Understanding Radiation Therapy, Its Safety and Development

Introduction:
Radiation therapy is the utilization of radiation in order to treat diseases like cancer as well as to detect other ailments that someone may have. Since the development of radiation therapy many advancements have been made both to the process of using radiation itself, which in turn increased its effectiveness for medical use, and to the study of other possible uses for radiation. The concepts behind radiation therapy are not overly complicated, but they are still revolutionary ideas that have greatly impacted society and people’s wellness.
Development of Radiation Therapy:
The beginnings of radiation therapy were a result of x-rays, first discovered by a German physicist named Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895. During experimentation with electricity, he found that certain types of energy were able to pass through his body and produce an image of his skeletal structure. Shortly after Roentgen’s discovery of how to produce x-rays, the medical potential of them was explored and used to diagnose health issues. The use of radiation was taken even further than x-rays by Emil Grubbe, who became the first radiation oncologist. Radiation oncology is the study of the therapeutic benefits of radiation. Grubbe earned this title because he was the first to propose using x-rays as treatment for breast cancer, and his experiment was accompanied by immense success. Many people followed Grubbe’s footsteps and became radiation oncologists. Methods for treatment improved in many areas from things like when dosage should be given, how much should be given per dose, and the ability to pinpoint and attack even the deepest cancerous tumors. After these improvements many radiation oncologists changed their focus to more specific treatments an...

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