Oncology & Cancer

Decades of radiation-based scientific theory disproven by study

Surprisingly, exposure to a high background radiation might actually lead to clear beneficial health effects in humans, according to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Nuclear Research Center Negev (NRCN) scientists. ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Worrisome increase in some medical scans during pregnancy

Use of medical imaging during pregnancy increased significantly in the United States, a new study has found, with nearly a four-fold rise over the last two decades in the number of women undergoing computed tomography (CT) ...

Oncology & Cancer

Diagnostic radiation exposure safe for children, experts state

In an article published in the June 2017 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, researchers assert that exposure to medical imaging radiation not only doesn't increase an adult person's risk of getting cancer, it doesn't ...

Other

Lab keeps cancer treatment radiation machines honest

As radiation sources used to map disease and attack cancer grow in number and complexity, a University of Wisconsin—Madison center continues to offer the last word on accurate radiation doses.

Oncology & Cancer

Preventing radiation in cancer therapies to damage healthy organs

When a person receives radiation cancer treatment, he or she is exposed to ionizing radiation; to prevent damaging healthy tissue, Dr. Guerda Massillon, researcher at the National University of Mexico (UNAM), studied the ...

Surgery

Some radiation okay for expectant mother and fetus

According to a new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), imaging studies necessary to diagnose traumatic injuries sustained by pregnant women are safe when used properly.

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Ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that are energetic enough to detach electrons from atoms or molecules, ionizing them. The occurrence of ionization depends on the energy of the impinging individual particles or waves, and not on their number. An intense flood of particles or waves will not cause ionization if these particles or waves do not carry enough energy to be ionizing. Roughly speaking, particles or photons with energies above a few electron volts (eV) are ionizing.

Examples of ionizing particles are energetic alpha particles, beta particles, and neutrons. The ability of electromagnetic waves (photons) to ionize an atom or molecule depends on their wavelength. Radiation on the short wavelength end of the electromagnetic spectrum - ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma rays - is ionizing.

Ionizing radiation comes from radioactive materials, x-ray tubes, particle accelerators, and is present in the environment. It is invisible and undetectable by human senses, so instruments such as geiger counters are required to detect its presence. It has many practical uses in medicine, research, construction, and other areas, but presents a health hazard if used improperly. Exposure to radiation causes microscopic damage to living tissue, resulting in skin burns, radiation sickness and death at high doses and cancer, tumors and genetic damage at low doses.

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