Three harmful effects of radiation exposure are an increased risk of cancer, acute radiation sickness at high doses, and damage to developing fetuses.
Radiation therapy has been associated with increased risk for late mortality, development of second neoplasms, obesity, and pulmonary, cardiac and thyroid dysfunction as well as an increased overall risk for chronic health conditions.
Types of Ionizing Radiation
Side effects of radiation to the brain
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. Radiation exposure to one part of the body is less harmful than a dose to the whole body.
Radiation therapy and chemo are often combined to treat cancer. While both treatments are effective, chemo generally produces more serious side effects than radiation therapy. How radiation therapy is used to treat cancer. American Cancer Society.
Alpha particles are the most harmful internal hazard as compared with gamma rays and beta particles. Radioactive materials that emit alpha and beta particles are most harmful when swallowed, inhaled, absorbed, or injected. Gamma rays are the most harmful external hazard.
Today, in the US, medical procedures from ionizing radiation account for 51% of our average annual dose from radiation (the other 49% is from naturally occurring sources such as cosmic rays, radon, and soils).
Gamma radiation is seen as the most harmful because it can travel far. This makes it a big risk if you're exposed to it outside. But, if radiation gets inside you, alpha particles are more dangerous.
For example, the following tissues and organs are listed from most radiosensitive to least radiosensitive:
Healthy cells that are damaged during radiation treatment usually recover within a few months after treatment is over. But sometimes people may have side effects that do not improve. Other side effects may show up months or years after radiation therapy is over. These are called late effects.
While symptoms vary based on the syndrome type, the first signs and symptoms of radiation sickness include:
Radiation sickness happens when high-energy radiation damages or destroys certain cells in the body. Areas of the body most at risk of being affected by high-energy radiation are the bone marrow cells and the lining of the intestinal tract.
Total body exposure of 400 roentgens/rad (or 4 Gy) causes radiation sickness and death in half of the individuals who are exposed. Without medical treatment, nearly everyone who receives more than this amount of radiation will die within 30 days.
X, α, β and γ rays which are known as ionized radiation can become important threats for living organisms if required precautions are not taken. These rays may cause biological, chemical and physical changes in living organisms.
Ionizing radiation can affect the atoms in living things, so it poses a health risk by damaging tissue and DNA in genes. has sufficient energy to affect the atoms in living cells and thereby damage their genetic material (DNA). Fortunately, the cells in our bodies are extremely efficient at repairing this damage.
Common sources of household radiation include granite countertops, vintage ceramics, glow-in-the-dark items, old televisions, cigarettes, and phosphate fertilizers, which all contribute to cumulative radiation exposure. Cosmic rays are a natural source of radiation exposure, continually bombarding Earth from space.
Regardless of where or how an ionizing radiation-related incident happens, three types of radiation-induced injury can occur—irradiation, external contamination with radioactive materials, and internal contamination with radioactive material, and incorporation of radioactive material.
Geiger counters are commonly used to measure the amount of radioactivity, but there are other types of detectors that may be used. Portal monitors can screen large numbers of people for contamination.
Now, let's look at the different kinds of radiation. There are four major types of radiation: alpha, beta, neutrons, and electromagnetic waves such as gamma rays. They differ in mass, energy and how deeply they penetrate people and objects. The first is an alpha particle.
When ionising radiation acts upon gonads or germ cells, it may cause damage to the genetic material (mutations) which can lead to genetically induced diseases (hereditary defects). These may result in malformations, metabolic disorders, immune deficiencies etc.
Types of cancer that are treated with radiation therapy
Brachytherapy is most often used to treat cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, and eye. A type of brachytherapy called radioembolization may be used to treat liver cancer or cancer that has spread to the liver.
While chemotherapy aims to keep the disease from spreading, radiation focuses on particular cells. Chemotherapy can also affect the entire body, while radiation repairs only the affected cells. Both treatments can cause side effects, including hair loss, nausea and fatigue.
Some anti-cancer drugs may affect cells of vital organs, such as the heart, kidney, bladder, lungs and nervous system. In some cases, chemotherapy can cause long-term problems for the heart, lungs, nerves, kidneys and reproductive or other organs.