Diagnosis
Since the side effects of radiation are very diverse, their diagnosis is also very different. In order to define the side effect or consequence of irradiation, the patient’s medical history must include radiotherapy in the affected area. If complaints subsequently arise which can be explained by the cell damage after irradiation, it is often possible to assume that the radiation has caused a side effect.
These are the symptoms I recognize as a side effect of irradiation
The symptoms of side effects of irradiation are as different as the types of side effects. In the acute case during or shortly after irradiation, an acute radiation reaction can occur, which is accompanied by nausea and vomiting as well as difficulty swallowing. Headaches and a pronounced feeling of weakness, possibly accompanied by fever, can also be symptoms of the side effects of radiation.
The skin over the irradiated area is often reddened, and overheating, swelling, pain and inflammation may occur. Mucous membranes affected by irradiation can also become painfully inflamed. Typical symptoms of side effects of bone marrow irradiation are pronounced paleness and poor performance (anemia), susceptibility to infection (low white blood cells) and a tendency to bleed (reduced platelet count).
If the lungs are irradiated, dry coughing with coughing up blood and breathing difficulties may occur. In the long term, regeneration damage may occur in the irradiated body regions. The affected cells are permanently damaged.
For example, irradiated bones can break particularly easily, and they also grow together very slowly or hardly at all, so that adequate fracture healing is not possible. The damage to organs becomes apparent in the form of a functional weakness. This can result in increased or decreased hormone release. Intestinal dysfunction with pronounced abdominal pain and diarrhea are also signs of the side effects of radiation in the abdominal cavity.
TreatmentTherapy
The therapy of side effects of radiation are anything but trivial. First of all, the best treatment consists in a good planning of the radiation. Thus, as little healthy tissue as possible should be included in a radiation therapy.For this purpose, three-dimensional radiation planning is carried out nowadays, which is calculated by computers in the best possible way.
It must be ensured that the tumor tissue is irradiated as much as possible while the surrounding tissue should be well protected. If a high radiation dose is necessary for the therapy of the tumor, the irradiation can be extended over a longer period of time. In this way, side effects of the radiation are reduced, since the healthy tissue always has some time to recover from the radiation.
In the case of acute radiation reactions, causal therapy is not possible, since radiation cannot be dispensed with. Instead, a symptomatic therapy can be performed. It is important that affected persons, despite the symptoms, take in sufficient fluids and consume sufficient nutrients and energy so that the body can tolerate the consequences of radiation as well as possible. Side effects such as nausea and vomiting can be alleviated with medication.
