Ultrasound: Not A Toy?

PART 1

"What about those 3-D ultrasounds?"

I hear it so often. They're fun - they're cute! They aren't medically informative. And the FDA warns against them.

Even routine medical ultrasounds, which is a common practice (even offered by yours truely!), isn't recommended by respected organizations. The National Institutes of Health notes that "the data on clinical efficacy and safety do not allow recommendation for routine screening at this time; there is a need for multidisciplinary randomized controlled clinical trials for an adequate assessment." The World Health Organization (WHO) has a similar statement: "Ultrasound screening during pregnancy is now in widespread use without sufficient evaluation. Research has demonstrated its efficacy for certain complications of pregnancy but the published material does not justify the routine use of ultrasound in pregnant women."

In a 1999 study, six scientists at University College Dublin found that ultrasound creates changes in cells. The researchers gave 12 mice an eight megahertz scan lasting for 15 minutes. Hospital scans can last for up to an hour, using frequencies of between three and 10 megahertz. Two significant changes in the cells of the small intestine were detected in scanned mice compared with unscanned mice. Four and a half hours after exposure, the rate of cell division had reduced by 22 per cent and the rate of programmed cell death had approximately doubled. The researchers believe there may be similar effects in humans. However, he stressed that the implications for human health were uncertain. Further evidence that ultrasound has an effect on cells is indicated in recent research that shows a higher-than-average rate of left-handedness in boys exposed to ultrasound in utero.

So why, despite these warnings, is "everybody doing it?" You'll just have to read tomorrow...