What Is Radiation For Cancer?

Radiation is a form of energy that comes from called radioactive elements. This energy has the ability of inflicting permanent damage to living cells, causing them to lose their original shape and function and die. It has been found that radiation can be used effectively to fight against tumors, as this energy can be focused directly to them and destroy cancer cells.

How Radiation Treats Cancer

When using radiation for cancer treatments, the radiation used is in the form of high-energy X-rays. These radioactive beams are directed to the area where the tumor is, and its main purpose is to kill cancer cells and reduce the size of the tumor. There are two ways of delivering radiation into a cancer tumor: external radiation therapy and internal radiation therapy.

In external radiation therapy, radiation for cancer is generated and applied by a machine to the area of the patient’s body that has the tumor. The patient that is treated with external radiation for cancer must go to the hospital or clinic to have his/her radiation sessions and there is no trace of radioactivity left in their bodies after treatment sessions.

Internal radiation therapy, on the other hand, requires the patient to stay in the hospital or clinic for some days. This kind of treatment consists on placing an implant made of a radioactive material right into or very near the tumor. When using a permanent implant, a lower amount of radiation is delivered into the tumor for a longer period of time, but when using a temporary implant a more radioactive material (or a larger quantity of the same material) can be used. In both cases, patients stay in the hospital or clinic until the radiation lowers under the safety level, to protect everyone that may come in contact with the patient.

How Much Does It Cost

Radiation for cancer therapy is one of the more expensive treatments for tumors. The total cost depends on the medical costs of the place you live in, type of radiation treatment required and the number of treatments a patient requires. However, if you take the benefits in tumoral response to the treatment as well as less and more controllable side effects and time of recovery when compared to other treatments like chemotherapy or certain surgeries, it’s a perfectly valid choice for treating cancer.

Side Effects Of Radiation Therapy

When bombing the tumor with radiation, adjacent healthy cells are also affected. However, these normal healthy cells have a much bigger chance of healing than cancer cells. Side effects of radiation for cancer is dependant on the amount of radiation received and the place of the body where the therapy is used. Radiation may cause inflammation of tissues surrounding the radiated site. There may be some skin burn or permanent pigmentation. Another side effect is the temporary decrease in the number of white blood cells, thus making the patient more exposed to every day’s illnesses like flu or a cold. Nausea, vomit and diarrhea may also be present.

It is interesting to know that side effects of radiation for cancer can be controlled or even treated and that they will eventually disappear in most cases; but again, this depends on the amount and location of radiation.

How To Cope With The Side Effects And Multiple Treatments

In order to better deal with the side effects of radiation therapy for cancer there is a number of things you should consider.

Sleeping frequently and for large periods of time will ensure that your body gets the rests it needs to recover from the stress of the radiation treatment. Maintaining proper nutrition is an absolute must, and if you have problems swallowing or tolerating meals you can try eating smaller portions but more often. If your stomach bothers you, you can ask your physician to prescribe an anti-nausea medicine.

Avoid exposing the treated area of your body to sunlight, as the skin is much more sensitive. In case you received radiation for cancer into your neck or head there is a chance that you will lose all or part of your hair. If this is the case, wear hats to avoid sunlight exposure.

You must make appointments with your doctor often, even when radiation therapy has finished. He is the only one that can give you the right advice and prescribe the right medication to lessen the side effects of radiation therapy for cancer treatment.

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