What are the dangers of radiation?
What are the acute health effects of radiation exposure? At very high doses, radiation can impair the functioning of tissues and organs and produce acute effects such as nausea and vomiting, skin redness, hair loss, acute radiation syndrome, local radiation injuries (also known as radiation burns), or even death. Both chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not usually painful during the treatment itself. However, they can have side effects. Chemotherapy can cause side effects like nausea, tiredness, and a sore mouth or throat, which can be uncomfortable.Not everyone can have radiation therapy. Being pregnant, having certain health conditions or having certain inherited gene mutations can increase the side effects of radiation therapy.Most radiation therapy side effects go away within a few months of ending treatment. Some side effects may continue after treatment ends because it takes time for the healthy cells to recover. The type of side effects you have will depend on your radiation dose, schedule, and type of cancer.Radiation not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells, it can also affect nearby healthy cells. Damage to healthy cells can cause side effects. Many people who get radiation therapy have fatigue. Fatigue is feeling exhausted and worn out.While chemotherapy tends to cause more systemic side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and fatigue due to the medication affecting the entire body, radiation therapy tends to cause more localized side effects such as skin changes, hair loss in the treatment area, and difficulty swallowing if the treatment is focused on .
What happens after breast radiotherapy?
In time radiotherapy can cause the breast tissue to change shape or shrink in size a little. This can happen to your natural breast tissue or a reconstructed breast. After radiotherapy, the skin on the breast might feel thicker. And the breast might feel hard and less stretchy. Sometimes after radiotherapy, the breast may be swollen. It usually goes back to normal over a few weeks or months.
What are the side effects of breast radiation?
Short-term side effects Radiation to the breast can cause: Skin irritation, dryness, and color changes. Breast soreness. Breast swelling from fluid build-up (lymphedema) We know that radiation at high doses can cause cancer and even lead to death. How radiation is delivered affects health impact. A dose received over a period of time is less harmful than the same dose received quickly at once.At very high doses, radiation can impair the functioning of tissues and organs and produce acute effects such as nausea and vomiting, skin redness, hair loss, acute radiation syndrome, local radiation injuries (also known as radiation burns), or even death.Radiation therapy can shrink a tumour or completely destroy it. It is most effective on cells that grow and divide quickly. Cancer cells tend to divide more quickly than most normal cells. This makes them more likely to be affected by the radiation (be radiosensitive) than normal cells.In adults, the increased risk of cancer as a result of radiotherapy is usually very small, while children’s risk of cancer increases more. For most types of treatment, such as for head and neck cancers, the risk is low, while in a few, such as for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the risk is relatively higher.
At what stage of cancer is radiotherapy used?
Radiotherapy may be used in the early stages of cancer or after it has started to spread. It can be used to: try to cure the cancer completely (curative radiotherapy) make other treatments more effective – for example, it can be combined with chemotherapy or used before surgery (neo-adjuvant radiotherapy) Treatment of stage 4 lung cancer Surgery and/or radiation may be used to try to fully remove cancer from the distant site. From there, treatment may focus on the primary cancer site in the lung and possibly include chemotherapy, surgery or radiation, or some blend of these treatments.
What is the safest radiation therapy?
Traditional radiation delivers x-rays, or beams of photons, to the tumor and beyond it. This can damage nearby healthy tissues and can cause significant side effects. By contrast, proton therapy delivers a beam of proton particles that stops at the tumor, so it’s less likely to damage nearby healthy tissues. External radiation therapy will not make you radioactive. You don’t have to worry about being physically close to family and friends. Internal radiation therapy means that radioactive material is put into your body. In some instances, you will have to take certain precautions for a short time.However, you may have to limit contact with other people for up to one week after treatment. It is especially important to avoid close contact with children and women who are pregnant. External radiation is a lot like getting a regular x-ray.External radiation treatment happens five days a week for about five to seven weeks. It’s the longest type of radiation treatment available. Short-term side effects of external radiation include: fatigue.During radioembolization, the radiation source stays near the tumor. The radiation travels a very short distance, so the effects are mostly to the tumor. You might still have to limit contact with other people for up to one week after treatment.Some people with cancer who receive radiation therapy worry that their bodies will become “radioactive” after they receive radiation treatment. Their concern is that close physical contact with others could expose them to radiation. The general answer to this concern is that physical contact is fine,” Snyder says.