HEALTH & WELLNESS
The new low dose radiation therapy machine, a linear accelerator, which is used to treat specific joints in patients. | PHOTO BY MACEE SWAFFORD
to reduce inflammation and pain.
Dr. Richard Matter, medical director of Radiation Oncology at Baptist Health Corbin, said the treatment is not intended to replace every
tradition treatment or surgical procedure, but it can provide another option for patients whose pain has persisted despite other approaches.
“ There’ s a body of literature that’ s been out in the European world using low-dose radiation therapy for arthritis, and it works— and it’ s noninvasive,” said Matter.
Radiation therapy is perhaps best known for its role in treating cancer, but LDRT uses radiation in a dramatically different way.
According to Baptist Health Corbin, LDRT uses small doses of radiation to reduce inflammation and pain associated with degenerative joint disease. The treatment works by modulating inflammatory pathways and reducing cytokine activity and immune-cell signaling.
Dr. Matter explained that the amount of radiation used for osteoarthritis is far below the doses typically associated with cancer treatment.
“ For example, if we’ re gonna treat a lung cancer, we’ re gonna take it to 6 to 7,000 centigray of radiation,” Matter said.
A centigray( cGy) is a unit used to measure the amount of radiation absorbed by tissue— essentially, it tells doctors how much radiation a patient receives during treatment.
“ Here, we’ re using 300. Divide it into six different doses— so 50 centigray per dose— tiny dose of radiation therapy,” said Dr. Matter.
LDRT has been used for decades in Europe for benign inflammatory conditions, and Baptist Health Corbin cites clinical guidelines and
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