice, the
exposure
difference between 24 mamograms and one fluoroscopy exam is often 2
times
as great as this calculation.)
Reducing X-ray exposure
and smoking cessation are by far the most
important measures that can be taken to save people from heart disease
and cancer! It costs nothing to do either. (For
more
information see Lancet article below or Better than a Cure
for
Breast Cancer on this website)
Footnote: The magnitude of deaths
caused from tobacco use, is revealed
in a recent address by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of
the
World Health Organization -- "The current annual toll of 4 million
tobacco
deaths world-wide will rise to10 million each year by 2030.... tobacco
is set to be the biggest killer of them all -- causing more deaths than
both malaria, HIV/AIDS, and TB together." (These
death
estimates are world wide. The death estimates given for medical
X-rays
are only for the United States.)
Summary from Jan. 2000 Lancet article
Is Screening for
Breast Cancer
with Mammography
Justifiable?
(Includes an analysis of all
eight identified Breast Cancer Mammography
Trials)
by Peter C Gtzsche, Ole
Olsen
"Background
A 1999 study found no decrease in breast-cancer mortality in Sweden,
where screening has been recommended since 1985. We therefore reviewed
the methodological quality of the mammography trials and an influential
Swedish meta-analysis, and did a meta-analysis ourselves.
Methods
We searched the Cochrane Library for trials and asked the investigators
for further details. Meta-analyses were done with Review Manager
(version
4.0).
Findings
Baseline imbalances were shown for six of the eight identified trials,
and inconsistencies in the number of women randomised were found in
four.
The two adequately randomised trials found no effect of screening on
breast-cancer
mortality (pooled relative risk 104 [95% CI 084-127]) or on total
mortality
(099 [094-105]). The pooled relative risk for breast-cancer
mortality
for the other trials was 075 (067-083), which was significantly
different
(p=0005) from that for the unbiased trials. The Swedish
meta-analysis
showed a decrease in breast-cancer mortality but also an increase in
total
mortality (106 [104-108]); this increase disappeared after adjustment
for
an imbalance in age.
Interpretation
Screening for breast cancer with mammography is unjustified.
If the Swedish trials are judged to be unbiased, the data show that for
every 1000 women screened biennially
throughout 12 years,
one breast-cancer death
is
avoided whereas the total number of deaths is increased by six.
If
the Swedish trials (apart from the Malm trial) are judged to be biased, there
is no reliable evidence that screening decreases breast-cancer
mortality."
Lancet 2000; 355: 129-34
Footnote: To appreciate the
importance of the Lancet article
on breast cancer and mammography, it needs to be pointed out that Lancet
is
one of the most conservative and respected medical journals in the
world.
The editors of Lancet would not have published the study if
they
did not believe the conclusions were valid. A previous breast
cancer
study concluded the benefit of mammography screening exceeded the risk
only for women between 50 and 65 years of age. The new Lancet
study analyzed that data, plus all previous risk/benefit mammography
studies
and concluded, "there
is no reliable evidence that screening decreases
breast-cancer mortality." (We assume this means at any
age.)
Thomas Kuhn, in his book The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions,
refers to this kind of a shift in science, as a "paradigm discovery"
- a theory that replaces previously held beliefs, usually with much
resistance.
The above
page linking Cancer to medical
X-rays is from The Pain Research Institute and the
Lancet
Medical Journal. For more information about paradigm
discoveries
in cancer research, and the cause and treatment of pain, click
on
the homepage link at the bottom of the page.
Darrell J. Stoddard, Founder - Pain
Research Institute
266 East 3200 North Provo, UT 84604 U.S.A.
Phone: 801-377-6900
E-mail: stoddard@healpain.net
Website: http://www.healpain.net
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Homepage of the Pain Research Institute