I just came across this article, X-Ray Danger, while doing research for another blog I'm writing right now about irradiation and children. If you look at the first couple paragraphs that question the safety of X-ray procedures, you might not be thinking anything more eloquent than, "Duh." Even if we don't know the specific risks ourselves, we remember the first time we got to wear that heavy lead coat during an X-ray and have always been told that a lot of radiation is bad for us. But then look at when the article was printed: Monday, October 1st, 1956. 1956!
Okay, so that wasn't really that long ago at all, but it really puts into perspective the evolution of our cancer understanding, even within just the last century. We hear about the dawn of our understanding of how cancer arises in class, but it's interesting to actually see older articles written on the topic. For example, here is evidence for how doctors battled the same decision then as we do now when it comes to weighing the benefits of radiation as a cancer therapy. The article's tone is indicative of how little the public actually knew about the risks in general, but also illuminates that their growing concern was in some ways self-initiated in their mounting questioning of the procedure.
(They even mention that radiation can promote mutation in one's genes! Although, they only mention this in the context of passing on possible mutations to children, not as a trigger for cancer formation.)
So, take a quick peek! Be careful how much of the information in it you take for face value because it is quite old; I'm not posting it because it's the most up-to-date information out there. It's just an interesting thing to think about in general. (And what else do you have to do until the royal wedding broadcasts? ...just kidding.)
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