The chart below (from the FDA) shows radiation exposure with a variety of procedures and how that compares to the background radiation of life:

A CT of the abdomen is the radiation dose for 2.7 years. If I’m meant to live 90 years or so I can absorb the radiation of a few CT scans, right? While equating radiation dose from a procedure into relatable term helps from an understanding standpoint, in my opinion it doesn’t imply safety because your cells taking in 8 mSV of radiation over 2.7 years is a lot different from your cells absorbing that same dose over 20 seconds. Let’s use the same analogy with calories. In 2.7 years you will consume roughly 197,000 calories. What do you think would happen to your body if you were forced to consume those calories in 20 seconds or if you were forced to consume 2.4 days worth of food in less than a second.


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