Radiation And Its Effects On Children

According to Ecker and Bramesco, the majority of the understanding of the effects of radiation comes from the research from the atomic bombings of the town of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (107). There is a greater effect when a dose of radiation is given all at once rather than over an extended period of time (105), However, as soon as radiation hits an individual there are some immediate effects and more long term effects. Some long issues that has come up due to the radiation of the atomic bomb were the more frequent cases of leukemia, cancer, and cataracts than people who weren’t affected from radiation (Ecker and Bramseco 107). Also, mutations can be a long term effect. Naturally, mutations occur at a low rate. Radiation can increase the number of mutation cases because it is a mutagen (Nasr and Hoyle). Some short term effects would be radiation sickness called acute somatic effects. Acute means severe and somatic means ‘related to the body’. The first signs of radiation sickness are nausea, throwing-up, and fever and

Have you ever wondered why so many people in Chernobyl get thyroid cancer? Radiation was passed on from cows. Thyroid cancer is curable but, it can come back after treatment. The most common type of thyroid cancer is Papillary thyroid cancer. The most rare thyroid cancer to have is Anaplastic. Radiation from chernobyl caused people to get thyroid cancer.

study has shown that children under the age of eight absorb twice the amount of radiation

Thyroid cancer does not begin with major symptoms and cannot be avoided or prevented. When the cancer begins to grow, the symptoms become more apparent and diagnosis is easier. Some of the symptoms include; a lump in the neck, hoarseness in the voice, swollen lymph nodes, difficulty swallowing or breathing, and pain in the

The symptoms are initially asymptomatic they begin to appear such as swelling in the neck, swelling in the lymph nodes and pain, hoarseness and difficulty to breath. The causes are exposure to high levels of radiation, inherited genetic syndromes. There are four types of thyroid cancer: papillary, medullary thyroid cancer, anaplastic thyroid cancer, thyroid lymphoma. According to cancercenters Papillary carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid cancer, accounting for approximately 80% of cases. Papillary carcinomas are slow growing, differentiated cancers that develop from follicular cells and can develop in one or both lobes of the thyroid gland. This type of cancer may spread to nearby lymph nodes in the neck, but it is generally treatable with a good prognosis (outlook for survival). Follicular carcinoma is the second most common type of thyroid cancer, and accounts for approximately one out of 10 cases. It is found more frequently in countries with an inadequate dietary intake of iodine. Follicular carcinoma is also a differentiated form of thyroid cancer. In most cases, it is associated with a good prognosis, although it is somewhat more aggressive than papillary cancer. Follicular carcinomas do not usually spread to nearby lymph nodes, but they are more likely than papillary cancers to spread to other organs, like the lungs or the bones. Hurtle cell carcinoma, also known as oxyphil cell carcinoma, is a subtype of follicular carcinoma, and accounts for approximately 3 percent of all thyroid cancers. Medullary thyroid carcinoma develops from C cells in the thyroid gland, and is more aggressive and less differentiated than papillary or follicular cancers. Approximately 4 percent of all thyroid cancers will be of the medullary subtype. These cancers are more likely to spread to lymph nodes and other organs, compared with the more differentiated thyroid cancers. They also frequently

When it comes to pediatric radiography every radiologic technologist and radiologist takes precaution when it comes to CT. Children are more sensitive to radiation than adults, have a longer life expectancy than adults resulting

The estimated rates of exposure, stated previously, is important for estimating short and long term effects on the exposed populations. Especially the exposed children, because they are at higher risk for future radiation exposure effects, as explained by the Law of Bergonie and Tribondeau. The exposed children need to be monitored because they will most likely require treatment, as they get older due to their sensitive thyroid

Nuclear Medicine is a technology that is used predominately by doctors to study the human body using radioactive isotopes across the world. This technology (Nuclear Medicine) is well above the standard technology used such as x-rays and MRI’S, for the fact that it can demonstrate not only the anatomy of the bodies organs but the physical function of those specific organs as well. Thyroid nodules are very common, which exist in half of today’s population. Traditionally, radionuclide was used to preform possible malignancy, that assess the thyroid nodules. Now that we have came across this newfound technology (nuclear medicine) we can now provide the nuclear medicine specialist information involving the the visualization of detection, as well

Radiation therapy can be used anywhere in the body to treat any kind of cancer. Depending on what type of radiation therapy, it can have some side effects. The most common ones include fatigue, hair loss near the treated area, and skin darkening in the area exposed to a beam of radiation. ("Radiation Therapy for Cancer,” 1) There are also safety concerns that patients have when they are treated with radiation therapy. Many people that receive radiation therapy treatment, worry about exposing family and love ones to radiation, as well as the side effects. Radiation effects on the normal tissues are divided into acute and chronic effects (Schreiber). Acute effects occur during the course of therapy and during the post therapy period (approximately 2-3 weeks after the completion of a course of irradiation) (Schreiber).

