CT scan

A new study of non-solid lung nodules, followed via annual spiral/low-dose CT scans among smokers and ex-smokers, shows that that type of nodule can be safely followed with imaging, avoiding needless surgical interventions. Some lung cancers were found: none caused significant illness.
Another apparently-beneficial screening program lung CT scans for smokers becomes controversial, when Medicare officials decide it should be covered, contradicting its own coverage advisory committee s recommendation. Who needs it? The scan, that is.
The latest in health news: Breakthrough drug when combined with current Hepatitis C drug eradicates the disease in six weeks, alcohol once again is linked to stroke risk in older age, and Medicare is finalizing plans to cover low-dose lung cancer screenings for current and former smokers
DO fear the radiologist! The NYTimes publishes an op-ed seeming to warn everyone to avoid deadly CT scans at (almost) all costs. Avoid those unnecessary ones, anyway. But who s to say which ones those are the FDA?
It s hard to imagine lung tumors to be non-lethal but according to a new study, one in five detected on a CT scan are so slow-growing, they would not affect a person during his or her lifetime, contrary to the general scientific (and popular) consensus previously thought.