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Nuclear Medicine

Each year, 16 million Americans will undergo a nuclear medicine procedure to diagnose or treat a medical condition. Nuclear imaging scans have a number of uses in America and can identify a medical problem in the kidneys, heart, lungs, gallbladder, bones, bowels, thyroid, brain and lymph nodes. Nuclear elements can reveal tumors, infections, internal bleeding and abnormal blood flow. Also, a number of conditions may be treated by nuclear radiology, such as hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, lymphoma, blood disorders and bone tumors.

Many nuclear medicine procedures use the radioactive isotope Technetium-99. Half of all diagnostic imaging involving the heart uses this isotope. According to medical professionals, the only other alternatives are more invasive procedures, like cardiac catheterization. Bone scans are the second-most popular use for this isotope. There are no other substitutions for the accuracy and quality of this important test. Additionally, kidney function evaluations are done using this isotope, with no existing alternative test options. Sometimes other isotopes can be used, but the radiation dose is higher, the procedure takes longer to do and the image quality is not that good. Given our dependency on such an important isotope, it seems logical to suggest we need to update existing nuclear reactor facilities (most of which are over 40 years old) and put a greater focus on preventative measures using imaging technology.

In addition to these tests, nuclear medicine is also used to treat certain patients. Since cancer is characterized by quick, uncontrolled cell division and rapidly reproducing cells are sensitive to the effects of ionizing radiation, they can be targeted and treated with radiation therapy. During this treatment, radioactive wires are placed near the tumor and they cause rapidly reproducing cells to self-destruct. One negative consequence is that cancer cells aren’t the only cells that quickly reproduce. Hair cells, stomach lining cells, skin cells and blood cells also reproduce quickly, so there are many side effects (particularly hair loss and nausea) as these cells self-destruct.

The term “radioactive” often gets a bad rap, as it conjures up images of mutants, monsters and science experiments gone awry. However, using nuclear elements in medicine has been found to be completely safe. Nuclear medicine holds the most promise in radiology nuclear scanning and diagnostic imaging, but the trick will be to have enough nuclear reactors producing the isotopes we need most. As for treating cancer, more studies must be done to mitigate some of the unwanted side effects of nausea and hair loss.

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