No question about it – CT scans are fabulous technology and have saved lives. But there are also concerns that the radiation from a CT scan could increase your risk of getting cancer.

A new study by the Orlando Regional Medical Center set out to determine how much radiation people are being exposed to. To figure this out, they looked at a randomly selected group of emergency room patients, and determined how much radiation they’d been exposed to through CT scans and other tests. The researchers found that on average, the patients over a five-year period had accumulated 40 mSv (millieseiverts are a unit of radiation measurement). Twelve percent were estimated to have received 100 or more mSv of radiation. To put that in perspective, the average chest X-ray gives you .02 mSv of radiation.

So does this mean these patients were destined to get cancer? Absolutely not. A CT scan increases your risk of getting cancer, but by “a very small amount,” says David Brenner, professor of radiation oncology and public health at Columbia University Medical Center. His bottom line: If you need a CT scan, by all means get one. But when your doctor recommends a CT scan, ask questions to make sure you really need it. Brenner suggests asking these questions:

1. Is there an alternative to a CT scan?
Brenner says sometimes doctors can do other tests, such as an ultrasound, which doesn’t involve radiation. Or sometimes no test at all – just waiting to see what happens – is an alternative, says Dr. Timothy Bullard, the lead author of the Orlando study.

2. Have I had this CT scan somewhere else?
Brenner says doctors sometimes order a CT scan even when the exact same test was done by another doctor – but it would take a lot of time and effort to get that scan. Since getting scans from one doctor’s office to another can be the equivalent of moving a medical mountain, Brenner has this suggestion: Ask to have the scan put on a thumb drive or a disc to keep for yourself and share with your future doctors.

3. Is my child getting a pediatric dose of radiation?
Brenner says too often children get an adult-size dose of radiation. “It’s better than it used to be, but it still happens,” he says.

For more tips on becoming an Empowered Patient, check out my column at CNN.com/empoweredpatient

They want to pay me for the use of my body. No, I’m not vain, nor is anyone trying to push me into prostitution. They want me (and you) to be subjects in medical studies.

A poster in my internist’s waiting room asks whether I’d be interested in participating in a cholesterol study. In my gynecologist’s waiting room, another poster tries to recruit ladies for studies on prenatal vitamins and on vulvar vestibulitis (you don’t want to know). On my way home from work, I hear radio ads that go something like this: “Depressed? Come join our study of a new medication.”
“The industry has been advertising like crazy,” says Diane Simmons, president of the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation. “It’s been a real problem getting people to volunteer for clinical trials, so there’s advertising on billboards, on radio, TV and print.”
You don’t have to be sick to join a study. Often, researchers are looking for healthy people.
There are advantages to joining. You can make money, sometimes hundreds of dollars or more. To a certain extent, you’re getting free medical care. If you’re sick, you get the chance to try a treatment so new, you can’t get it from your doctor. You’re also helping your fellow human beings by being a part of medical research.
But before you sign up, here are a few key questions to ask.
1. What are the side effects of the medicine or procedure being studied?
Ask about side effects of the experimental treatment compared with the side effects of your current treatment, advises the National Institutes of Health. What should you expect? Could it make you sick? Could it have long-term effects? Will the doctors in the study follow up with you long-term?

2. Who’s making money off me, and will that influence how they treat me?
The doctors running the study might stand to make money if the experimental treatment works, and there are concerns that could influence what they do with you. The nightmare scenario is that they’ll enroll you in the study even when the new treatment could harm you or that they’ll keep the study going even though the new treatment is clearly causing dangerous side effects.
Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin, suggests that you find out whether the recruiters, doctors and nurses involved in the study are “likely to be influenced in their judgments by money or professional connections to the study sponsor.”
3. Will it cost me money to be in this study?
Even if they’re paying you a stipend, there might be hidden costs. Art Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, says to ask very specific questions: If you need to hire a baby sitter while you go to required appointments, who pays? Will the study sponsor pay for lost wages if the treatment makes you sick and you miss work?
For more tips on how to become an Empowered Patient, check out my column at CNN.com/health

Crude oil prices continue to hover at $135 a barrel level, and nobody can agree who to blame.

The increase in demand worldwide is the biggest factor, but there is a debate about how much “excessive” speculation in oil markets is driving up prices to record levels. That means whichever way companies extract it, they’re bound to make money out of it.

That’s why Big Oil is seeking out prospects under deep seas, in shale rock and even in oils sands. Here’s a look at how much it costs oil companies to “produce” oil—in another words, at what price for a barrel of crude it make sense to exploit reserves at a profit.

