X-ray hazard for people with obesity

To get a clear picture when performing a CT scan on someone with obesity, radiologists usually need to use a higher dose of X-rays than they would give someone of average weight. What effects, if any, does this have on health?

To find out, Xie George Xu and his colleagues at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, developed computer models of various bodies, some of a healthy weight, others morbidly obese. These models were then fed into a program simulating the effects of radiation on human tissue.

The team found that CT scans expose the internal organs of men with obesity to around 62 per cent more radiation on average than the organs of men of a healthy weight receive. For women, the dose was 59 per cent higher in cases of obesity.

CT scans have been shown to slightly increase a person's risk of developing cancer. Because obese people receive more radiation, they are 60 per cent more likely than those of average weight to develop the disease, but the risk remains small and is justified by the medical benefits, Xu says.

Journal reference: Physics in Medicine and Biology, DOI: 10.1088/0031-9155/57/9/2441

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