The most common endocrine system malignancy in the Unites States is thyroid cancer. The majority of diagnosed thyroid cancers are classified as differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). More specifically, these cancers are either papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) or follicular thyroid cancers (FTC), with 80.2% being diagnosed as papillary and 11.4% as follicular (Avram, 2012). DTC is the fifth most common cancer among females and has ten year survival rates of 97% for PTC and 94% for FTC (Khan et al., 2015; Marcus, Whitworth, Surasis, Pai, & Subramaniam, 2014). The majority of patients diagnosed with DTC receive a near-total or total thyroidectomy. Some patients also have lymph nodes or surrounding tissue removed as well dependent on metastases (Avram, 2012).

In October of 2009 I began working on an orthopedic unit at a local hospital. After just a couple of weeks on the unit I was told that an I-131 patient would be arriving on our floor and that we should get the room prepared. In my ignorance I questioned what this meant. I was told that there are five lead lined rooms in our hospital that we use to treat thyroid cancer with radiation, and two of those rooms happen to be on what is now the orthopedic unit. I have always had a desire to learn more about this disease that I have always assumed to attack those in early adulthood do to my patient population. However, thyroid cancer does not have a specific age range that it attacks. In fact it can attack any age, but women are three times more likely than men to get the disease and also on average are ten to twenty years younger when diagnosed. Thyroid cancer is one of

Nuclear medicine therapies include radioactive iodine, hyperthyroidism, and thyroid cancer, along with many other types of

Thyroid cancer starts in the thyroid gland. The thyroid glands are found in the thyroid cartilage in the front of the neck. In the thyroid glands there are two main types of cells: Follicular cells and C cells. In the Follicular cells use iodine from the blood to produce thyroid hormones, which regulate a person's metabolism. In the C cells make hormones to regulate calcium in the body. Causes for thyroid cancer are still unknown. Most do believe that changes in a person's DNA can cause thyroid cells to become cancerous. Some risk factors for thyroid cancer are smoking, family history, and a person's age. Some risk factors that can be changed are having a low iodine diet and limited radiation. Some ways to prevent the cancer are get tested

Pediatric imaging is one of the most controversial topics in the radiology field. When imaging any patient, dose, shielding, and risk versus benefit are important factors to consider. However, with pediatrics, those factors plus other considerations become especially important as we begin to consider how the radiation affects their growing cells. The ionizing radiation causes interactions with the atom causing the atom to become charged or ionized. Children are particularly vulnerable to ionizing radiation because their cells are constantly undergoing high rates of cell division. Which makes pediatric, individuals 18 and under, imaging and adult imaging incomparable. Pediatric imaging requires specific examinations, training, and quality of

The incidence of thyroid cancer is rapidly rising in the US accounting for 62,980 cases with 1890 deaths every year[1]. It is the seventh most common cancer diagnosed in women and peaks earlier than in men. Despite its high prevalence, death rate from thyroid cancer is fairly stable from past many years. In general, thyroid cancer offers a good prognosis with an overall survival rate of approximately 90%[2]. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) termed as differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) contribute to majority of thyroid cancers sharing a superior prognosis. Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), mostly acquired as a part of familial syndromes, display only modest cure rates. While surgical resection followed by radioiodine therapy remains the treatment of choice for localized thyroid cancer, it fails to eradicate tumors with aggressive behavior. In marked contrast to DTC, anaplastic carcinoma (ATC), an undifferentiated sub-type of thyroid cancer, has a higher propensity to locally invade nearby structures and metastasize rapidly. It approaches to almost 50% of all thyroid cancer-related deaths, the median survival being only six months[3]. The grim prognosis of ATC is due to the fact that it is diagnosed at an advanced stage which offers palliative treatment as the only option for patients suffering from the disease. Because of the chemo- and radio-resistant nature observed in aggressive thyroid cancers, many researchers have been