Diagnostic x-rays do not shorten a life span by three years. Diagnostic x-rays do not increase your cancer risk. There is no need for antioxidants (they would have a negligible effect if needed).

Alright , thanks for your advice Joseph.

Dear Roseline, Dr Alvarez is right, however  to counteract the oxidative stress products that are forming every day it is advisable to have a sufficient nutritional (not integrators) antioxidant intake with fruits, berries etc..decrease the intake of meat, do not smoke etc....

The absorbed dose delivered by a diagnostic x-rays is very low and lies within the stochastic effect of ionizing radiation. It means that no effect may be predicted by such radiation doses. Your worry about you have lost 27 years of live ahead and predisposed to cancer risk may lead to a higher stress that may greatly disturb the balance of body chemistry. Stress and cancer are potentially connected through all of the body’s biochemical pathways, and they are all interrelated.  In short, forget it.

Dear Giovanetti and C. Austerlitz , I am grateful for your advice.  I  can see this is good, encouraging.

Thanks, keep it up 

The drug Quercetin belongs to vitamin drugs group and R is a flavonoid aglycone of the plant glycosides, including rutin. The drug has a pronounced strengthening capillaries, radioprotective, cardioprotective and regenerative properties. Has an active antioxidant, preosteoclasts, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic and anti-sclerotic action. Quercetin is found in buckwheat, blueberries, apples, green and black tea, onions, legumes, leafy green vegetables, cranberries, raspberries, tomatoes, cranberries, nuts, olive oil, red wine, etc. In industrial pharmacology quercetin obtained by hydrolysis of rutin, which is extracted from buckwheat or Sophora japonica. Reviews about Quercetin confirm the effectiveness of its application in sports nutrition for bodybuilders, because it can significantly improve performance and recovery after workouts is faster

Quercetin effectively decreases the permeability of capillaries due to strengthening capillaries properties related to antioxidant and membrane-stabilizing effects on the vascular wall. Lipooxygenase substance blocks the way of the metabolism of arachidonic acid that inhibits the synthesis of serotonin, leukotrienes and other mediators of inflammation, causing a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect of the drug. Reparative properties of bioflavonoids expressed in the acceleration of healing of erosions or wounds. Quercetin affects the process of bone remodeling and shows a stable immunomodulatory activity. Cardioprotective properties of the drug due to an increase in the energy balance of cardiomyocytes by increasing blood circulation and antioxidant action. Also Quercetin normalizes blood pressure, stimulates the release of insulin, inhibits the production of thromboxane accelerates platelet aggregation. The drug is well absorbed in the small intestine.

Instructions for Quercetin recommends the appointment of the drug for adults and children over 12 years for the prevention and treatment of purulent inflammatory lesions of soft tissues, radiation damage on the background of gamma - and radiotherapy, erosive and ulcerative diseases of the oral mucosa, periodontal disease. And etc

My clear comment is, antioxidants must be present within the irradiated cells during exposition, because they shall eradiate radicals. Later on they are without any effects.

Dear Hanno,  So if the antioxidants were inefficient does this mean trouble?

Dear Roseline,

the antioxidants are present in your body in a satisfying dosage, but not in additional doses which are without sense for a normally nourished person. The second point is, the typical doses for chest radiographs are between 0.02 to maximal 0.1 mSv. Thats the natural dose of about one to two weeks. And like Joseph mentioned, the risk for such small doses is overestimated to be at the secure position for professional radiation exposition. In you special case I would not be to sorrowful.

   Each year, the medical scientists join the list of diseases caused by free radicals. Is the risk of cancer, heart disease and blood vessels, diseases of the eye, particularly cataract, and arthritis, or other deformation of bone tissue.  These diseases are successfully fighting antioxidants. They help to make a person healthier and less exposed to external environment. In addition, research shows that antioxidants help to control weight and stabilize the metabolism. That's why people should consume them in sufficient quantities.

Just out of curiosity Roseline, who told you that each chest x-ray shortens your lifespan by 3 years? I once had 6 chest x-rays in the space of 24 hours (pneumothorax), though assuming the projected lifetime risk of 1:1 million each, I'm a lot more bothered about the pneumothorax itself rather than the excess cancer risk.

take it easy, the intensity dose during  chest x-rays exmination  is the second lowest in the most common X-ray examination, it is about 0.15 mSv/time, so the total dose you undergone is just 0.15*8=1.2mSv, which is lower than the average natural dose 2mSv. The increase risk of cancer caused by  the 2mSv is about 0.01%, the data for the dose lower than 2mSv  has been not founed  , beacause  the influence of the 1mSv on the human health is rare,

Alright Zhu; thanks for that advice

Roseline k

Zhu the going rate is about 0.02 mSv for a single view CXR (Mettler 2008), not 0.15, so the cumulative dose would only be about  0.16 mSv.

