“A pregnant woman today is a lot more likely to undergo a radiological test — such as an X-ray or CT scan — than a woman who was pregnant a decade ago, according to a new study. Not really a surprise, given the rapid rise in scanning during that time. But still worth noting, given the fact that at sufficient doses radiation can raise a fetus’s risk of developing childhood cancer. ‘We think that all of the doses that were imparted in our study were considered safe,’ Elizabeth Lazarus, the Brown University radiologist who led the study, told the Health Blog. ‘But we wonder, if these trends continue, could we be getting into more risky levels?’ The research (abstract here) is being presented at the big Radiological Society of North America conference in Chicago.” (11/27/07)