- Doctors tried to shrink the thryoid in children in the 1930-40s by x-ray radiation.
- X-rays (large doses, several Gy ) where used to treat ringworm of the scalp in 1940-50s. There was a six-fold increase in thyroid cancer of those treated.
- X-ray doses where delivered to the spine to treat ankylosing spondylitis in Britain in the 1930s.
I wonder what procedures we are doing now that will be silly in 60 years?
To be fair, with adequate control, at least the thyroid one could work, no?
ReplyDeleteAlso, the current thyroid-shrinking method is still radiation- ingested radioactive iodine concentrates in the thyroid, eventually killing tissue. Not sure that's the best method.
I don't know much about radiation treatments. That being said, I talked to a professor and in principle it works (kills cells). The problem is that with gammas you are only guaranteed a probability of interacting, so the intensity follows an exponential decay and it is very hard to get the gamma to deposit all of its energy in the target area.
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