What could happen to cells that receive a large dosage of radiation?

The cells could die.

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What is radiation sickness?

Radiation sickness is an illness caused by being exposed to large amounts of radiation.

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What are 3 symptoms of radiation sickness?

  1. Vomiting.
  2. Tiredness.
  3. Hair loss.

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How can low levels of radiation lead to cancer?

Low levels of radiation can cause mutations in our DNA, which may cause our cells to divide uncontrollably.

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What is radiotherapy and what is it used for?

Radiotherapy is the use of targeted doses of radiation to kill cancerous cells. It can therefore be used to treat cancer. 

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What is the difference between external radiotherapy and internal radiotherapy?

External radiotherapy is where the cancerous cells are exposed to gamma radiation from outside the body, from many different angles. This way, only the cancer site gets the highest dose of radiation.


Internal radiotherapy is where the cancerous cells are exposed to radiation from inside/within the body. The radiation source usually emits beta particles and is placed inside or near the cancer cells.

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What are the side effects of radiotherapy?

The patient may feel sick or tired, as the radiation may damage other cells in the body. 

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What is a radioactive medical tracer?

Medical tracers are used to help diagnose medical problems by allowing us to locate or track things (such as tumours) within the body. 

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How do radioactive medical tracers work?

  1. A radioactive isotope is injected or swallowed.
  2. If injected, the tracer will travel throughout the body via the blood.
  3. If swallowed, the tracer will be absorbed through the intestine, and then travel throughout the body via the blood.
  4. The tracer emits radiation, which can be detected from outside the body.
  5. The movement and accumulation of the tracer is monitored, helping us to understand the movement of substances within the body.

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Why do we usually use isotopes with a short half-life for medical tracers?

A short half-life means that they decay relatively quickly and so don't last very long. This minimises the time that the patient is exposed to radiation.

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What type of radiation do medical tracers usually emit? Why?

Medical tracers usually emit gamma radiation as it is only weakly ionising, so it won't damage the patient's cells very much.


It is also very penetrating, so only a small amount will need to be emitted for it to be detected by the detector. 

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