Thursday, November 26, 2009

Health care workers, patients and experts have their say on the impact of the medical isotope shortage

Health care workers, patients and experts have their say on the impact of the medical isotope shortage


Click on the above link for the full update on this shut down of the Chalk River nuclear medicine reactor. I was not aware until this story that CANADA has an enormous impact in the exportation of medical isotopes. Unfortunately there is no explanation as to WHY? (maintenance? sick workers? finances?) Ummmmm... what are medical isotopes? In a nutshell they are "safe radioactive substance used to diagnose ilness". They essentially help pick out the small details of our organs and vessels that doctors cannot pick-up just looking at an image alone. The main isotope is called Tc-99 it can be used for bone, brain scans etc - often times for cancer patients.


Is it just me or whenever people think words like "nuclear" and "radiation" a picture like this comes to mind...

No comments:

Post a Comment