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Do Nuclear Medicine Outweigh The Positives Or Negatives?

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Nuclear Medicine: Do the Negatives Outweigh the Positives?

Nuclear medicine has been around for a long period of time and improvements are constantly being made to its procedures but one question still remains prominent: do the negatives outweigh the positives? Before beginning to evaluate this question by looking at the particular risks and benefits in procedure and production, it’s necessary to understand the basics of nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the use of radioactive substances in research, diagnosis, and treatment. It works by small radioactive materials being either injected into the bloodstream, inhaled, or ingested by the patient to either treat or determine a disease. When nuclear materials …show more content…

Now that the essential knowledge of nuclear medicine has been outlined, understanding the specific negatives and positives and determining which outweighs which will be slightly less difficult.

Negatives related to nuclear medicine most commonly are associated to cost, production, and personal health. Radioactive isotopes are extremely expensive and not every hospital can afford them. Nuclear medicine is exceedingly costly to produce, set up, and operate. This means hospitals sometimes have to choose the most affordable option, which often times isn't the safest. The concerns of radioactive isotope production isn’t limited to just cost however. A single radioisotope has the capacity to harm millions of people through contamination or radiation exposure(2), and they have potentially hazardous effects, particularly significant harm on the environment, if they inadvertently escape into the surrounding area of the nuclear reactor. Further concerns with

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• Disadvantages 1. It is expensive to operate (5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Medicine, 2016). 2. The machine occupies a large space (PET scan and SPEC,

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However, there are few opposition opinions. “Rebuttal”: a) Environmental Impact - The process of mining and refining uranium hasn’t been a clean process. b) Nuclear Accidents - The Chernobyl accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was the worst nuclear accident in the history. c) High Cost - At present, the nuclear business let waste cool for a considerable length of time before blending it with glass and putting away it in enormous cooled, solid structures.

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The first advantage of using nuclear power to produce our electricity is that it costs only 1.92 cents per kilowatt hour to produce electricity from nuclear power. Furthermore, nuclear power is a more efficient source of energy than other sources such as coal or natural gas (Figure 5). The two biggest advantages in terms of the wellbeing of planet earth of using nuclear power are that it creates very little to no greenhouse gases, such as CO2, and also it does not use our non-renewable resources. A typical nuclear reactor utilizes uranium-235 as its source of energy, but unfortunately, uranium-235 only makes up 0.72% of all of the uranium on earth. With that being said, the fact that nuclear power does not use un-renewable resources might be being questioned at the moment, but the truth is that even though uranium-235 is a non-renewable resource, a new form of reactor called a breeder reactor, makes this a harmless process in regard to our valuable resources.

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Nuclear expositions produce radiations and the radiations can harm the cells of our body which can lead to a severe sickness or even kill us humans. Radiation is the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves which cause ionization. Radiation sickness is caused by exposure to a high dose of radiation. When these particles come into contact with organic material, they will damage them, causing burns and cancer. Exposure to radiation makes our bodies produce fewer blood clotting agents, called blood platelets, increasing our risk of internal bleeding.

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Despite the machine being inexpensive, it was still harmful as it released radioactive

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As we argue for the construction of Nuclear fission reactor, I will recall our statement how nuclear fission reactor is beneficial than coal for both in an economical and environmental way. Constructing a Nuclear fission reactor is advantages on the point of, releases no greenhouse gasses, uses renewable sources, and provides jobs; though, coal-fired power station contributes to the greenhouse effect, uses limited resources, and destroys the beautiful scenery in Thunderdome. no greenhouses gas released. Nuclear fission reactor does not release any greenhouse gasses because they generate heat from fission rather than burning fuels, they produce no greenhouse gasses or emission associated with acid rain or urban smog.

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In the world of diagnostic medicine, there is one technology that is quite different than the other radiology modalities and that technology is nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine is very unique, because it helps doctors view how your body is functioning. This type of imaging takes small amounts of radioactive tracers and follows their path through your body. X-rays, CAT scans, and for the most part MRI and ultrasonography, can show how something in your body looks, but Nuclear Medicine can show how your body actually functions.

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Patients undergoing radiation therapy can be exposed to strong levels of radiation if error occurs. B. Medical technology raises the costs of health care and makes it harder for lower class families to afford access to good health care. In addition, medical technology can often give widespread and vague results which can lead to unneeded testing, for which patients still have to pay. Medical procedures have high risk rates. If one thing goes wrong during the procedure it can have a negative long term effect on the patent.

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Due to medical advances, doctors can identify diseases before they become a problem and treat them effectively. “Disease is a biological process, and nuclear medicine provides images of these processes.” Most radiotracers interact with a biological process and emit radiation. Detector systems collect these signals, and computer programs rebuild them into diagnostic images. Nuclear medicine differs from other imaging techniques which visualize structure and shape (anatomy) versus a biological process (physiology)(U.S. Department Converting Energy to Medicine).

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Introduction Nuclear Medicine is the technique that involves radioactive substances in treatments and diagnosis. Radioactivity in medicine has been in development for over 50 years; these procedures save thousands of lives and treat millions annually. There are many positive outcomes of radioactive materials used in treatments such as early detection of cancers, heart disease and others but, it’s still questioned today if these practices are unsafe due to the amount of exposure to hazardous radiation, the general population incline to blame radiation in medicine to be a significant contributor for developing cancerous cells in the human body. The following essay will outline and clarifies the uses, benefits and risks associated with the radioisotopes

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Introduction Nuclear medicine at first sounds like something dangerous and should not be used on the human body. However, it is a significant part in the development of medicine. Problems inside the body are going undetected because most of the time they do not have any severe symptoms until it is too late to treat, and x-rays and scanners that use radiation to look through the body are dangerous because they may emit too much radiation on the patient, causing issues in the future. This is where nuclear medicine comes in as a better solution. Over 10,00 of hospitals worldwide use radioisotopes in medicine, and around 90% of the procedures are for diagnosis.

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Nuclear Medicine is an incredible scientific advancement that can be used to cure many diseases such as cancer and to look at our bones. In this essay I will be focusing on cancer and diagnosis of diseases. I think this advancement is so important because it can provide doctors with the ability to accurately diagnose people and figure out how to help them. While this is important, there are some social issues. Though there are risks, the positives trump the negatives when it comes to nuclear medicine (Beaumont).

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Although isotopes may seem like the cure-all for cancer, there are risks for using radioactive substances in the body. If the isotopes are not stored properly many problems can occur. The incorrect storage of isotopes that are used on a human can lead to health problems, including cancer cells and tumors, and can damage healthy tissues when used. If the dose of the isotope is too high for the person, the damage can be

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In addition to the cost, these isotopes take a long of time to produce, therefore it is very unlikely for scientists to often use these isotopes to treat many patients or diseases because it is very limited. (The Cost of Bringing a Radiopharmaceutical to the Patient’s

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Even though the medical practitioners feel that they are scientifically correct within the culture of the professions, they should empower the patient in decision making skill about their treatment. The patients who are undergoing the medical examination involving ionizing have the right to know the risk and benefit and its duty of the medical practitioners to inform the patient. This may be problematic if there is lack knowledge and awareness of the radiation risks and benefits among the medical practitioners. The medical practitioners along with radiologist are well positioned to dispel these fears because of their training and their access to and ability to interpret information from scientific organizations specifically concerned with the determination of radiation risk. . Pamphlets and handouts can be given to anxious patients before examinations.

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