Kidney patients on dialysis are being exposed to extremely high levels of radiation that is dramatically increasing their risk of cancer.
An average kidney patient is receiving the equivalent of 1000 chest x-rays a year – and around 17 per cent are receiving doses so high that they are very likely to contract a fatal form of cancer, say researchers.
A research team from University Hospital in Novara, Italy tracked the health screening procedures of 106 dialysis patients for three years and calculated their radiation exposure.
Thirty-three participants were exposed to high or very high doses of radiation, and a further 17 had doses so high that cancer was a very real possibility.
Most of the screenings were unnecessary, said the researchers, as they resulted in negative results.
(Source: Journal of the American Society Nephrology, 2011, February 24: doi: 10.1681/ASN.2010070784).
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