When you hear the word radiology, what comes to your mind? Are you thinking about the pervasive effects that radiation can have on the body or perhaps the remarkable use that comes from its technology? Most people don't realize how extremely helpful radiation can be, but it can rarely be terrible. The medical field would not be as productive without the use of radiological technologies. When I say appalling, I mean the harmful consequences that radiation can have on the body. Technicians who work near radiological equipment, such as x-rays, CT scans or even mammograms, are generally not exposed to too much radiation because even if it is every day, it is only for a short period of time. Repeated exposure to radiation, such as that of people who work in nuclear power plants, could possibly cause cancer due to the amount their bodies come into contact with. When you see a cancer patient, they are usually losing their hair and are very sick all the time. This is mainly due to their lack of white blood cells, but radiotherapy from chemotherapy is very harmful to the body. Doctors have to use radiation to shrink and prevent the cancer from spreading to other parts of the body, so this is what makes the cancer patient so weak (Nilsen). Some of the effects are nausea, vomiting, headache, significant loss of white blood cells, fatigue, and hair loss (“Education Foundation”). During my internship at ETMC Orthopedic Institute, I learned the proper precautions that technicians take to ensure neither the patient nor the patient is overly exposed to radiation. One of the first steps to achieving this goal is to wear a lead apron. When the patient is in the X-ray room, he must wear a lead apron to avoid too much exposure to dangerous rays...... middle of paper ...... hangar Medical equipment. Amber Diagnostics, 1997. Web. May 10, 2011.5. “MRI of the body”. Radiological information for patients. Radiological Society of North America Inc, 2011. Web. May 10, 2011.6. Nilsen, Richard. “Positive effects of radiation”. Demand Media Inc, 2011. Web. May 9, 2011.7. “Effects of Radiation on Humans.” Education Foundation. Demand Media Inc, 2011. Web. May 10, 2011.8. Rice, M. Katherine. “Taber’s Cyclopedia Medical Dictionary.” 16th ed. Philadelphia, PA: FA Davis Company, 1989.9. Taylor, Elizabeth J. Dorlands Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 27th ed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: WB Saunders Company, 1988.