Does Radioisotopes more harm than good
Radioisotopes are isotopes of an element, which are radioactive. Radioactivity is a spontaneous transformation of an atomic nucleus accompanied by energetic radiation. In this process the radioactive atomic nucleus also known as the mother nucleus transform into a daughter nucleus that may belong to another element. This daughter nucleus will often be radioactive and decay to a new daughter nucleus until it ends up with a stable nucleus. Isotopes are shortly, atoms of the same element but with a different mass number. They are defined as atoms of an element, which has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. If you for example take carbon and nitrogen these are not isotopes, because …show more content…
I will also explain where isotopes are elsewhere used in the medical world but the main thing I will be reflecting on is its use in the medical world when cancer is treated, what bad thing radioisotopes can …show more content…
But then why do we still use it? I would say that it’s because we haven’t found anything that works better. Radioisotopes (so as cesium-137, Iodine-131, strontium-89, samarium-153, radium-223, copper-67) that cures cancer does this that they are given by mouth as a drink or capsules, or injected into a vein, then what happens is that the cells absorbs the radioisotope and cancer cells absorbs more than other cells so they receive a higher dose of radioactivity and because radioisotopes kills the cells it is now killing cells but most the tumor, so the cancer cells now dies. So we need radioisotopes to cure cancer because we haven’t found anything else that can. But here the problem is the cure and the discovery of cancer can cause cancer again, we are using this (x-rays, gamma-rays, treatment) well knowing that the risk of getting cancer again later in life increases a lot, which then makes less sense. We cure someone who is going to die maybe next year. This is an ethical question. Radioisotopes can make life quality worse, if you have cancer and you are getting treated so much, that it doesn’t even matter if you are alive or not. Life quality is deteriorated. Another ethical question could be why use so much money (because it’s expensive and
Radioisotopes are isotopes of an element, which are radioactive. Radioactivity is a spontaneous transformation of an atomic nucleus accompanied by energetic radiation. In this process the radioactive atomic nucleus also known as the mother nucleus transform into a daughter nucleus that may belong to another element. This daughter nucleus will often be radioactive and decay to a new daughter nucleus until it ends up with a stable nucleus. Isotopes are shortly, atoms of the same element but with a different mass number. They are defined as atoms of an element, which has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. If you for example take carbon and nitrogen these are not isotopes, because …show more content…
I will also explain where isotopes are elsewhere used in the medical world but the main thing I will be reflecting on is its use in the medical world when cancer is treated, what bad thing radioisotopes can …show more content…
But then why do we still use it? I would say that it’s because we haven’t found anything that works better. Radioisotopes (so as cesium-137, Iodine-131, strontium-89, samarium-153, radium-223, copper-67) that cures cancer does this that they are given by mouth as a drink or capsules, or injected into a vein, then what happens is that the cells absorbs the radioisotope and cancer cells absorbs more than other cells so they receive a higher dose of radioactivity and because radioisotopes kills the cells it is now killing cells but most the tumor, so the cancer cells now dies. So we need radioisotopes to cure cancer because we haven’t found anything else that can. But here the problem is the cure and the discovery of cancer can cause cancer again, we are using this (x-rays, gamma-rays, treatment) well knowing that the risk of getting cancer again later in life increases a lot, which then makes less sense. We cure someone who is going to die maybe next year. This is an ethical question. Radioisotopes can make life quality worse, if you have cancer and you are getting treated so much, that it doesn’t even matter if you are alive or not. Life quality is deteriorated. Another ethical question could be why use so much money (because it’s expensive and