A huge government study has found that annual CT scans of current and former heavy smokers reduced their risk of death from lung cancer by 20 percent.
Equally interesting, the scans seem to reduce the risks of death from other causes as well, suggesting that the scans could be catching other illnesses. “What we also have found is that low-dose CT scan gives information on cardiovascular disease, emphysema” and other pulmonary diseases, said Dr. Claudia Henschke, a clinical professor of radiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center .
Patients wishing to get a CT lung screen will most likely have to pay the roughly $300 charge themselves, since few insurers pay for such scans unless an illness is suspected. The federal Medicare program will soon reconsider paying for such screens, a Medicare official said.
Another caution: One-quarter of those given CT scans were found to have anomalies, nearly all of which were benign. These false signals generally led to more worry, more CT scans and sometimes to lung biopsies and thoracic surgery.
The medical community is still debating whether such scans should become routine. They don't yet know which patients would be best suited for the test. Nevertheless, if you're worried, it's a good thing to discuss with your doctor.
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