In mid -August, 2024, the Internet dispersed that in the UK, according to the new rules, radiologists should ask even male patients about pregnancy. We decided to check if this is so.
Many Russian media, for example, told the resonant innovation in the British healthcare system, for example.Moscow Komsomolets","Komsomolskaya Truth" Sputnik, "Gazeta.ru" Russia Today, Lenta.ru, "Evening Moscow" And "Public television of Russia". The notes reported that the new practice has already caused anger among male patients and even mass refusals of reception. Large Telegram channels shared the news: ""Growth crystal"(472,000 views at the time of writing this analysis),"Newsach / Dv"(215 000),"Mousetrap"(147 000),"KK"(140 000),"Not Morgenstern"(130,000) and others - as well as users of social networks ("VKontakte" X), Platform blog And services questions and answers.
X -ray - One of the most common diagnostic methods. Due to the effects of electromagnetic radiation radiation, it allows you to get a black and white image of the internal structure of a person. Despite the frightening word “radiation”, the doses of the radiation that the body is subjected to is too small to cause serious harm, especially if you do not abuse this type of study, but do it only as necessary.
X -ray during pregnancy is considered completely Safe For the fetus, if the reproductive organs are not exposed to irradiation (for example, if a specialist takes pictures of the head, limbs or chest). However, when examining the abdominal cavity or pelvis area of a pregnant woman, the fetus also receives a certain dose of irradiation, and theoretically it Maybe Increase the risk of developing various pathologies or oncological diseases in the unborn child. Although experts They think Such a scenario is extremely unlikely, they advise not to take risks and inform your doctor about pregnancy. Firstly, he will be able to evaluate the feasibility of conducting the study at the moment, and secondly, if it is still necessary, to reduce the dose of radiation at the X-ray and take other measures to minimize the impact on the fetus.
The same goes for and computed tomography (CT) - another type of study using radioactive radiation. Despite the fact that with CT dose of radiation is higher than with an X -ray, this procedure is considered completely safe for the fetus if it is not directed at the abdominal cavity and the pelvic organs of the pregnant woman. If these areas need the examination, it is believed that the risk of developing cancer in the unborn child Maybe It is extremely insignificant to increase, but scientists do not even have convincing evidence of these risks. In any case, as with an X -ray that determines the factor here is expediency, since the refusal to conduct an examination can lead to more serious consequences for the health of the mother (and, consequently, the child) than radiation radiation during CT.
The authors of many publications mentioned at the beginning of this analysis referred to a note in The Telegraph newspaper. On August 11, 2024, this British edition really posted on its website article With the heading "Employees of the National Health Service (NHS), it was instructed to ask the men in front of the X -ray in men if they are pregnant." The publication is about some new recommendations that are prescribed by radiologists in many hospitals of the United Kingdom to check if the child expects patients of any gender aged 12 to 55 years. It is clarified that the regulations were changed after the incident, when the transmuven cub, not guessing about pregnancy, passed CT. It is not known whether this led to some consequences for the health of the fetus, but in the framework of the inclusive policy regarding transgender, non-bureau and intercovely people, doctors allegedly ordered to ask about pregnancy anyway, and not to be based exclusively on the appearance of the patient and his verbal self-identification. According to The Telegraph, the innovation brought the patients of patients a violent reaction: the men allegedly left the office in anger, and the women cried due to questions about their fertility. The text of the article clarifies that the new leadership in question is developed by the British Society of X -ray (SOR) - a professional organization for specialists in diagnostic visualization and radiotherapy. However, later the interlocutor of the publication in NHS noted that the application of this leadership in healthcare institutions is not mandatory.
The next day, August 12, Sor posted on his site answer To the publication of The Telegraph. Representatives of the Company described the article as offensive and transfer and with references to legal acts noted that by law they are obliged to learn about the possible pregnancy of patients in order to reduce the risk of harmful effects on the fetus. The Sor statement notes: if the patient in the questionnaire indicates that he was born a man, any X -ray is obvious that he does not need to ask the question of pregnancy. If at birth, the patient’s floor was defined as a female, then the doctor should tactfully find out if he had pregnancy, and if necessary to inform about the risks and discuss the need to study.
The very leadership itself is not new - sor Published It was back in 2021. A form was attached to the document Profiles, it is proposed to fill it with each patient who was prescribed an X -ray. The first and second questions are about how a doctor should contact the visitor and which pronouns to use. The third - which floor of the patient was determined at birth, and only patients aged 12 to 55 years need to respond to it. Two answer options are offered: male and female. At the same paragraph of the questionnaire, it is specified: “If you know that you were born with the physical variation of sexual characteristics or Intersex-version, report this to the radiologist. " In Intersex people, due to genetic disorders, the structure of the genitals may not fit into the binary idea of female and male genital organs-for example, both of the different degrees of development can be. Some intercove-creams, identifying themselves as men, still have fairly developed female genital organs in order to be able to conceive.
To the fourth question of the questionnaire is proposed only to those who, in the previous paragraph, indicated either the female gender at birth or the intercix-version with the ability to get pregnant. Such patients are asked to report whether there were surgical surgery or other medical interventions in their life, which could affect the opportunity to have children. In the case of a negative answer, you need to provide a number of data that allows you to establish the possibility of pregnancy at the moment. If the patient was born a man, then regardless of how he identifies himself at the moment (men who have made a transgender transition are also not able to get pregnant), all questions after the third are not related to him and they do not need to answer them. This clarification is highlighted with bold font and emphasized.
After criticism by SOR, the journalists The Telegraph Updated your article. The text itself, however, remained the same, but the title was changed to "men are asked to fill out the form of pregnancy in front of the X -ray in NHS institutions." In addition, at the end of the publication, a clarification was added: “In the earlier version of this article it was reported that NHS radiologists were indicated from men whether they were pregnant, before scanning. All patients are asked to fill out the form of pregnancy, but if they declare that they were registered as men at birth, they are not asked about the actual or possible pregnancy (with the exception of rare cases when they have appropriate physical variations in sexual characteristics). ” At the same time, the Russian media and bloggers mentioned at the beginning of the analysis, which published articles and posts with loud headlines with reference to the publication of The Telegraph, did not release any updates.
Thus, at least in part of hospitals in the UK, before conducting an X -ray study, men are actually offered to fill out a questionnaire where there are questions about a possible pregnancy. However, one of its first items is the question of the patient’s field at birth. If it is male, this issue becomes the latter. All further points designed to establish the likelihood of pregnancy relate only to those whose gender at birth was registered as a female one, and people with intersex-variation, which are theoretically able to get pregnant.
Photo on the cover: pexels.com
Read on the topic:
- Factcheck.kz. Is it true that British doctors were obliged to ask men about their pregnancy?
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