Nuclear medicine uses radiation to provide diagnostic information about the functioning of a person’s specific organs, or to treat them. Diagnostic procedures are now routine. * Radiotherapy can be used to treat some medical conditions, especially cancer, using radiation to weaken or destroy particular targeted cells. * Tens of millions of nuclear medicine procedures are performed each year, and demand for radioisotopes is increasing rapidly. Nuclear Medicine.
This is a branch of medicine that uses radiation to provide information about the functioning of a person’s specific organs or to treat disease. In most cases, the information is used by physicians to make a quick, accurate diagnosis of the patient’s illness.
The thyroid, bones, heart, liver and many other organs can be easily imaged, and disorders in their function revealed. In some cases radiation can be used to treat diseased organs, or tumours. Five Nobel Laureates have been intimately involved with the use of radioactive tracers in medicine. Over 10,000 hospitals worldwide use radioisotopes in medicine, and about 90% of the procedures are for diagnosis. The most common radioisotope used in diagnosis is technetium-99, with some 30 million procedures per year, accounting for 80% of all nuclear medicine procedures worldwide.
In developed countries (26% of world population) the frequency of diagnostic nuclear medicine is 1.9% per year, and the frequency of therapy with radioisotopes is about one tenth of this. In the USA there are some 18 million nuclear medicine procedures per year among 311 million people, and in Europe about 10 million among 500 million people. In Australia there are about 560,000 per year among 21 million people, 470,000 of these using reactor isotopes.
The use of radiopharmaceuticals in diagnosis is growing at over 10% per year. Nuclear medicine was developed in the 1950s by physicians with an endocrine emphasis, initially using iodine-131 to diagnose and then treat thyroid disease. In recent years specialists have also come from radiology, as dual CT/PET procedures have become established. Computed X-ray tomography (CT) scans and nuclear medicine contribute 36% of the total radiation exposure and 75% of the medical exposure to the US population, according to a US National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements report in 2009.
The report showed that Americans’ average total yearly radiation exposure had increased from 3.6 millisievert to 6.2 mSv per year since the early 1980s, due to medical-related procedures. (Industrial radiation exposure, including that from nuclear power plants, is less than 0.1% of overall public radiation exposure.) Diagnostic techniques in nuclear medicine Diagnostic techniques in nuclear medicine use radioactive tracers which emit gamma rays from within the body.These tracers are generally short-lived isotopes linked to chemical compounds which permit specific physiological processes to be scrutinised. They can be given by injection, inhalation or orally. The first type are where single photons are detected by a gamma camera which can view organs from many different angles.
The camera builds up an image from the points from which radiation is emitted; this image is enhanced by a computer and viewed by a physician on a monitor for indications of abnormal conditions. A more recent development is Positron Emission Tomography (PET) which is a more precise and sophisticated technique using isotopes produced in a cyclotron. A positron-emitting radionuclide is introduced, usually by injection, and accumulates in the target tissue. As it decays it emits a positron, which promptly combines with a nearby electron resulting in the simultaneous emission of two identifiable gamma rays in opposite directions.
These are detected by a PET camera and give very precise indication of their origin. PET’s most important clinical role is in oncology, with fluorine-18 as the tracer, since it has proven to be the most accurate non-invasive method of detecting and evaluating most cancers. It is also well used in cardiac and brain imaging. New procedures combine PET with computed X-ray tomography (CT) scans to give co-registration of the two images(PETCT), enabling 30% better diagnosis than with traditional gamma camera alone.
It is a very powerful and significant tool which provides unique information on a wide variety of diseases from dementia to cardiovascular disease and cancer (oncology). Positioning of the radiation source within the body makes the fundamental difference between nuclear medicine imaging and other imaging techniques such as x-rays. Gamma imaging by either method described provides a view of the position and concentration of the radioisotope within the body. Organ malfunction can be indicated if the isotope is either partially taken up in the organ (cold spot), or taken up in excess (hot spot).
If a series of images is taken over a period of time, an unusual pattern or rate of isotope movement could indicate malfunction in the organ. A distinct advantage of nuclear imaging over x-ray techniques is that both bone and soft tissue can be imaged very successfully. This has led to its common use in developed countries where the probability of anyone having such a test is about one in two and rising. The mean effective dose is 4.6 mSv per diagnostic procedure. On Conventional Cancer Treatment.
