-
Asked by 12woolmerv to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB, Ruth on 20 Jun 2013.
-
Peter Balfe answered on 20 Jun 2013:
Radiation kills things, point it at a cell to kill it. The trick is that radiation is especially effective against growing cells, and cancer cells grow faster than the cells around them. Unfortunately those normal cells also grow, though more slowly, so there’s always “collatoral damage”.
-
-
Ee Lyn Lim answered on 20 Jun 2013:
Things that are radioactive give off high-energy rays of radiation. When these rays hit your cells, they start breaking things – most importantly, your DNA. Every time your cells divide into two, they have to copy over all the DNA in your cell so that they have two sets, one for each new cell. But if the DNA is broken, the cell gets stuck when it’s trying to copy it, stops dividing, and eventually dies. Cancer cells divide a lot more than normal cells (that’s why they form big lumps that are called ‘tumours’), so radiation gets them first. But if your normal healthy cells get hit by radiation they will also die, which is why cancer patients who get radiotherapy often become quite ill.
-
Katy Brown answered on 20 Jun 2013:
Just to make things even more complicated, radioactivity also causes cancer! This happens because if a cell is not completely killed by the radiation it can be damaged and become unstable, sometimes meaning it loses its ability to regulate itself and grows uncontrollably, causing cancer. Radiation given to treat cancer is carefully controlled to avoid this though.
-
Paul Waines answered on 26 Jun 2013:
Its used because it damages DNA- the ‘code for life’. If the DNA is damaged, the cells that make the tumour can’t divide and eventually the tumour shrinks, because the older cells arent replaced.
Radiation can also damage healthy cells for the same reason, so doctors have to be very careful when they use it.
Comments
12woolmerv commented on :
Thanks