Chemistry Assignment/ Civic Engagement

Radiation on the Guard of Your Health

Numerous illnesses and diseases have continued to threaten humankind from the very first days of its existence to date. Even though doctors were able to cure plague, smallpox, cholera, leprosy, and other illnesses that caused devastating epidemics in the past, some diseases still remain difficult or even impossible to treat.

According to the World Health Organization, cancer is the second leading cause of deaths globally. Due to increased longevity, changes in our diet and lifestyles, deteriorating environmental conditions, and some other factors, an average likelihood of being diagnosed with cancer throughout life has increased significantly in decades. As a result, problems of cancer diagnosis at an early stage, determining the exact location of a tumor, and its successful treatment are now extremely important not only for doctors and scientists, but for society as a whole, because every one death in six is due to cancer today.

A lot of people know that cancer can be treated with different methods, including chemotherapy and surgery, but only few have heard that isotopes are also widely used for diagnosis and treatment of various tumors. According to our chemistry course, isotopes are atoms that have the same atomic number but different mass numbers. All isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in each atom. Some isotopes are stable and they do not undergo any nuclear reactions, but others, usually referred to as radioisotopes, are unstable and undergo nuclear reactions in order to become stable. Interestingly, every chemical element has one or more radioactive isotopes, and it is these radioactive isotopes that are used to locate and treat cancerous tumors.

Of course, not all the radioisotopes can be beneficial to patients suffering from cancer, but some of them can significantly increase successful diagnosis and treatment in these people. For examination, radioisotopes that emit gamma rays are used because of their penetrating capability, while for treatment, isotopes emitting alpha particles, beta particles, or similar cytotoxic radiation are used. For instance, boron-10, cobalt-60, copper-67, cesium-137, iridium- 192, iodine-125, yttrium-90, and some other radioisotopes are commonly used as radiation sources to arrest the development of different types of cancer, while technetium-99 and iodine- 131, referred to as tracers, are the most widely used radioisotopes in cancer detection.

With the increasing number of new cases of cancer, the role of radioisotopes in diagnostic and curative medicine seems very significant, because they allow both noninvasive and extremely accurate methods of cancer detection and treatment. Also, taking into account the fact that nuclear medicine is a comparatively new field of medical study, it is extremely important for modern scientists to continue to discover and study new isotopes for even more effective, accurate, and safe cancer therapies.

It also essential to explain to people that radiation is not always harmful and destructive, but it can be used for good purposes and that the benefits of diagnosis and treatment of tumors at early stages far outweigh negative effects of radiation exposure. Moreover, people should understand that properly calculated and applied doses of radiation can be used to produce the desired result with minimum side effects. In other words, it is essential that the role and significance of these smallest radioactive particles in science, medicine, and technology should not be underestimated or misunderstood.