Acute Radiation Syndrome Research Paper

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).

Radiation comes in different forms and is around us all day sometimes dangerous other times not. Radiation can be used under various categories such as communication, science and medical usage. The main focus surrounding these groups is medical because it is used to findings, test and analyze both treatments and research. Radiation uses X-rays and gamma rays for medical use. For example, X- rays are used identify if bones are fracture or broken. X-rays is usually used during radiology with specialized equipment like computerized tomography, cardiology, mammography and magnetic resonance imagining. Radiation is also used for treatment of diseases or cancer known as therapy. Oncology

As observed in the BEIR VII lifetime risk model, one person out of a 100 would develop cancer from a dose of 100 mSv. Equated with conversion of one radiation-related cancer per 1,000 patients receiving a 10-mSv effective dose would be expected to develop cancer, and approximately half of these cancers are expected to be fatal.

Acute Radiation Syndrome occurs when someone is exposed to large levels of radiation. Within 24 hours a person generally feels nauseous with gastrointestinal ailments such as diarrhea. The radiation physically damages the DNA and cells within the bodies living tissues. Headaches and fevers occur. Large doses of radiation can quickly lead to death. Radiation burns can create permanent scarring or pigment disruption in the skin. In severe cases, the skin can be seared to the point that the damage is unable to be repaired and necrosis sets in. At times, it appears that the radiation exposure may have been minimal and the skin begins to heal, however, around 2 months later the skin will begin to necrotize leading to eventual, painful, death. The National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements reports that, "radiation clearly induces mutations in microbes and somatic cells in rodents and

The worst kind of exposure of radiation someone could have is called an acute exposure. This kind of exposure is usually and accidental exposure to a high dose of radiation during a short period of time. The symptoms could show in minutes or weeks. It really depends on how much exposure you get. With an acute exposure symptoms can show up in minutes. Some of the symptoms include; skin damage, nausea and vomiting, malaise and fatigue, and increased temperature. The longer lasting effects include; blood changes, bone marrow damage, damage to cells lining the small intestine, and damage to blood vessels in the brain. If caught before the person dies treatment can last up to two years.

These stem cells are known as somatic/adult stem cells and are stored in areas swarming throughout the body's system of cells until further use after incidents of wreckage of tissue, organs, or cell depletion. However, abnormal cell division can lead to life-threatening complications including cancer.

The human body is made up of approximately 80% water (H2O) molecules. When radiation strikes a water molecule it causes radiolysis. Radiolysis is the disassociation of water into an ion pair (H+ and OH-) and two free radicals (H* and OH*). Free radicals are highly reactive, unstable and capable of disrupting bonds and causing deoxyribonucleic (DNA) damage. DNA is the molecule that holds the genetic information needed for cell duplication and is considered the target molecule for radiobiology. Ionization is the removal of an orbiting electron from an atom. There are two effects of ionizing radiation on a cell: indirect and direct. Direct action occurs when DNA is hit by ionizing radiation. Indirect action occurs when free radicals transfer

This essay will be focusing on the positives and negatives of radiation, and how we use it and how it affects us in our everyday

The samples were observed and tested after waiting 24 hours from when the exposure was stopped. The results showed that Cell-cycle control and DNA repair was damaged due to the radiation. It was also observed that early stages of cancer had formed in the tissue, and there is a high percentage that there could be cardiovascular dysfunction if the tissue was inside of a human. When to the samples exposed to X-rays, the Radon-exposed samples showed more irregularities. Table 1. Illustrates the viability (“ability of a thing (a living organism, an artificial system, an idea, etc.) to maintain itself or recover its potentialities.” (Google Search,

Radiotherapy was arranged with devoted registered tomography (CT) and three-dimensional arranging frameworks; conformal radiotherapy was conveyed with straight quickening agents with ostensible vitality of 6 MV or more, and quality affirmation was performed by method for individual case audits. 21 Attendant chemotherapy comprised of temozolomide (advertised as Temodal in Europe and Canada and Temodar in the United States; Schering- Furrow) at a measurement of 75 mg for each square meter per day, given 7 days for every week from the first day of radiotherapy until the most recent day of radiotherapy, however for no more than 49 days. Following a 4-week break, patients were then to get up to six cycles of adjuvant temozolomide as indicated by the standard 5-day calendar at regular intervals. The dosage was 150 mg for each square meter for the first cycle and was expanded to 200 mg for every square meter starting with the second cycle, inasmuch as there were no hematologic lethal

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

The efficacy of diagnostic imaging resembles a double-edged sword in the medical industry. A radiographer trained to image a patient correctly must use all knowledge to keep the radiation level at its lowest and safest level to produce the best quality image possible; however, the radiation level still has an effect on the patient that can go unseen by the naked eye. Ionizing radiation produced by x-ray, gamma rays, alpha & beta rays, can have an effect on cellular structure and its reproduction process, as well as its DNA, the coding system to cellular life. The amount of damage can depend upon the type of ionizing radiation, its energy and the total amount of radiation absorbed by radiosensitive

Since x-rays were discovered in 1895, there have been several improvements made to diagnostic x-ray to make it safer for both the patient and the radiographer. Some of these improvements include, aluminum filters, protective housing, lead shields/ aprons, and quicker exposure film. These changes have undoubtedly improved the diagnostic radiation process, however both patient and radiographer will still receive some dose of radiation. “The effects of radiation on tissue are divided into two types: deterministic and stochastic. A deterministic effect describes ionizing radiation-induced damage that occurs once a certain threshold is exceeded and increases in severity the greater the dose.1. (pg2-3) Some of the more extreme deterministic effects that occur with exposure to high amounts of radiation in a short period of time are: Skin Erythema/Necrosis, cataracts, sterility, radiation sickness, and death. Stochastic effects are probabilistic and there is no threshold amount that must be reached. As the amount of exposure increases so does probability of effects. However the amount of exposure does not correspond to the severity of the effects. Some of the stochastic risk can include development of various types of cancer and hereditary defects. It is more difficult to track the long-term stochastic effects that occur during chronic low-doses exposure because there are other additional factors that must be taken into account. “We are all exposed to background radiation. The

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.

There has been much success in the growing field of radiation therapy. Many measures have been put into place to ensure the safety of those exposed to radiation and that the treatment itself is administered properly. Although these measures are in place there isn’t too much doctors are able to do to prevent side effects. The University of Maryland Medical Center lists hair loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low white blood cells, mouth ulcers, and red or itchy skin as some of the possible short-term side effects. Some breast cancer patients who have received radiation therapy treatments described side effects such as “pain spasms that felt like electricity shooting [through] my breast at unexpected intervals” (Melliel) and having “very red sore skin” (Gramabec). There are also long-term side effects that come along with radiation therapy. Depending on where a patient receives treatment they can be at risk for damage to the lungs, heart, bladder, and bowels. Some people may even experience fertility issues. Another risk of radiation therapy is getting a second cancer several years later. Although rare, this side effect was noticed when scientists realized that women who received radiation therapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma later had an increased risk for developing breast cancer than women who did not receive the same treatment (Long-term). Though these side effects may make some people want to opt out of radiation therapy the benefit outweighs the risk here. There are risks with