X-ray hazard for people with obesity

To get a clear picture when performing a CT scan on someone with obesity, radiologists usually need to use a higher dose of X-rays than they would give someone of average weight. What effects, if any, does this have on health?

To find out, Xie George Xu and his colleagues at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, developed computer models of various bodies, some of a healthy weight, others morbidly obese. These models were then fed into a program simulating the effects of radiation on human tissue.