If I contracted cancer, I would never go to a standard cancer treatment centre. Cancer victims who live far from such centres have a chance. Professor Georges Mathé, French cancer specialist
THE TREATMENT OF CANCER AND DEGENERATIVE DISEASES IS A NATIONAL SCANDAL. The sooner you learn this, the better off you will be.
Dr. Allan Greenberg on 12/24/2002
Stanford University doctors compared the effects of chemotherapy to doing nothing in patients with slow-growing tumors of the lymph nodes. The patients whose treatment was deferred for years did just as well as patients who immediately received expensive and unpleasant chemotherapy. Nineteen of the 83 (or 23%) experienced spontaneous remission lasting four months to six years. A review of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded, “…deferring treatment … may allow for spontaneous regression of the disease.” “Cheating Fate,” Health, April 6, 1992.
Medical study shows: untreated patients live up to 4 times longer than those who received conventional cancer therapy “My studies have proved conclusively that cancer patients who refuse chemotherapy and radiation actually live up to FOUR TIMES LONGER THAN TREATED CASES…Beyond a shadow of a doubt, radical surgery on cancer does more harm than good…As for radiation treatment — most of the time it makes not the slightest difference whether the machine is turned on or not. …unfortunately, it seems to be only a question of time, usually, before the disease pops up again all over the body…
Every cancer patient who keeps in excellent physical shape may have many good years left. The alternative is to squander those years as an invalid through radical medical intervention, which has
zero chance of extending life. …It’s utter nonsense to claim that catching cancer symptoms early enough will increase the patient’s chances of survival…
Furthermore, untreated breast cancer cases show a life expectancy four times longer than treated ones. ~ My wife and I have discussed what she would do if breast cancer was diagnosed in her. And we both agreed that she would do nothing as regards to treatment, except to keep as healthy as possible. I guarantee she would live longer!” Dr. Hardin Jones, prominent cancer researcher & former physiology professor at the University of California Department of Medical Physics, who has been studying cancer for more than 23 years, travelling the world to collect data on the dreaded disease.
Published in Transactions, New York Academy of Science, series 2, v.18, n.3, p. 322. Note by Healing Cancer Naturally: Please don’t interpret this and similar statements to mean that someone who has opted to go part or all of the conventional route doesn’t have a chance. I believe there always is an excellent chance for health and recovery as long as the person is really determined (on all levels) to recover (after all, some people even recover on the conventional road!). Chemotherapy and radiation can increase the risk of developing a second cancer by up to 100 times, according to Dr. Samuel S. Epstein. Congressional Record, Sept. 9, 1987.
Radioisotopes for Cancer Treatment
Diagnosis of cancer is seen by some as a guaranteed appointment with chemotherapy and radiation treatments, if not eventual death. Therefore, the last thing a recipient of that kind of news wants to hear is that a successful treatment might be available, but it is in limited supply in America. Radioactive isotopes or “smart bullets” as they are sometimes referred to, are able to go directly to the internal cancer and start work.
That’s why the European community is being discouraged from using chemotherapy in favor of this more precise cancer treatment, effectively eradicating many fatal cancers overseas. 1. Radiation treatment history * Cancer was originally, and is still, treated with another type of radiation: radiotherapy. This is an external radiation that consists of high-energy waves or particles (radiation) that creates a type of beam which is directed at the cancer site in the body.
This beam is positioned from outside the body. Cancer patients sit or lay beneath the beam’s ray for a designated period of time for treatment purposes. Although treatment is geared to destroy diseased cells in the body, it also destroys some healthy ones too, one of the major drawbacks of this type of treatment. Delivery of radioactive isotopes.
* Now, thanks to technological advances, radiation (in the form of radioactive isotopes) can be delivered directly to the cancer site inside the body rather than relying on an external beam to penetrate the body and the cancer. And, in addition, it offers a more precise administration of the radiation, which can eliminate the potential for damage to healthy cells and tissue in the body.
The medical radioactive isotope is used in small quantities, enabling it to be administered into the body through implantation, injection, or introduced into the body through a carrier rather than through an external beam. The delivery means chosen by your doctor will be based upon the type of cancer you have, as the type of cancer dictates which delivery vehicle is best. Types of radioactive isotope treatments.
