Megan Marks

Mr. Wall

College Physics II

August 15, 2005

Rays and Medical Treatment

            In today’s time we can not find cures to complicated diseases, such as cancer, only temporary solutions to prolong life or get rid of cancer for a few years, not knowing if it will come back. One way to prolong life is to use radiation. Radiation therapy is used to get rid of cancer cells that are unable to be removed by surgery. There are many types of radiation that can be used, such as X-rays, gamma rays, and particle bombardment. Depending upon what type of cancer a person has is what treatment is used. For example, each tissue type within the body is different. Lungs are made of different kinds of cells than the skin, or heart, or stomach. X-rays are used when treating for lymphoma, and gamma rays are used to treat other types of cancer, however, the tissue that makes up the lungs is too delicate for gamma ray treatment, so alternate treatments must be made. Not only is the type of cancer relevant in deciding the treatment, the severity is also a factor. If the cancer can be removed by a simple surgery, that will happen first. If cells still remain after surgery or can not be removed in a surgery, then chemotherapy and radiation therapy can be used together to fight this horrible disease.

Reference:

http://health.yahoo.com/ency/healthwise/tv7040

http://www.drugs.com/enc/radiation_sickness.html

http://www.darvill.clara.net/nucrad/uses.htm