Radiation Associated Dysphagia Essay

Over the past few decades one of the main arguments patients have when going to see a dentist is the amount of radiation they are exposed to while taking dental radiographs. Every time this happens the dentist has to sit the patient down and talk to them about the cause versus effect. While many patients think that they are being over exposed to radiation while having a standard set of x-rays every year, they never take into account the amount of radiation that they are receiving through other devices of by just walking outside. Not many dental providers think of the amount of radiation they are receiving just by working with it every single day. The lack of knowledge that dental providers have about radiation exposure can affect their overall

According to Irish et al. (2006), 5% of all newly diagnosed cancers are malignant tumors of the head and neck. Radiotherapy is one of the most used therapeutic modalities to treat this type of cancer and may be associated or not with surgery or chemotherapy. However, despite the radiotherapy achieve only cancer cells target, it can cause harmful side effects in normal cells of the irradiated zone, affecting the quality of life of the patient or even changing the evolution of the treatment itself. The main side effects resulting from radiotherapy in the oral cavity occur in the skin, mucosa, bone, salivary glands and teeth, and some of the most frequent complications include xerostomia, mucositis, dysphagia, candidiasis, among others. Thus, the dentist has a key role in the multidisciplinary team of cancer treatment, helping to minimize the frequency and the morbidity of the complications from the

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 is known to damage the parotid glands and surrounding tissues, resulting in various toxicities which can lead to a functional decline in swallowing. The current study examined the incidence, nature and severity of treatment-related toxicities in patients with PGC undergoing XRT and found a trend of acute toxicities and swallowing difficulties that deteriorated throughout the course of XRT and peaking at the end of the treatment. Whilst this pattern of toxicity presentation and recovery is similar to other HNC groups, the severity of toxicities presenting in this clinical group was much lower, with few patients having any persistent difficulties at 3 months post treatment. The current information can be used to develop models of

My patient currently had breast cancer, after receiving radiation therapy. She started to have issues with the quality of saliva production. She is having difficulties with dry mouth, or in other words xerostomia, caused by the radiation therapy given to the head and neck area. It is not uncommon that patients receiving radiation therapy to the head and neck area experience a decrease in saliva flow. Studies have shown that saliva flow during radiation therapy actually increases, due to the salivary glands being irritated by the radiation; however, once treatment has ended the salivary glands are relieved and decrease (OncoLink, 2014). The saliva dramatically decreases leaving the individual with temporary or permanent xerostomia. Enzymes in

According to Komen (2009) side effects from radiation therapy will vary related to the area treated and may include skin irritation, breast changes or swelling, fatigue, dry cough or difficulty swallowing, and lymphedema. The American Society for Clinical Oncology (2013) go on to add more specific side effects such as with the skin itching, dryness, blistering, and peeling. They also mention long term side effects such as developing a secondary cancer from the radiation treatment although the risk is low and the benefits for treating the current cancer greatly outweigh the risk. Another more site specific side effect

Pelvic irradiation may also cause proctitis and sigmoiditis. 2 to 3 weeks after treatment starts, patients may develop loose stools; sometimes, the diarrhea may be associated with presence of blood and mucus or feeling of incomplete evacuation. These symptoms can usually decrease shortly after the completion of radiation treatment. A few of the patients may also develop long term diarrhea that can be associated with anaemia caused by bleeding. In such patients, sigmoidoscopy may reveal a smooth and pale mucosal layer with very prominent and friable blood vessels. The symptoms will usually decrease within a few months, even though sometimes patients may develop chronic proctosigmoiditis .This may lead to obstruction or stricture formation. In less than five percent of patients, radiation induced injury to the rectum and sigmoid may lead to progressive ischemia which may cause necrosis and rarely fistula or stricture formation. When this occurs, carefully evaluation to exclude the chance of recurrent disease should be done in all

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.

One potential stochastic effect that can occur with ionizing radiation is thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer is the 5th most common cancer in women. The diagnosis of thyroid malignancy has increased worldwide in the last few decades and is the most rapidly increasing cancer in the United States with a 5.1% increase from 2003 to 2012. Common symptoms of thyroid cancer are a lump on the neck, a tight feeling in the neck, difficulty breathing or swallowing, hoarseness, and swollen lymph nodes. However in many cases, no symptoms arise and the cancer is diagnosed because an abnormality is seen on an imaging test being performed for another reason2.

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

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 effects of radiation can be hazardous to any part of the human body. In this guide I will explain the advantages, and disadvantages of x-ray radiation. I will also discuss the technological advances that we have today then of what we had the past on the human body during radiation exposure. I will explain preventions of exposure and safety precautions that we as dental assistants as well as patients can follow to stay safe.

For oropharyngeal cancers requiring bilateral neck irradiation, IMRT or VMAT is the ideal treatment delivery option, as this removes the need for the anterior neck beam matching, and reduces the risk of xerostomia and dysphagia (Barrett et al., 2009, 141).

Lasting from 13 through 20 weeks, this period has some improvement in survivors' condition. From 20 weeks and up, is characterized by numerous complications in the healing process, mostly related to healing of thermal and mechanical injuries, and if the individual was exposed to a few hundred to a thousand Millisieverts of radiation, it is coupled with infertility, subfertility and blood disorders. From the source of Gizmodo.com, “Furthermore, ionizing radiation above a dose of around 50-100 Millisievert exposure has been shown to statistically begin increasing one's chance of dying of cancer sometime in their lifetime over the normal unexposed rate of 25 percent, in the long term, a heightened rate of cancer, proportional to the dose received, would begin to be observed after 5 years and up, with lesser problems such as eye cataracts and other more minor effects in other organs and tissue are also being observed over the long term.” In a summery, it causes severe burns from the heat/light. (It was noted after hiroshima that the shadows of civilians were burned into wherever they were.)

Abnormal reaction of radiotherapy (ICD-10-CM - Y84.2) - Radiotherapy effects are strongly exhibited in elderly cancer patients. According to Gomez-Millan (2009), although radiotherapy show benefit in treatment outcome, there is an increase in acute effects and decrease in functional tolerance in elderly patients. The patient complains of being tired of the effects of