Dear Richard,

the effective dose depends on the type of X-ray detector used for the thorax radiograph. If you use films you typically need 0.1 or a little bit more mSv per take. If you use modern digital detectors you can reduce to 0.02 mSv/take.

Lifespan becomes shorter by 3 years from each X-ray check?! What a rubbish! Radiophobia can be very annoying, and makes more harm to human health than radiation by itself, so please calm down.  

Regarding radioprotection during X-ray, Id recommend to read a report on a special study that was performed on volonteers for the evaluation of potential radioprotective effect of antioxidants and choosing the best timing for their administration in the radiological scenario involving radiation dose typical for CT imaging. Here you are the bibliography: Kuefner M.A., Brand M., Ehrlich J., Braga L., Uder M., Semelka R.C. Effect of antioxidants on X-ray-induced γ-H2AX foci in human blood lymphocytes: preliminary observations. Radiology. 2012 Jul;264(1):59-67. doi: 10.1148/radiol.12111730.

As documented by other colleagues above, the dose received for each chest X.rays is very low and thus the risk of cancer is so low that no study can demonstrate it. The information given to you about the reduction of 3 years of your life for each X ray is non sense.

Your question is also to know if antioxydants could remove the free radicals created by the interaction of X rays with your tissue. The reponse is clearly NO just because the life of these radicals is less than a fraction of second. This is the reason why radiation protection relies on prevention and is based on the justification and the optimisation of medical exposures. Thus the main question in your case is  to know why you had 8 chest X rays in 9 months.  Were all the examinations useful ?  Have they changed the disgnosis or the treatment ? If not they were useless and should not have been performed? Ask you doctors !

Dear Mr. Bourguignon,few of the examinations were useful. Treatment was done and i am fair . thanks for your advise.

Roseline

It will have no protective action. Free radicals appear during X-ray exposion and miliseconds after it. What they were to do they already did.

The statement of 3 yr. reduction in lifespan per chest X-Ray is unfounded. To know the dose you have actually received is to ask the radiologist for such data; if he/she hedges then they do not know either. Ask for the brand of machine and look up the specifications and the dose intensity per image.

Antioxidants are more a prevention measure enhancing the immune system rather than an after cure. Taking antioxidants now is a precautionary measure against future  probable occurrence of cancer. I would suggest that you forego x-ray imaging for a while and suggest another format such as MRI for diagnosis, though not as a treatment measure.

Cancer can be iniciated by DNA damage. Ionizing radiation breakes chemical bindings, in the DNA molecule and, mainly, in any other molecule present. In the last case, free ions and free radicals are created, which are quimicaly very active, and will cause DNA damage (indirect damage). The second process is dominant (because the DNA ocupes only a small portion of the cell volume).

The antioxidants can boost the recombination process of free radicals and free ions, minimizing the DNA damage due to them. So, they may be present during the irradiation process, being useless if administrated later, when the DNA is already damaged.

I hope this help. Best regards

Sex averaged nominal risks for cancer are 5.5%/Sv for whole population and 4.1% for adults, according to ICRP Publication 103. Therefore, 1 or 2 mSv received by chest X-rays 8 times is expected to result in a

No need to worry. There is no problem even you take 100 or 500 more xays in future. There is inherently small radiation in body from potassium 40 and carbon 14. Water we drink and food we eat has small radiation. Even in air travel we get extra radiation. No need to the any medical opinion etc. You r totally safe. 

Please refer the attached file 

Article Antioxidative and radioprotective potential of rutin and que...

Radiation  harms/kills the DNA; but the body has the repair mechanism (regeneration) within an hour. It is the rate of death versus the rate of rebirth that is crucial. in your case the dose received from 8 chest x-rays is not excessive and i would imagine your DNA is back to normal. 

Taking anti-oxidants after the fact does not bestow immunity after the damage has been done. However, daily food intake of anti-oxidants will keep keep your body in prime condition to resist the ravages of future radiation damage to your system. 

Cecilia you can view the following reference about the increase absorbed dose in the presence of iodine contrast in radiology : Radiodiagnostic examinations with iodinated contrast media may result in severe DNA damage resulting in cellular radiosensitization by Joubert et al, Contrast Media & Molecular Imaging 1(2):79-80 · March 2006.

Iodine-enhanced computed tomography (CT) increases the dose and the number of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), but clinical benefits should outweigh minimal risks due to the radiation dose increased by media.    

Efforts having been made to reduce dose while maintaining image quality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28345547

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27577509

Papers related to DSBs induced by iodine-enhanced CT.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28703119

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22144029

Papers related to dosimetry in iodine-enhanced CT.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28287916

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28710576

Regarding risk, it may also be important to note that, independent of radiation exposure, administration of contrast media causes the mortality risk of about 10-5, and contrast-induced nephropathy due to elevated serum creatinine is an important complication, representing the third leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury (the estimated incidence: 2-7%).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28566501

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28642116

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18483141