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http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994927"
It seems that the organs that could be affected are the hypothalamus, the pituitary and the thyroid gland. Although it is ofcourse possible that requiring an X-ray itself might be the riskfactor.. The dental records of total 4500 women were compared.Women who have a dental X-ray during pregnancy are three times more likely to give birth to a low birth weight baby than those who do not, suggests a new study.
The results challenge conventional guidelines which suggest that only medical X-rays directly to the reproductive organs are of concern during pregnancy, say the researchers at the University of Washington School of Dentistry, Seattle, US.
"When we first noticed this association, we were very surprised," says Philippe Hujoel, who led the study. "Researchers had assumed that only direct radiation to the uterus or foetus would be harmful, and that radiation to the head and neck region would not have negative effects on pregnancies."
He adds the findings were also surprising in that the amount of radiation women are exposed to during a dental X-ray is "very low and generally thought to be incapable of inducing observable health effects".
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