nursing care for radiation therapy

what is radiation?

Radiation can be described as a kind of high power energy that travels through waves or fast travelling particles. Light, heat, microwaves and wireless communications are all forms of radiation. There are three types of radiation namely, Ionising radiation, Gamma radiation and Beta Alpha radiation. For medicinal purposes we utilise Ionising radiation treatment for cancer, like in radiation therapy, X rays and various other scans.

what is radiation therapy?

Radiation therapy also referred to radiotherapy is the use of ionising radiation for the treatment of varied diseases. Radiation therapy is mostly use in the treatment of cancer to control kill the malignant cells delivered by a linear accelerator, like in Intensity – modulated radiotherapy or IMRT radiation is delivered through linear accelerator. In many cases radiation therapy for cancer has proved to be curative. Besides cancer not many people know that radiation treatment is also used for treating thyroid diseases, blood disorders and non – cancerous growth.
The section of Oncology dealing with radiation therapy is called Radiation Oncology. Radiation Oncology should not be confused with radiation therapy as Radiation oncology can only prescribe radiation therapy as part of curative treatment, adjuvant therapy, and palliative treatment or for therapeutic treatment.

types of radiation therapy

There are 3 main types of Radiation therapy, namely;

1. External beam radiation therapy or teletherapy
2. Brachytherapy or sealed source radiation therapy
3. Systemic radioisotope therapy or unsealed source of radiation therapy

radiation therapy side effects

Radiation therapy side effects mainly arise when normal cells are also affected along with cancerous cells by the radiation treatment leading to several short term and long term side effects.

short term radiation therapy side effects

The short term radiation therapy side effects are as follows;

• Fatigue
• Skin irritation like swelling and blisters and a tanned appearance
• Hair loss, urinary problems, nausea and diarrhoea
• Tissue inflammation like esophagitis, pneumonitis and hepatitis
• Drop in white blood cells or platelets
• Radiation sickness

long term radiation therapy side effects

The long term radiation therapy side effects are as follows;

• Joint stiffness and restricted movement
• Skin effects due to dilated capillary blood vessels
• Diarrhoea and bleeding as a result of bowel damage
• Hormone problems like hypopituitarism or hypothyroidism
• Dry mouth, memory loss and infertility
• Second bout of cancer due to radiation exposure

radiation therapy cost

Radiation therapy cost is pretty steep and is depended upon the radiation therapy packages and the associated side effects. The prices of radiation therapy also vary according to the treatment plan. The average cost of radiation therapy however, hovers between Rs 30,000 to Rs 70,000 per session.