PREGNANCY: WHAT SHOULD I DO AND NOT DO?
X-rays. When you go to a dentist or radiology clinic, the walls are usually covered with notices commanding you to tell everyone if you are pregnant. It is not that the staff of these places are nosey, they just don’t want to harm your foetus.
In the ‘old days’ x-rays were used during pregnancy, to check things like the gestation of the foetus, whether there were twins, and whether the pelvis was big enough to let the foetus out. Ultrasound (see appendix 1) has made x-rays in pregnancy largely redundant (except for looking at the size of the pelvis, for which late-pregnancy x-rays are still performed).
The reason they have fallen out of favour is that there is a potential risk involved in x-raying any rapidly dividing genetic tissue (like embryos, foetuses, ovaries and testicles). It has been shown that high-dose radiation can affect the dividing cells, and make them more likely to have faulty division and multiplication, leading to an increased risk of developing abnormalities or cancer cells.
High-dose radiation directly on an embryo may carry some risk. A lower dose, on a more fully developed foetus is likely to carry much less risk. The foetus can be shielded from the radiation if an upper-body or limb x-ray is required during pregnancy. If an x-ray is needed, say to assess a woman’s pelvic size, to see if she is likely to be able to deliver vaginally or will require a caesarean section, that x-ray is performed in late pregnancy, using relatively low-dose radiation.
So while all the warning signs may lead you to believe all x-rays in pregnancies are to be avoided, it is more a case of being careful and selective about them.
*156\52\4*
RelatedPosts:
Tags: Women’s Health