How much harm will it do to the body if a CT scan is taken in the hospital?

Any discussion of toxicity without regard to dose is a hoax. First of all, our bodies are basically healthy and it is impossible to go to the hospital for CT scans every day. Secondly, as CT is a diagnostic and treatment method, manufacturers will consider the possible harm to the human body when designing. Therefore, during actual use, manufacturers will set up a large number of safety measures to prevent radiation from harming the human body. Finally, CT contains radiation, but the dose of this radiation is not high and will not affect people's health.

First, let’s talk about what radiation is. Radiation is a high-energy particle beam. General radiation is divided into ionizing radiation and electromagnetic radiation. Another name for electromagnetic radiation is electromagnetic waves. We use mobile phones to communicate, watch TV, use computers, and use WIFI to generate electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic radiation is not harmful to the human body. Recently, a lot of news has reported that some old men and women maliciously damaged base stations, fearing that they would contain radiation. The radiation generated by the base station is actually electromagnetic radiation, which is completely different from ionizing radiation. After all, the base station is just a signal tower, not a nuclear reactor.

The principle of CT is to use X-rays to penetrate the human body and then form an image of the inside of the human body. So CT produces ionizing radiation. We can all see placards warning of ionizing radiation at the door of the CT room in the hospital. Every time the human body undergoes a CT examination, it receives a radiation dose of 1-2 millisieverts at most. This radiation dose is so small that it can be ignored. And when the CT machine is turned off, the radiation is not present. Therefore, doing a CT scan does not cause much harm to the body. On the contrary, doctors can determine the cause of your disease as quickly as possible through CT results. Then give you better treatment.

Our fear of radiation comes from three events. First, the United States used atomic bombs to bomb Japan. Second, the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Soviet Union. Third, the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. These three nuclear accidents caused people to have considerable concerns about nuclear radiation. But all fear comes from the unknown. It is precisely because we do not understand nuclear radiation that we think nuclear radiation is scary.

First of all, radiation is everywhere in our daily lives. Let’s talk about our sun first. Nuclear fusion is constantly occurring on the surface of the sun. You can understand that hydrogen bombs are constantly exploding on the surface of the sun. Since the temperature and pressure on the surface of the sun are sufficient, the nuclear fusion reaction of the hydrogen bomb can continue forever. We all know that sunlight has a spectrum, with red light at one end of the spectrum and violet light at the other end. Purple light has a short wavelength and red light has a long wavelength. The above mentioned are all visible light. In addition to red light, there are infrared rays, and in addition to violet light, there are ultraviolet rays. Both of these are invisible light. In addition to infrared rays, there are also radio waves and microwaves. These are electromagnetic radiations that are harmless to the human body.

If the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation is less than 100 nanometers, it will form ionizing radiation. For example, X-rays, gamma rays, etc. are all ionizing radiation. Exposure to large doses of ionizing radiation to the human body for a long time can cause cancer in cells in the human body. But the prerequisite is large doses and long periods of time. The short-term exposure of CT will not cause problems.