Radiation Therapy Side Effects May Include Bone Damage
Filed under: Bone Loss
Researchers at Clemson University, in a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, say they have discovered that radiation exposure causes mice to incur significant bone loss. This has obvious implications for cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Researchers say this side effect also applies to astronauts since they are exposed to large amounts of radiation in space.
"We were really surprised at the extent of bone loss,' said lead researcher Ted Bateman. 'We're seeing bone loss at much lower doses of radiation than we expected."Although results of a mouse study cannot be directly applied to humans, Bateman said both mice and humans lose bone after radiation exposure, so the results raise a red flag.
Radiation Therapy Might Harm Bone
Study: Radiation might destroy mouse bones
Posted by Tracy on July 12, 2006 5:59 PM
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I wonder if they know what radiation exposure from CT scans does to your bones?
That's a scary thought. I've had 3 CT scans and have osteoporosis.
Hmmmmmmmm. This is very interesting. My mother had breast cancer. She thought she was safe at the five year mark but then found out it had spread to her liver. When she had her mastectomy her lymph nodes were clear. She had radiation therapy. Also took tamoxifen. But she had osteoporosis and was taking Fosamax. She continued to take it almost up to the time she died. She was in HORRIBLE bone pain and had problems swallowing. (Symptoms of Fosamax that we didn't know about at the time.) We attributed it to the cancer and osteoporosis. But maybe it was also a combination of the Fosamax and the radiation causing her bones to deteriorate.