Radiation

Manny Hamelburg, 68, a retired businessman, had fought prostate cancer for years. First, he tried radiation, then a drug with side effects that nearly killed him, and finally Lupron, a drug that blocks production of testosterone, the hormone that can fuel prostate cancer. The cancer disappeared. But life was miserable. Without normal levels of testosterone, Hamelburg says, he had no energy, and "zero libido for seven years. I was like a eunuch. I was chemically castrated. Sex was just hugs."

Back when single-celled organisms ruled Earth, a gigantic black hole lurking quietly at the center of a distant galaxy dismantled and devoured a star. On Wednesday, astronomers reported that they watched the whole thing unfold over a period of 15 months starting in 2010, the first time such an event had been witnessed in great detail from start to finish. "The star got so close that it was ripped apart by the gravitational force of the black hole," said Johns Hopkins University astronomer Suvi Gezari, lead author of a paper about the observations that was published online by the journal Nature.

The PSA test should be abandoned as a prostate cancer screening tool, a government advisory panel has concluded after determining that the side effects from needless biopsies and treatments hurt many more men than are potentially helped by early detection of cancers. At best, one life will be saved for every 1,000 men screened over a 10-year period, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. But 100 to 120 men will have suspicious results when there is no cancer, triggering biopsies that can carry complications such as pain, fever, bleeding, infection and hospitalization.

A solar flare that sparked a spectacular light show Monday took a convenient left turn. But although Earth is now safe from the impact of a solar storm, some NASA spacecraft are in the line of fire. A solar observatory that monitors space flares; the Mars Science Laboratory, now traveling to Mars with precious cargo, the rover Curiosity; and the Spitzer Space Telescope will feel the effects of the solar storm, said solar astrophysicist Alex Young. "The Spitzer Space Telescope is going to take the biggest impact," Young said Tuesday in an interview with The Times.

Whole-body CT scans, long controversial because of doubts about their effectiveness in finding hidden disease, can significantly increase the recipient's risk of developing cancer, according to a study released Monday. The radiation from a single whole-body scan is equal to that from 100 mammograms and is similar to that received by survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan -- about 1 1/2 miles from the explosions -- according to radiation biologist David J.

Widespread overuse of CT scans and variations in radiation doses caused by different machines -- operated by technicians following an array of procedures -- are subjecting patients to high radiation doses that will ultimately lead to tens of thousands of new cancer cases and deaths, researchers reported today. Several recent studies have suggested that patients have been unnecessarily exposed to radiation from CTs or have received excessive amounts, but two new studies published Tuesday in the Archives of Internal Medicine are the first to quantify the extent of exposure and the related risks.

Radiation from the largest solar flare in four years is expected to reach the Earth Thursday and Friday, potentially interfering with communication and navigation satellites and disrupting ground-based communication networks and power grids. The rain of charged particles from the so-called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, should also enhance the northern lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, making them both more prominent and visible farther south, perhaps even into the northern tier of the United States, experts said.

For the first time, astronomers say they've borne witness to a supermassive black hole consuming a star. Two papers released Wednesday by the journal Nature describe powerful blasts of radiation whose brightness and behavior can be explained only by a sun-sized star being torn apart by the gravitational forces of a black hole at the center of its galaxy, the authors say. Scientists believe they have seen the aftermath of such stellar violence...

The International Atomic Energy Agency said over the weekend that Japan had "distributed 230,000 units of stable iodine to evacuation centres" near the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini nuclear power plants. Damage to those plants from Friday's earthquake and tsunami has increased the risk that people in the area could be exposed to radiation.  If that happens, here's why taking iodine tablets might help.   In this fact sheet , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explain that the body needs iodine -- in a nonradioactive form -- to make thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism.

After years of rebuffing health concerns over airport scanners, the Transportation Security Administration plans to conduct new tests on the potential radiation exposure generated by the machines at more than 100 airports nationwide. But the TSA does not plan to re-test the machines or the passengers. Instead, the agency plans to test its own airport security officers to see if they are being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation while working with the scanning machines. News of the test leaked out after the TSA issued a request last month to government vendors to provide wearable, personal dosimeters that can detect if the radiation readings on TSA officers exceed dangerous levels.

