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People who are elderly when exposed to radiation are less at risk than those who are very young. This is because it would take years, even decades, for any cancer to develop (if at all) and often it would not occur within an elderly person’s remaining lifespan. For this reason, children have twice the lifetime risk due to a medical examination than that of a middle-aged person.
It is thought that foetuses and young children are more radiosensitive than adults and for this reason children and pregnant women require special consideration in diagnostic procedures. This is not to say that it cannot be carried out, but care should be taken to minimise the dose to the foetus or child.
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