Any radiologist: how harmful are X-rays to the human body?

Answer 1

As far as the human body is concerned there are three systems, which are affected by x-rays. First, is the genitalia, which if affected may have a negative effect on the progeny. The other main system that is affected is the skin. You can get a rash, hair loss and apart from being cosmetically harmful, they also predispose to cancer. The third system that is affected is the blood. If the red blood cells are affected, then you can suffer from anaemia and if the white blood cells are affected, they can attack your immune system and make you vulnerable to various diseases.

The patient should be exposed to an x-ray only when you need more information than what just a physical examination cannot give. If you have a situation like tuberculosis where you need to do a recheck to know whether or not the patient is responding to treatment, then you need to make a schedule because an x-ray should not be repeated before three months.

With reference to the radiation worker, he must protect himself against the main beam of x-rays. When an x-ray is produced, there is a main beam of x-rays as well as scattered x-rays. The cheapest effective method is to maintain distance from the source of the x-ray, and one can stand behind a lead screen to avoid the harmful effect of x-rays. The lead completely absorbs the x-rays and you are safe.

Answer 2

The x-ray effect is very destructive to livings and in a person it can cause DNA mutation. DNA damage can bring about cancerous tumor. X-rays can be very harmful to a man to cause DNA change in sperms. You can suffer from anemia and if the white blood cells are affected, they may turn on your immune system and body and make you susceptible to even the most mild of diseases and infections. The genitalia and reproductive system can be affected with cell change and might cause you to become sterile. Bone marrow is also very likely to become affected by x-rays, which is the tissue within bones. The damage of bone marrow affects the skin and hair follicles a lot, which will result in hair loss, rashes and redness of skin tissue. So I suggest you not to undergo more than 2 X-Ray per year.

Answer 3

No where near as bad as people think. We are exposed to radiation just being outside or flying in an airplane. If you got x-rays daily for a long period of time, then I would start to become concerned.

Answer 4

Normal medical xrays perfomed by a RT using proper procedure - not harmful. Excessive exposure to radiation can be. If you look at the name badge for RT's it is actually a measuring device to monitor their exposure.