1) “Accessible” land-based oil is definitely the cheapest to extract. At $19 a barrel, prospecting for oil on land is profitable.

2) “Shallow” water-based oil costs considerably more to produce. Oil must be between $20 to $60 a barrel to be worth extracting.

3) “Deep” water oil from the outer continental shelves cost a lot more. The high cost of leasing special rigs means that oil must be at $60 a barrel or higher to be worthwhile to prospect.

4) Shale mining works if oil is anywhere between $30 and $60 a barrel. But, that’s after billions of dollars in infrastructure costs that make it much more expensive initially.

5) The “oil sands” in Canada are profitable if oil is between $50 and $60 a barrel. That’s why oil companies are spending $20 billion this year to develop more fields there.

As one analyst put it to me, “At current prices, you can pretty much put a drill anywhere, and if oil oozed out, it’s profitable!”

That’s why I’m visiting Canada’s oil sands right now… stay tuned!

The Federal Reserve is expected to end its nearly year-long campaign of steep interest rate cuts later this afternoon. Economists predict short term interest rates will remain at two percent. Here are some strategies you can use in a rising interest rate environment.

1) Don’t wait to refinance
Now is the time to get into a fixed rate product. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage that dodged the bullet on the rate reset in 2008, may not be so fortunate this time around. Consider refinancing to lock in a rate.

2) Pay down debt
On credit cards, there are no real protections for a rising interest rate environment. A fixed rate card offers no insulation because it’s only fixed until the credit card company wants to raise it. Your best defense is to pay down your debt as quickly as you can.

3) Don’t lock-in long term CDs
If you’re a CD investor, you don’t want to lock in long maturities. Instead, set yourself up in a six month CD so that you can benefit when rates are at higher levels later this year. What makes it attractive isn’t the yield, but the ability to reinvest 6 months down the road when returns may be higher.

Last week’s Midwestern floods devastated many lives, ruining people’s homes and livelihoods. They also ruined food crops, sending corn, wheat and soybean prices way up.

So, we can add food inflation to the long list of what ails our economy: High gas prices, low home values, a credit crunch and job insecurity. More than 2 million acres of cropland may have been engulfed by floods in Iowa, Indiana, Illinois and other key growing states.

The impact on the corn crop alone will be felt across the board and through to the holiday season. Expect to pay more for your Thanksgiving turkey or that Christmas ham in the upcoming holiday season.

Here’s why a devastated corn crop is not just about corn on the cob:

1) Many basic food items are dependent on corn. Meat and dairy farms depend on corn for animal feed, so look to pay more for milk and ground chuck.

2) A lot of processed foods depend on corn, too. All those soft drinks and packaged foods get sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, which will cost you.

3) A lot of other products that have nothing to do with food use corn. Toothpaste and mouthwash, ethanol for gas tank and even some everyday plastics are produced from corn.

Americans in the affected states are just starting to pick up the pieces after the floods. But, Americans in the rest of the country will feel the effects later in the year as the price of a whole slew of products at the super market that we depend on in our daily lives start to go up.

I’ve stocked up on bug spray for the summer, but now I need to remember to wear it. Experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expecting another epidemic this year of West Nile virus. The mosquito-borne illness can cause debilitating symptoms including high fever, headaches, body aches, nausea and vomiting. Here are some tips to reduce your risk of becoming infected.

1) Stay inside at dawn and dusk, the peak mosquito biting times.

2) Wear bug spray. Adults should use a repellent that contains at least a 50 percent concentration of DEET. Apply permethrin sprays directly to clothing. Natural products such as oil of lemon eucalyptus may be effective.

3) Hit the hardware store. Install or repair window and door screens so mosquitoes cannot get indoors.

4) Drain standing water. At least twice a week, empty water from flower pots, rain barrels, swimming pool covers, birdbaths and other containers that collect water. Discard old tires and clean out rain gutters.

West Nile virus usually reaches its peak between mid-July and mid-September, but it can be a threat year-round in some Southern states.

Judy Fortin’s Health Minute segment runs daily on Headline News from 10am to 6pm ET weekdays.

As a medical reporter, I’ve heard it and said it many times: It’s important to eat breakfast! But I confess: I sometimes don’t practice what I preach. This morning, for example, guess what I had for breakfast? A piece of cheese and bread from our prop table as I was running between live shots. So trust me, I know, eating healthy can be hard.

