Preview

The Effects of Radiation on Cancer

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
335 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Effects of Radiation on Cancer
The Effects of Radiation on Cancer There are both negative and positive effects of radiation on cancer. Scientists have discovered that radiation can lessen or increase the chance of obtaining cancer. Radio therapy is a treatment for cancer in which X-rays employ controlled exposure to radiation. Radiation also can save lives.
The negative effects on humans are that if over exposed to it, it can cause migraines, seizures, and ultimately, death.
Firstly, external beam radiation therapy used on tumors in the prostrate gland can prevent the spread of prostate cancer. Cancer can be treated using radiation therapy to shrink tumors if surgery is not a viable option. “Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) computed tomography (CT scans) and ultrasonography are diagnostic tools that use radiation” (epa.gov.)
Although there are many positive effects there are just as many negative effects. One of the most dramatic examples of the effect of radiation can be seen with the sun. Without the sun there would not be any life on earth. The sun emits radiation that can ultimately lead to skin cancer, and perhaps, death. Radiation therapy is used to stop the growth of cancer cells. High-energy beams are aimed at the location where the cancer is found and it serves to disrupt the DNA in the cells, which stops them from reproducing. Unlike normal cells in the body, cancer cells do not have the capacity to heal themselves. Unfortunately, many healthy cells get radiated by the treatments and this can cause problems. Radiation can damage the lungs and affect breathing.
Although there are many different scenarios that can lead either to negative or positive results, most of them lead to negative. The negative results can be prevented by being cautious.
So in conclusion, radiation is a friend and a foe. There has to be a boundary on how much exposure there is, although negative results are more common, positive results still exist. Cancer has not yet found a cure but radiation is the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Summary: Full Body Burden

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Kristen Iversen 's book, Full Body Burden, she talks about the causes and effects of the plutonium contamination and radiation effects. There are many effects caused by plutonium contamination and radiation exposure. There are many different types of cancer caused by the exposure. There are three main cancers discussed in her book. They include bone or lung cancer, brain cancer, and leukemia.…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Beachapedia is a credible source because it has obtain decades of experience and knowledge gained from the Surfrider Foundation activists, scientists and staff through hundreds of environmental and educational campaigns. Radiation is in every person’s daily life and is not harmful, but when uranium is being used for either power or destruction, then the radiation from them can cause death. I will use the article to briefly explain what radiation is, the different types of radiation, and how it has affected millions of people from the bombing of Hiroshima to Chernobyl to the present.…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    relative safety for the patient (radiation can be delivered from outside of the body and focused on the tumor, is painless, and generally does not require anesthesia)…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    | Ionising radiation can damage living cells and these may be killed or may become cancerous Ionising radiation can initiate a cancer…

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    But inside the body there are tissues that alpha radiation can get through, and then these cells build up and become a tumor, which likely makes radium a carcinogen, because it causes tumors, which usually are a sign of cancer.…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    - X-rays can be harmful and cancer-causing agents. The radiation could have contributed to her cancer by mutating her DNA over the long period of time she spent exposed to x rays in the lab.…

    • 299 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thesis Statement Outline

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sub details: The radiation stops the reproduction of cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissues.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Side effects will vary depending on the location of the treatment. “Radiation on the lower trunk for gynecologic cancer and cancer in the prostate leads to diarrhea, frequent voiding and pain as well as affected sexuality. When head and neck area are irradiated, mouth dryness, taste changes, swelling, pain in the mouth and throat, loss of appetite and eating problems occur” (Pederson, Koktved, & Nielsen, 2013). Another treatment is Chemotherapy. Patients receiving chemotherapy often experience nausea, vomiting, and poor…

    • 1527 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    People who are diagnosed with colon cancer can obtain treatment thru radiation or surgery. Surgery is the primary treatment for this type of cancer it consists of eliminating the cancer. In order to do this a procedure must be performed, a doctor will identify and locate the cancer, once that has been done the doctor will cut off the cancer and a part of the area around the cancer that is not infected, (Bernard, 2006).…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It’s also very high for human body as head CT scan has only 2 millisieverts. To know exact finding for the radiation we have to know about tooth enamel as per Nori Nakamura. It’s not so easy to find the intact tooth and the rain fell after the bombing how much radiation it brought with it, how can we know about it. Radiation not just affects the DNA directly, it also affects the cell machinery and alters the genes on and off programming which leads to the uncontrolled production of proteins. Sometimes the cell beside the damaged cell kills it for the protection of the mechanism. Researchers are indicating that low radiation unlikely to harmful and even protects from higher rates of radiation collected later by triggering the genes need in radiation defense. Many researchers have made the foundation and observe the people who are generally exposed to the lower radiation. Low radiation has become now a regular process. It was named the research as “million worker study”. I have come to know many things in this assignment like new terminology, new…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Excessive doses of radiation can eventually cause cancer. This is because the radiation can cause a change in the cell’s chemical balance, which then can leads to cancer in the future. That is why it is very important to make sure that everybody receives the least amount of radiation possible. The impact of radiation doesn’t go away once you leave the machine, it can add up throughout your lifetime. So somebody who has had multiple scans with small doses could have the same impact as someone who has had one scan with a big dose. In the article, Occupational Exposure and Adverse Effects in the Radiologic Interventional Setting, Walden states that, “ An increased incidence of cataracts, cancer, and diseases, such as nonmalignant thyroid nodular disease and parathyroid adenoma, correlate with long-term radiation exposure.” (Walden 460). This is showing us that not only can people in this work field develop cancer but they can also receive many other dangerous side effects. Healthcare workers in the Radiologic field need to be extra careful to make sure they don’t develop a side effect from the excess…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Complications of treatment- Cervical Cancer can be treated if at an early stage. One may have to take one type of therapy or a combination of several types of therapy. Cervical Cancer affects a woman’s chance of having children again.…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    radiation therpy

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I would like to do a research on Radiation Therapy because that is what I am going to study next semester. I want to know things like jobs opportunities, further education, job duties, salary, and side effects. The fact that I got accepted into this program make me so happy, and I thanks God for this opportunity. I think that I can help other thru this career. Help people to feel better and help to treat cancer. A health issue that affects many people. Many of us had lost a love one because of cancer, and this How long do side effects last?…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Radiation Oncology Report

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The year 2010 was a watershed moment in the field of radiation oncology, due to articles written by Walt Bogdanich in the New York Times. These articles critiqued leadership, radiation dose, and patient safety, and accused the community of using unsafe practices (Washington & Leaver, 2016). While there had been previous accidents which injured and killed patients during the 1980s, those few accidents were attributed to equipment faults, as computer equipment was merged with treatment delivery equipment. The deaths that the Bogdanich articles referred to could not be written off as faults of equipment or devices, but rather due to unsafe practices which were not addressed. The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the ASRT,…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Is Retinoblastoma?

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Radiation therapy-(is when they are using ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control or destroy nasty cells.)…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays