There are not too many subjects out there that strike a cord in people’s imaginations like radiation exposure. Thanks in a large part to the media, the idea of being exposed has elicited awful images as the onset of debilitating physical conditions to cancer. Ironically, while we live with the constant anxiety of exposure from microwave ovens, cell phones, and airport scanner, it turns out that the biggest source of radiation exposure to the general public is, of all things, having too many medical tests administered on our bodies.

In a sign that we may have come to rely too heavily on medical technology, people in America get the largest amount of medical radiation than anywhere else in the world, even when you include populations in other wealthy nations. In fact, the United States accounts for as many as half of the medical procedures that involve the use of radiation in the world, with the average dose for people in this country having grown by as much as six times over the past 20 years.

Needless to say, all this exposure increases a person’s risk for cancer, and that risk is growing due to the excessive number of tests people undergo for every possible situation imaginable. The end result is that Americans are simply over-tested and over-treated, a situation that has been echoed in the current medical care debate. As far as radiation exposure goes, imaging tests are the biggest culprit.

Part of the problem is the popularity amongst medical practitioners of high tech CT scans, which are akin to “super X-rays” that give quick and more detailed images. As a consequence, they have replaced procedures that require no radiation, including ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.

While the dose that one gets from a single test poses little, if any, health risk, repeated exposure has a cumulative affect and adds up over time. The problem is compounded by the fact that radiation exposure cannot be felt or even detected without sensitive measuring devices, and any consequences often take years before they actually show up.

Currently, with the exception of mammograms, there are no federal guidelines regarding patient exposure levels, and doctors generally do not keep track of the amount of radiation a patient has been administered. They simply order tests, not always cognizant of the levels of radiation they may entail, which is an important consideration for young women and children, who are especially vulnerable.

Change may be on the horizon, however. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are working towards the possibility of requiring manufacturers to indicate the radiation dose of each imaging technique on their machines so that doctors and patients can be more aware. The FDA is also trying to have standard doses established for such techniques as CT scans. At the very least, the creation of a “radiation medical record” would enable health care professionals to keep tabs on a patients exposure over their lifetime.

If you are concerned about your level of exposure, talk to you physician, especially if you are slated to have tests done that involve radiation. Bear in mind that many of these procedures are necessary and may need to be done, but being informed is one way to protect yourself from too much of a good thing.

For more information about radiation exposure and cancer, visit the website for the American Cancer Society and the U.S. National Library of Medicine.