* Bracytherapy (treatment of types of tumors found in prostate and liver cancers) best utilizes tiny radioactive isotope seeds which contain short-lived radiation. In Radioimmunotherapy (treatment of types of blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma) the radioactive isotopes are attached to monoclonal antibodies much like a backpack and then the combination is injected into the body. And finally, a third radioactive isotope treatment option combines the radioactive isotope with a carrier. The carrier used is one that is automatically drawn to a particular part of the body which is affected by the cancer.
For example, chemical phosponates (a bone building block) is one such carrier used. It is combined with the radioactive isotope to treat bone cancers because it is automatically drawn to attach itself to the bone upon entrance into the body anyway, making it a natural choice to get the radioactive isotope to the affected area immediately upon entrance into the body. Another carrier, iodine, is used when the cancer is in the thyroid–for the same reason. Considerations.
* Radioactive isotopes are produced in nuclear reactors or accelerators. Only ten percent of medically used radioactive isotopes used in America are actually produced here in the United States. The other 90 percent we use must be imported from other countries, creating a hardship on our medical community who desire to meet growing demand–as well as participate in research activities that might aid in further advances in this field (for both cancers and other disease treatments). Additional benefit.
* Another benefit of radioactive isotopes is its ability to aid doctors in making an earlier and a more thorough diagnosis of cancer. When a tiny amount of the radioactive substance is introduced in some way into the patient’s body, it can be detected by a special machine (through the energy it gives off) as it travels through the body. This allows the doctor to track the movement and final location of the isotope, more accurately pinpointing the exact area infected than with the x-ray methods used before.
Natural Cancer Cure
Today’s cancer treatment techniques cover an array of invasive methods. Doctors may elect to surgically remove tumors, inject chemicals to kill cancer cells, or poison them with radiation. Clinical and experimental trials also test combinations of chemicals and other treatments to better target cancer cells. However, there are those who advocate a different way of treating cancer: through the use of Mother Nature. 1. Cancer Development.
* Cancer cells are abnormal cells that latch on and destroy vital body organs and systems. They grow inside tumors that form inside the body, living off of oxygen and other nutrients. When the tumors break through the blood stream, they could inject their cancerous cells that spread all over the body, eating away at tissue masses. If these cells get into the lymph nodes, they immediately compromise the immune system by defeating antibodies designed to fight for your life. Raw Foods.
* One way that breaks with traditional cancer cures is through changing the diet into nothing but raw foods. Dr. Jerry Lee Hoover, a proponent of natural cancer cures, suggests that raw diets are easier for your body than chemotherapy. He also says that people should maintain a raw diet until cancer is in remission, because cooked foods exacerbate cancer cell growth, while raw food is still alive and will fight cancer cells. Detoxification.
* Detoxification involves speeding up your body’s removal of toxins and wastes in your entire system. This can be done either through special diets that include supplements or by physical means. For example, the skin is the body’s largest organ. It sometimes removes toxins through sweat. The Healing Cancer Naturally website suggests that regular sauna sessions or baking soda baths keep the skin’s pores open, allowing the toxins to rid themselves through your sweat. Flaxseed Oil.
* Dr. Johanna Budwig believes that cancer can be cured by adding a combination of flaxseed oil and baking soda to your regular diet. Budwig says that linol acids, which are present in cooking oils, are largely responsible for cancer-inducing oxydase enzymes. Flaxseed oil will stimulate protein growth in cells, making oils more water-soluble, effectively removing them from the body and staving off recurrent cancer cell growth. Colon Cleansing.
* One of the top three killer cancers is colon cancer. The colon is where water and nutrients are filtered from your body’s solid waste products. Since it is also a magnet for potentially cancerous polyps, the colon can really put you at risk for getting cancer. Advocates from the Healing Daily website say that your body can contain several ounces (or even pounds) of undigested red meat and fat in your colon.
The longer it hangs out in your colon, the better chance it has to fester and then become reabsorbed in your body, creating a toxic mix that’s ripe for cancer growth. Cleansing your colon can help your body rid of these wastes much faster by making your digestive system more efficient.