Most people understand that fetuses are extremely fragile and should not be exposed to ionizing radiation; thus, health care providers utilize ultrasound for prenatal imaging. But how safe is ultrasound imaging? Is it safe enough to warrant a fetus’s exposure? Sonography is a safe choice for prenatal imaging, but there are some suspected risks involved. However, the benefits outweigh those risks as long as scans are completed appropriately, especially when it comes to the 3D and 4D ultrasounds.…
While there is a debate that radiation has not changed medicine for the better due to a risk of radiation poisoning, this is incorrect in the fact that radiation is done with high electromagnetic energy causing the risk of radiation poisoning to go down. Also, without radiation, we would not have a way to fight cancer and kill diseases. The risk of getting radiation poisoning and it killing is far lower than the risk of cancer killing you. With the risk of cancer killing being higher, radiation…
Maria, Job well done, I felt your image acquisition discussion assignment was very informative. The assignment was well written and easy to follow. What I thought was very insightful was the section on radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is an important modality that changes many lives. I can only imagine the impact PACS has made on this field of radiology.…
Interventional Radiology: Interventional radiology can use high amounts of radiation, which may not be very safe for patients. However, the technologists do all that they can do minimize the exposure to the patient. Having an interventional radiology procedure once a year is not that much radiation. However, if a patient is having an interventional radiology procedure many times in one year, that can be a lot of radiation for the patient. Interventional radiology procedures puncture the skin while inserting a wire or catheter into the patient.…
They are very useful in diagnosing and managing head injuries. However, it is not clear whether or not low doses of radiation can be harmful on young children especially. Where they’re more vulnerable and can experience a greater increase in risk when being scanned.…
This can cause some very serious side effects; such as “heart damage, lung damage… and other cancers, such as leukemia.” Radiation sends “high energy beams, such as x-rays, to kill cancer cells.” The length of time that you receive radiation depends on how far along the cancer is and what stage you are on. Some rather serious risks of radiation are the symptoms “heart disease, stroke, thyroid problems… other forms of cancer, such as breast or lung cancer.” One last form of treatment is stem cell transplants.…
(Dowd and Tilson 128). An example of some negative short-term effects of radiation stem from the gonads, they are extremely sensitive to radiation because they contain germ cells that could potentially pass on mutations to future generations (Dowd and Tilson 132). The sterilization of the testes is dependent on the dose administered, for example, “A dose of 10 rad (10 cGy) can lead to a reduction in the number of spermatozoa…Since there is a 3- to 5-week period for maturation of spermatozoa, a dose of 200 to 250 rad (2-2.5 Gy) results in temporary sterility that takes 2 months to become fully manifest.” (Dowd and Tilson 132). Chronic radiodermatitis was one of the most common late effects of radiation exposure (Dowd and Tilson 128).…
In 2013, it was estimated that 300,000 women would be diagnosed with breast cancer and about half of these women would receive radiation treatments. Breast radiation therapy is traditionally given when the patient is in the supine position, however, new research is suggesting a new position for patients. The above set of references describes the advantages and disadvantages of the new positioning, prone, and the traditional supine positioning when treating breast cancer in women with radiation therapy. In the text, Barber-Derus and Glisch provide a good description of the standard set up for a breast cancer patient receiving radiation therapy.…
What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment? What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy? This treatment involves lying into a pure oxygen room or tube for a particular time period. This really is a well-established treatment method for decompression illness.…
When you hear the word “nuclear” it tends to carry a negative connotation with it. Whether it is mentioning bombs or going to war, many people do not see anything good coming from the word “nuclear”. However, the medical field has turned this the word around and has given people a new outlook on how beneficial nuclear things can be. Nuclear medicine has taken the medical field by storm in its riveting way to significantly treat several diseases harmful to humans. Pros of nuclear medicine outweigh the cons.…
I am pro irradiation because I believe this is helping the producer and more importantly the consumer in multiple ways. I believe there is nothing wrong with irradiating food because it helps preserve the food all the way. Decreasing the chances of an anyone catching a food borne illness. According to the FDA irradiation is an efficient way of purifying food at the highest level, which is the microscopic level.…
Radiation is involved in radiation therapy. Radiation therapy can cure cancer and relieve symptoms by breaking the DNA inside the cancerous cells using beams of high-energy waves called radiation. Another cancer treatment is chemotherapy, chemotherapy works by using anticancer drugs to cause various damage to cancerous cells ; as this takes place, the cancerous cells loses its ability to grow and reproduce. Many side effects occur due to the process of chemotherapy. According to www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer, it lists the various side effects, “Chemotherapy sometimes causes these types of pain: mouth and throat sores, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, constipation, blood disorder, and nervous system effects.”…
Furthermore, radiation during childhood gives patients a greater chance of developing cancer. “Medical Imaging Exposes People to Too Much Radiation”, states that kids are exposed to radiation, and the radiation has time to settle and develop into cancer which makes children more susceptible to cancer (Brownlee, Wainwright❡17). In a few years, the number of cancers of these children will start to appear, and the number will be excessive unless doctors lower the exposure of radiation to prevent excess cancers. Likewise, M. Pearce composed a study listed in “Clinical Digest” and the article claimed, “In children aged younger than 15 years, typical cumulative ionizing radiation doses from 2-3 head CT scans almost tripled the risk of brain tumors, while 5-10 head CT scans tripled the risk of leukemia” (❡14). Adolescents should not take these…
This includes both chemotherapy and radiation alike. But in these complications there seems to be a treatment that has a clear advantage by offering less problems to deal with than the other. Before that subject matter is dealt with, details on what the treatment actually is might be useful. Firs there is chemotherapy, it is a somewhat effective and useful form of cancer treatment which uses drugs to target and kill cancer cells. The numerous drugs can be either used as single dosage or be combined together to help with…
Exhaustion is another common side effect however unlike someone who is exhausted from lack of sleep, patients that are experiencing this side effect still feel exhausted after receiving sleep. The risk of getting a second cancer from radiation therapy is low although it is possible. Radiation therapy to the pelvis can also affect the reproductive system. Many women receiving high doses of radiation therapy can stop menstruating and experience symptoms including menopause, such as vaginal itching, burning, dryness, and permanent infertility. Last, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, stiffness in the jaw, nausea, shortness of breath and hair loss are also possible side effects.…