Ironically, that piece of cheese and bread were part of a segment we did on new research that suggests having a big breakfast with carbs and lean protein, and even a piece of chocolate, will help keep your appetite in check all day and help you lose weight. Yes, you read that right, chocolate for breakfast.

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University studied sedentary, obese women eating a big breakfast with those who ate a low-carb breakfast. They found at the end of the eight-month trial, women eating the big breakfast lost an average of almost 40 pounds, compared with only nine pounds lost by the low-carb breakfast group.

The key, according to the study authors, was that the “big breakfast” eaters were able to fight off cravings and feel as if they were not depriving themselves. Some nutrition experts are questioning the validity of the study, but all them agree that eating a healthy breakfast is key to losing weight. Here are some other tips:

1) READ THOSE LABELS - Look for breakfast cereals that provide at least 6 grams of fiber per serving. But make sure your choice is low in sugar (less than 10 grams per serving) says Harvard Men’s Health Watch. Add nonfat milk and bananas, berries, or apple slices to turn that bowl of fiber into a tasty meal.

2) GET THE MOST FROM YOUR CARBS - Harvard Men’s Health Watch also suggests sticking to whole-grain or pumpernickel breads for toast, opt for trans-fat-free soft margarines or cholesterol-lowering spreads that contain plant stanols, which help reduce LDL, or “bad” cholesterol.”

3) EAT IN THREES - Mayo Clinic registered dietitian Katherine Zeratsky, suggests choosing one item from at least three of the following four food groups:

* Fruits and vegetables. Consider fresh, whole fruits and vegetables, fruit or vegetable smoothies, or 100 percent juice without added sugar.

* Grains. Choose whole-grain rolls, bagels, hot or cold whole-grain cereals, or low-fat bran muffins.

* Dairy. Consider skim milk, low-fat yogurt cups or low-fat cheeses, such as cottage and natural cheeses.

* Protein. Choose hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter, lean slices of meat and poultry, or fish, such as water-packed tuna or slices of salmon.

For more tips on how to become more empowered in your health choices, check out my column at CNN.com/empowered patient

From buying insurance to getting a mortgage, your credit score is your financial DNA. Here are some do’s and dont’s of establishing good credit.

1) Forget retail credit cards
Every time you open an account with a store to get that 10 percent discount, you are giving the retail lender the ability to pull your credit. And that can lower your credit score. This is especially damaging if you’ve only handled credit for a limited time.

2) Pay more than the minimum
Paying your bills on time is about one-third of your FICO score. Concentrate not only on paying on time, but paying more than the minimum payments.

3) Don’t close credit card accountsYour score takes into account the difference between what credit you have available to you and what you’re using. If you shut down credit card account, the total amount of your available credit is lowered and your balances look much larger in comparison. This ratio then hurts your score.

Catch Gerri Willis’ top tips on CNN every day at 10 am Eastern Time on CNN.

It can sometimes be a battle to get your child to sleep each night. With two daughters, aged 3 years and 16 months, I get to experience this most nights of the week. It’s almost like they gang up on us. One night the oldest falls asleep and our younger daughter is awake and then the next night they switch. But new research stresses the importance of sleep in all children. Studies suggest kids who don’t get a full night’s sleep are at risk of being overweight and also have trouble concentrating throughout the day.

Here are some of the common mistakes parents make when putting their children to sleep.

Trying avoiding:

1) Lying in child’s bed Parents should avoid lying down with their child at bedtime. Children should learn to fall asleep on their own. If they don’t, they’ll wake up in the night and won’t be able to fall back asleep without you nearby.

2) Forcing kids to stay put Don’t force your older kids to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling if they aren’t tired. Older children can learn to soothe themselves to sleep if they get up and read a book for example.

3) Enforcing strict bed time Another thing to remember is some children just can’t fall asleep at 7pm every night. Maybe falling asleep at 8:15 is more natural for them. See what the natural rhythm is for your child, and adjust their bedtime accordingly.

4) Not having a set routine Kids with a set nightly ritual tend to sleep better than kids that don’t. They’ll get used to a particular routine, whether it’s taking a bath, telling a story or read a book — and this lulls them to sleep.

Sleep experts recommend infants get 14 to 15 hours of total sleep per day. Toddlers need 12 to 14 hours of total sleep and preschoolers (age 3 to 5 years old) should be getting 11 to 12 hours a day. Reminder that this is total time of sleep per day, and includes napping.