Nuclear Medicine Essay Assignment
Nuclear medicine is a medical specialty, which involves radioactive substances for diagnosing and treatment procedures. Nuclear medicine is generally defined as “a medical specialty that uses radioactive tracers (radiopharmaceuticals) to assess bodily functions and to diagnose and treat disease. Specially designed cameras allow doctors to track the path of these radioactive tracers. Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography or SPECT and Positron Emission Tomography or PET scans are the two most common imaging modalities in nuclear medicine.” (Nuclear Medicine, 2016, p. 1).Nuclear Medicine Essay Assignment
Certainly only small amounts of radioactive materials are used and they are called radiotracers. Radiotracers are injected into the bloodstream, they could be swallowed or inhaled. Then this radiotracer moves through the areas, which need to be examined, and gives the gamma rays energy. These rays could be detected with the help of special camera, connected to a computer for creating images of the inside of the human body. The major advantage of nuclear medicine is its ability to provide such unique information, which could hardly be obtained with the help of other imaging procedures and activities, and this approach helps to identify disease at its early stage.
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Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging. Using small amounts of radioactive materials, doctors diagnose and determine the severity of various diseases, including cancer, heart problems, a number of endocrine and gastrointestinal diseases along with neurological disorders. “Because nuclear medicine procedures are able to pinpoint molecular activity within the body, they offer the potential to identify disease in its earliest stages as well as a patient’s immediate response to therapeutic interventions.” (Seidlin et. al., 2006, p. 8). Nuclear medicine is thus meaningful for diagnosing of the diseases. With the help of radiotracers doctors are able to obtain such images and information, which are not obtainable with the help of other methods.Nuclear Medicine Essay Assignment
Nuclear medicine is also involved into therapeutic procedures, small amounts of radioactive material could also be used to treat cancer and other medical conditions of the thyroid gland for example. “Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) is a personalized cancer treatment that combines radiation therapy with the targeting ability of immunotherapy, a treatment that mimics cellular activity in the body’s immune system.” (Seidlin et. al., 2006, p. 9).
Certainly this branch of medicine has its advantages and risks. It was already mentioned that one of the strongest benefits of nuclear medicine is the ability to provide unique data and images, including details about functioning and anatomic structure of the body. Nuclear medicine is less expensive in comparison to exploratory surgery, which is an alternative for getting such precise information. With the help of nuclear medicine it is possible to identify the disease at its early stage, which could be decisive for the final positive outcomes of the patient’s treatment. Application of nuclear medicine could eliminate the need of surgical biopsy.
There is also a number of risks, related to application of nuclear medicine. Taking into consideration that radiotracers are used for diagnosing procedures, there are radiation exposure risks for the patients. These risks are however very low in comparison to the potential benefits. Nuclear medicine is relative young, these procedures are used for not more than five decades, and this means that there is no information about long-term negative effects from these low doses of exposure. Allergic reactions could be traced after application of radiopharmaceuticals, but they are rare. Women should always inform about their potential or actual pregnancy and breastfeeding before starting the nuclear medicine procedures. Nuclear medicine procedures could be time consuming, as it might take even several days for the radiotracer to accumulate in the needed part of the body and several hours might be needed for imaging.Nuclear Medicine Essay Assignment
Overall, nuclear medicine has a lot of advantages; still there are risks, related to the use of radiotracers.
References:
Nuclear Medicine. (2016). National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. Retrieved from https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/nuclear-medicine
Seidlin, S. M., Marinelli, L. D., Oshry Eleanor. (2006). “Radioactive iodine therapy: effect on functioning metastases of adenocarcinoma of the thyroid.” Journal of the American Medical Association 132.
Taylor A., Schuster D.M., Naomi Alazraki N, (2002). A Clinicians’ Guide to Nuclear Medicine, 2nd edition. Society of Nuclear Medicine. Book Nuclear Medicine Essay Assignment