Long gone are the days of doctors performing blind or exploratory surgeries in hopes of discovering an ailment in their patients. The discovery of the x-ray in 1895, by German physicist W.C. Roentgen, was a major contribution to modern medicine (NDT Resource Center). Years after the discovery of the x-ray, the dependency of such increased, “The number of radiographic and fluoroscopic studies skyrocketed from 25 million in 1950 to 293 million in 2006” (Herrmann et al). Due to the uptick and reliance of diagnostic imagining, it is vital to discuss the harmful effects, ways to protect oneself from radiation exposure, and on going campaigns and studies that aim at increasing the awareness and safety of damaging rays.
Radiation has a variety of negative effects ranging from early to late. Early effects …show more content…
(Dowd and Tilson 128). An example of some negative short-term effects of radiation stem from the gonads, they are extremely sensitive to radiation because they contain germ cells that could potentially pass on mutations to future generations (Dowd and Tilson 132). The sterilization of the testes is dependent on the dose administered, for example, “A dose of 10 rad (10 cGy) can lead to a reduction in the number of spermatozoa…Since there is a 3- to 5-week period for maturation of spermatozoa, a dose of 200 to 250 rad (2-2.5 Gy) results in temporary sterility that takes 2 months to become fully manifest.” (Dowd and Tilson 132). Chronic radiodermatitis was one of the most common late effects of radiation exposure (Dowd and Tilson 128). Radiodermatitis is no longer a common effect due to the increased technology, which has decreased the necessary radiation
Radiation has a variety of negative effects ranging from early to late. Early effects …show more content…
(Dowd and Tilson 128). An example of some negative short-term effects of radiation stem from the gonads, they are extremely sensitive to radiation because they contain germ cells that could potentially pass on mutations to future generations (Dowd and Tilson 132). The sterilization of the testes is dependent on the dose administered, for example, “A dose of 10 rad (10 cGy) can lead to a reduction in the number of spermatozoa…Since there is a 3- to 5-week period for maturation of spermatozoa, a dose of 200 to 250 rad (2-2.5 Gy) results in temporary sterility that takes 2 months to become fully manifest.” (Dowd and Tilson 132). Chronic radiodermatitis was one of the most common late effects of radiation exposure (Dowd and Tilson 128). Radiodermatitis is no longer a common effect due to the increased technology, which has decreased the necessary radiation