Radiation Therapy In 1896, German physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength known as the x-ray. Within three years of his discovery, radiation became used to treat cancer after Henri Bacquerel discovered radium’s ability to kill skin cells due to its radioactivity. The first person to experiment with cancer cells was Henri Danlus, a French doctor. Pierre Curie simultaneously researched and experimented with cancerous cells, and both men came to the same conclusion: radiation not only kills skin cells, yet it kills cancer cells as well. However, contrary to skin cells, cancer cells do not have the ability to regrow. This form of treatment using radiation to exterminate cancer …show more content…
Both types of treatment cause common side effects, yet the severity of the symptom varies depending on where radiation therapy was used in order to eradicate the cancer. Neutrons, used in particle radiation, are much harsher than protons and electrons because they have 20 to 100 times as much energy (Neutron therapy: A rare and special kind of radiation. (n.d.). However, fast moving neutrons such as those produced by a nuclear fission have so much energy due to the splitting of atoms in a nuclear reactor that it then becomes destructive to human tissue, causing serious health effects (Nuclear radiation and health effects. 2015). ATRSO, the American Society for Therapeutic and Radiation Oncology, stated in their review of proton therapy, “while proton beam therapy is not a new technology, its use in the treatment of prostate cancer is evolving” and other types of cancer as well (Use of proton beam therapy for prostate cancer. 2013, February 1). Feeling emotionally, physically and mentally fatigued is not only a common side effect of cancer, yet experienced by patients undergoing treatment as well. Skin problems and irritation may also occur as a result of radiation therapy, where the skin around the treatment area may become red, …show more content…
First, radiation can damage the normal cells in the body, and depending on the location, it can effect a person’s ability to perform certain tasks. For example, radiation to the abdomen or pelvis can lead to bowel, bladder, infertility, or sexual problems. According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, “…only 28% of men with normal erectile function maintained normal erectile function after therapy.” This means a shocking 72% of men who received radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer weren’t able to function as easily as before. Radiation can also cause fluid build-up and swelling in certain parts of the body; this is called lymphedema. Furthermore, radiation treatment has been linked to an increased probability of developing a second cancer due to the negative effects of radiation. The subsequent cancer is caused by damage inflicted upon the healthy tissue, and may develop years after treatment, however, over many years scientists have refined and improved radiation therapy to reduce the probability of this. Luis Munoz, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Texas Oncology-Medical City of Dallas testified to this saying, “Today radiation therapy is faster, safer, and more precise for patients than ever
Chemotherapy and radiation are the two most common types of cancer treatments. Chemotherapy is a treatment where cancer patients are given specifically designed drugs that kill cancer cells. Radiation or radiotherapy is a treatment where cancerous tumors are targeted by high-doses of radiation in order to damage the cell’s DNA, causing it to die. While radiation and chemo may be effective on their own, an oncologist may recommend a combination of the two for patients who have an advanced stage cancer. People who have been a patient of cancer, no matter what age, can give the best advice and insight to a topic many know nothing about.
From surgery to radium exposure to such extremes as radiation therapy, as doctors’ knowledge of the varying types of cancer, and the expansion of medical research regarding cancer has changed, so has the preferred method of treatment. Doctors and researchers dedicated to studying cancer have led to a greater understanding of cancer development; consequently the development of treatments and cures that are more effective, less harmful, have fewer side effects, and in some cases serve to prevent the spread of cancer.
It is effective because it is more precise than normal radiation treatment and it can kill cancerous cells without damaging healthy normal cells. To overcome the economic advantages patients could apply to be one of the patients funded under the Proton Therapy Organisation; this allows them to receive funding to undergo Proton Therapy. To overcome the social disadvantages patients could use skin products to help with the skin problems that could occur as a side effect. The fatigue that comes from Proton Therapy doesn’t last for too long so patients could just take a day off to rest and recover. Overall I can conclude that Proton Therapy is a good treatment for a patient suffering from cancer and it is definitely beneficial with little side
Radiation therapy is the ionization of atoms in tissues resulting in formation of highly reactive radicals in a well-defined, restricted volume (1). In other words, ionizing radiations are used to eradicate tumors and at the same time preserve structure and function of normal tissue. A limitation is prevented from being a problem. If bone marrow or neuronal cells are destroyed or injured, they do not regenerate. However, with radiation therapy, these cells are often saved from injury or destruction, unless the tumor is infecting bone marrow or neuronal cells. Today, radiation therapy is the most popular type of cancer therapy in use. It is used to treat one-half to two-thirds of all cancers, which translates to more than ten percent of the population
Many people are living longer because of radiation therapy to treat cancer, but what happens after treatment is over? Most people go back to their normal life. However, some people will have their quality of life affected by late effects of radiation therapy. Late effects of radiation therapy can happen months or years after treatment and may be temporary or permanent. Some can be minor such as skin changes to the treated area, and some can be as serious as cardiovascular problems. As radiation therapy has become more advanced and more common in treating cancer, professionals in medicine have studied the treatments and late effects to decide what can be done to prevent late-effects from occurring.
