NUCLEAR MEDICINE

Nuclear having to do with the nucleus. In this case it does with the nuclei of atoms of elements. Medicine: Science of diagnosis and control of diseases. Nuclear Medicine is thus medicine utilizing nuclear changes in atoms of elements known as radioactive elements. This class of elements e.g., radium, caesium, and iodine, undergo nuclear transformations with the atomic nuclei disintegrating and giving radiations e.g., gamma radiation, and particles e.g., alpha or beta particles. These emissions travel at different ranges in different media, with the shortest range emission being alpha particle followed by beta particle. As they pass through a medium, the emissions produce ionization and in some media of living tissues the ionization takes place in the chemical set up of the tissue. This alters normal chemical structures of an affected unit and normal metabolic processes connected with the unit are disrupted.