Radiotherapy

This is a name given to the procedure of controlling the radiations and using them in safe measures to find out new medical treatments. The therapy has been found quite useful in the treatments like cancer. The machine is used to point at the body part and then the radiations are thrown at the affected area. The procedure is done by using an injection, or orally taking the liquid by drinking it, or undergoing a radioactive implantation in the body. The procedure is used in conjunction with other treatments to benefit the patient. For cancer treatment, as the patients undergoes chemotherapy, they also take radiotherapy which is normally done to find out and remove a tumour from the body. It has been seen that certain bodies may not respond to the therapy and has also been found not suitable to everyone. The therapy may be put in place by the doctor depending upon the condition and the amount of cancer cells affecting the body.

How does it work

The therapy is used not only to cure the diseases, but in certain conditions, they may be used to control the affect of the disease and their further development. The therapy has been used for blood and thyroid disorders till date and used to control as well as cure these conditions, depending on the extent of damage. The body is a collection of cells all around and which keep growing in cyclic order. The damaged cells sit around like tumours in the body and then the radiation therapy comes into the picture. The radiations affect the cells but damaging them, in case it’s a healthy cell which gets damaged, it can reproduce and take care of itself. For a tumour cell, the radiation exposure damages it and renders one free from the condition of having tumours in the body. Sometimes it is not possible to completely get rid of a tumour cell with the therapy, so then it is used to reduce the size of the cell which can be then removed using the surgery.

How is it done

The therapy has also lot of risks involved with it, so the final call of taking the treatment lies with the doctor. They would flag off the procedure once they conclude that the benefits can overrule the risks of this treatment. The process would also include consent of the patient to be taken for the radiotherapy. The risks assumptions and other aspects related to the treatment would be listed down by the doctor before the signatures are taken from the patient. The procedure may be done either in internal or external mode depending on the condition. When it comes to internal procedure, it may be given as dosage to the patient once. For external type procedure, it may be given some number of times with a gap of days in-between the sessions.

Side effects

The body would see side effects like tiredness, sore skin in the place where the treatment is taking place, muscles and joints getting stiff, and sometimes lot of exposure to radiations would lead to hair loss and also causes fertility issues in women and men.