Jessica Jefferson

2. Radiation therapy is one of the main
methods of treating cancer. Radiation
helps victims of cancer in all different
circumstances.
Radiation works by breaking the
DNA molecule inside the cancer
cell, which slows down the
growth and reproduction,
division, and spreading of
cancer cells. Sometimes
surrounding cells are affected
by the radiation but make full
recoveries and go back to
normal!

3. Radiation therapy is usually a more local treatment for
patients. The radiation and machine is aimed at the
infected part of the body only, and only affects that area
of the body.
The main purpose of radiation treatment is to damage and
destroy as many cancer cells as possible, with intentions of
keeping as much healthy cells as possible without harming
them in the treatment.

4. Radiation dates back as far as 1895 when the first
discover x-rays when scientists and doctors started to
realize that exposure to radiation caused hair loss and
bad burns on the skin. Doctors first started using
radiation therapy for lesions and growths produced
from diseases such as lupus and ulcers.
Radium was also known to be found in hot water springs
(which were known for their curative powers) which lead
people to think that it was a wonder cure. People thought
that using small amounts of it would not be harmful.
Eventually medical science and the patients of radiation
treatment discovered that the physical tolerance of
radiation was much lower than expected and cell
damage would appear up to 40 years after treatment.

5. Chemotherapy is a type of drug therapy used
to kill cancer cells. Chemo is used in many
different types of diseases. Chemo therapy is
usually used when there is a possibility of a
tumour that cannot be removed with a surgery
or radiation. Other reasons for
chemotherapy are if you
want to avoid another tumour
and shrink existing growths.

6. The way that chemotherapy works is that it kills fast
growing cells, and tumours generally grow faster
than the tissue where they began growing
therefore you want to stop the tumour. Some fast
growing tissues are stomach lining and hair, and
when you take a drug that kills fast growing tissues
its going to attack these two things which are the
two most common side effects of chemo.

7. Heart stents are a mesh tubing used to
fix and treat narrow or weak arteries.
Arteries are blood vessels that carry
blood from place to place, but mostly
carrying and circulating blood around
the heart.
Stents are placed in the body during a
operation called angioplasty.
Angioplasty is a procedure that
restores blood flow through the
arteries, and a stent helps support the
arteries for up to years after surgery.

8. Stents are often covered in medicine that
slowly releases as years pass into the artery.
Stunts like these are called drug-eluting
stents, and the medicine prevents the artery
from being clogged or blocked again. Not
all stents are made of metal, they are also
made with fabric which are called grafts
and they are usually made for larger
arteries.
Doctors usually place stents in
because of weak arteries, or
arteries that are clogged and
about to burst.
“When patients are in the throes of a heart attack,
there's no question that stents save lives” - Kelly
Brewington

9. A defibrillator is a machine that uses an
electric shock to shock the heart in the
emergency of cardiac arrest to save a
person’s live.
Cardiac arrest takes place when the
heart stops pumping blood through
your body, and this is when a
defibrillator can save a life.
Researchers have come to the conclusion that if a
defibrillation takes place within 5 minutes of cardiac arrest
their chances of survival is much higher and with every minute
that passes with out defibrillation the chance of survival goes
down by 14 %.

10. A pacemaker is a tiny little
machine that controls
abnormal heart rhythms using
electric pulses to help the
heart beat at a normal rate.
This tiny device helps save people’s lives
every single day. It helps with a
condition called arrhythmia, which is
when a heart beats irregularly or too fast
or too slow and when there is heart rate
problems.
Some symptoms of arrhythmia are
fatigue, shortness of breath, and
fainting. You can also have damaged
internal organs, and it can result in
death.

11. Pacemakers can work as a monitor and keep track of
a hearts electricity activities and rhythms of the heart.
Newer more modern pacemakers can also keep track
of your body’s blood temperature and breathing rates
and they can adjust with your heart rate to changed
in activity.
Pacemakers can also be permanent or
temporary, for people with long-term problems
such as heart surgery or a heart attack.
Permanent pacemakers are used for more serious
and permanent heart problems that are long-
term.

12. Life support is a mixture of different machines, and therapies that
can keep a person alive and a major part of life support is feeding
tubes that give a person the nutrients they need to keep living
because they cannot control their own muscles, meaning they are
unable to swallow.
The feeding tube is made from silicone
tubing placed into the stomach from the
nose or the patient could have a gastric
tube, which is located near the abdomen.
Often the feeding tube short-term and is
removed after a person recovers and it
taken off life support. Sometimes if a patient
has a long term illness they have to continue
with the feeding tube permanently.

13. A ventilator is used in A ventilator is a very vital and important
many life threatening part of life support. A ventilator
situations, sometimes mechanically forces air in and out of the
long-term and lungs using a bellow system that uses
sometimes short-term negative and positive pressure while
depending on the oxygen goes in and out of the person’s
patient. The ventilator is lungs.
placed through the nose
and mouth by a tube
called a “enotracheal
tube” and sometimes if
there is some kind of
blockage in the throat
doctors apply it through
a tracheotomy which is a
hole in a throat made by
doctors so that oxygen
can reach the lungs in
an emergency situation.

14. A heart and lung bypass is a very
important part of life support
process. The machine works
together with the rest of the life
support system to take over the
function of the heart and lungs.
If a persons brain is functioning
normally and well, but the vital
internal organs aren’t
functioning right at all, the
bypass machine kicks in and
takes over for the lungs and
heart until the problems with the
patient are solved.

15. The machine is worked by a person who specializes in
extracorporeal circulation. In order to run one of these
machine you need a perfusionist who can operate the
pump that runs the machine. Sometimes this machine is
used during surgeries in case of organ failure, and a blood
thinner must be taken before in risk of blood clotting.

16. How does radiation therapy work?. (2011, 11 14). Retrieved from
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/radi
ation/understandingradiationtherapyaguideforpatientsandfamilies/understanding
History of radiation therapy. (2012, 09 2012). Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_radiation_therapy
What is a pacemaker?. (2012, 02 28). Retrieved from
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/pace/
What is a stent?. (2011, 11 08). Retrieved from
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/stents/
Brewington, K. (2012, 01 25). When is a stent necessary?. Retrieved from
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-01-25/health/bal-md.stents25jan25_1_stents-
heart-patients-cardiologists
Defibrillators. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/life-saving-
skills/defibrillators-save-lives.aspx
Bhwani, A. (2009, 06 29). Chemotherapy treatment. Retrieved from
http://chemotherapyadvices.com/chemotherapy-treatments/
Boehlke, J. (2009, 10 21). How life support works. Retrieved from
http://www.livestrong.com/article/30017-life-support-works/