Hospitals and Cost of Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in South Africa

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in South Africa

Radiation treatment is a kind of cancer growth treatment that utilizes light emissions energy to eliminate diseased cells. Radiation treatment frequently uses X-beams, yet protons or different sorts of energy likewise can be utilized. 

The expression "radiation therapy" regularly alludes to external beam radiation treatment. During this kind of radiation, the high-energy beams originate from a machine outside of your body that points the bars at an exact point on your body. During an alternate kind of radiation treatment called brachytherapy (brak-e-THER-uh-pee), radiation is put inside your body. 

Radiation treatment harms cells by wrecking the genetic material that controls how cells develop and separate. While both healthy and carcinogenic cells are harmed by radiation treatment, the objective of radiation treatment is to annihilate as not many typical, normal cells as could reasonably be expected. Typical cells can regularly fix a significant part of the harm brought about by radiation.

Symptoms of people undergoing Radiation Therapy

There are various symptoms that crop up both short term and long term. The short term may include:

• Fatigue

• Hair loss

• Diarrhea

• Skin changes

• Nausea and vomiting

• Heart or lung problems, if radiation affects the chest

• Thyroid problems, leading to hormonal changes, if radiation affects the neck area

• Lymphedema, which involves lymph fluid building up and causing pain

• Hormonal changes, including a possibility of early menopause, from radiation in the pelvic area

• There is a slight chance that high doses of radiation in certain areas can increase the risk of another form of cancer developing. A doctor will provide more specific information and help with weighing the risks and benefits.

Factors affecting the cost of radiation therapy

There can be several factors affecting the costing of the procedure and the entire billing. Few of them depend on the current medical status of the patient and others are just hygiene.

• Age of the patient

• Stage of cancerous growth in the patient

• The spending capacity of the patient

• Technology and resources used for the treatment process