I have always been interested in the medical field. My father is a physiotherapist and my mother has a bachelorette in Microbiology and is a laboratory technologist. I have grown up having science-themed discussions around the dinner table and books lying around the house. With the experience of my parents at their respected professions, I did not have the feeling that these paths were the correct fit for me. I liked the hands on side of physiotherapy but I wanted something more technology related. I searched the medical field for a career that combined my fascination for both human science and technology in addition to being able to interact with patients. My research on Radiation Therapy instantly established a thought that this is a career
Radiation therapy is the use special machines to convey high-energy rays that damage cancer cells and stop them from growing. The radiation can be directed to a specific area of the body or the whole body. Some side effects that come from the therapy are fatigue, hair loss, nausea, or red, dry, itchy skin.
Due to some circumstances being out of our control, whether it is through natural means of toxicity from radiation or unnatural means of radiation, how do we protect ourselves? The Earth is covered in natural background radiation. Terrestrial, cosmic and radon radiation are all a part of our environment. Even if manmade radiation and nuclear radiation didn’t exist, we would still be exposed to toxic, unhealthy sources of biological changing substances. How do our bodies recover from an assault to our immune systems and resume a healthy life from ionizing radiation that can cause cancer? How do we become proactive, and responsible for our own health outcome? Can we eliminate from our bodies unwanted toxins, carcinogens, free radicals, and ionizing substances? Do we have control over our health after a large dose of radiation from a nuclear accident, or treatment from radiation therapy? Evidence shows that we do. Just as there are natural sources of radiation, there are natural ways to cleanse our bodies and use nutrition to detoxify, rejuvenate, and restore health when our immunity has been compromised from natural or unnatural sources of radiation.
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).
Farm workers are the key to the U.S food system, and although our population relies on
Radiotherapy, also called radiation therapy, is the treatment of cancer and other diseases with radiation. Radiotherapy is used when the entire primary tumor cannot be surgically removed. Radiotherapy deposits energy
Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and many others explored subjects like pleasure, pain, knowledge, motivation, rationality, and mental illness that until now are often discussed by psychologists. The philosophers tried to understand about human traits if see if they are innate or the product of experience each of them had their own ideas and points of views. Some of the philosophers got their own theories, but they did not proof their theories because they did not make any research or use any scientific methods. Philosophers were intrigued about the soul, what it is made of, what it is its nature, and how the soul was connected to the body if it is intangible. At that time period, it was thought that the soul was the source of human behavior and its mode of action a kind of physical force
Through literature, Liam O’Flaherty, the author of the short story The Sniper, clearly illustrates how horrific and destructive war really is. He illustrates the appalling agony of the Irish civil war through a dramatic story of two brothers against each other in the war. Through the the author's writing, readers can conclude that the theme of The Sniper is that war destroys families. O’Flaherty sets emphasis on this theme by using many strong literary devices. The literary devices used that apply the most emphasis on the theme are situational irony, setting, and the author's use of direct characterization .
radiation (the kind used in X-rays) is known to cause cancer at high doses, the risks of
In 2007, it is predicted that almost 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States (Pickle et al., 2007). More than half of these cancer patients will undergo the use of radiation as a means for treating cancer at some point during the course of their disease (Perez and Brady, 1998). Cancer, a disease caused by an uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells, affects millions of people around the world. Radiotherapy is one of the well known various methods used to treat cancer, where high powered rays are aimed directly at the tumor from the outside of the body as external radiation or an instrument is surgically placed inside the body producing a result of internal radiation. Radiation is delivered to the cancerous regions of the body to damage and destroy the cells in that area, terminating the rapid growth and division of the cells. Radiation therapy has been used by medicine as a treatment for cancer from the beginning of the twentieth century, with its earliest beginnings coming from the discovery of x-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen. With the advancements in physics and computer programming, radiation had greatly evolved towards the end of the twentieth century and made the radiation treatment more effective. Radiation therapy is a curative treatment approach for cancer because it is successful in killing cancerous tumor cells and stop them from regenerating.