Warren Buffett's disclosure that he has prostate cancer will intensify the pressure on the famed investor to publicly reveal the name of the executive he has chosen to succeed him at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Berkshire announced Tuesday that the 81-year-old Buffett has Stage 1 prostate cancer and will begin radiation treatments in mid-July. It is considered to be the mildest form of prostate cancer, with doctors simply monitoring the normally slow-growing tumors to ensure patient conditions don't worsen.

Veteran fish seller Yoshito Shimada is under siege. At a grocery store in Tokyo's Shibuya district, mothers pushing strollers demand proof that the daily catch isn't from the waters off the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. "I tell them the government checks the fish for radiation, but they don't trust elected officials, or anyone," said Shimada, his blue shirt stained with fish blood. "A year after the disaster, Japan is still afraid of its own food. " Even in Tokyo, more than 200 miles from the northeastern region devastated by the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that caused radiation to spew from the nuclear plant, residents fear that local schoolyards are laced with dangerous isotopes.

Yogi Berra supposedly said, "It's tough making predictions, especially about the future. " He was right. However, there is an out for forecasters trying to predict long-term medical consequences of the Fukushima nuclear facility accident: The final reckoning will take about 50 years; they are unlikely to be around to be judged wrong. With this reassurance in mind, we think the public deserves an estimate of likely outcomes of radiation released when the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami caused multiple meltdowns of nuclear fuel at the plant.

The San Onofre nuclear power plant came under renewed scrutiny last week after a small radiation leak and the discovery of extensive tube damage. The leak and the tube wear "at no point posed a danger to the community or to workers on site," said Jennifer Manfre, spokeswoman with Southern California Edison, which operates the facility. But the incidents raised concern among environmental groups, which for years have kept a close eye on the plant near San Clemente following other safety problems.

After years of rebuffing health concerns over airport scanners, the Transportation Security Administration plans to conduct new tests on the potential radiation exposure generated by the machines at more than 100 airports nationwide. But the TSA does not plan to re-test the machines or the passengers. Instead, the agency plans to test its own airport security officers to see if they are being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation while working with the scanning machines. News of the test leaked out after the TSA issued a request last month to government vendors to provide wearable, personal dosimeters that can detect if the radiation readings on TSA officers exceed dangerous levels.

I was baptized at Our Lady of Hypochondria Church. When I get a headache, my mind speeds past simple causes, like "sinus pressure," and goes straight to "inoperable brain tumor. " If my leg tingles, it's multiple sclerosis; if my heart hiccups, it's cardiac arrest. Ah, the pointless trysts with Dr. Google, self-diagnosing ailments I didn't have. That is, until I got DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). A routine mammogram detected cancer cells in my right breast. Luckily for me, the doctors caught it early, but I would need surgery followed by radiation.

Should women sailors be allowed on submarines? The United States is poised to repeal the ban, and the first women are scheduled to serve aboard subs by 2012. But we must ask some serious questions before changing the policy. During the Cold War, long before becoming a doctor, I served as a nuclear reactor operator aboard a fast-attack submarine. During that time, I often considered the thought of women as fellow crew members. There was never any question in my mind that women would be as capable as men. The issues of limited space and the need for separate quarters could be easily resolved by a visit to any of the unisex bathrooms found on our college campuses.

Everyone is exposed to some radiation. It's the level of exposure that determines whether there's any harmful effect. But how much radiation is a lot? Here are a few numbers for comparison. (A microsievert is a unit that measures the biological effects of radiation.) Limit on whole-body exposure for a radiation worker for one year: 50,000 microsieverts One year's worth of exposure to natural radiation from soil, cosmic rays and other sources: 3,000 microsieverts One chest X-ray: 100 microsieverts One dental X-ray: 40-150 microsieverts One mammogram: 700 microsieverts CT scan (abdomen)

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -- Japan's response to the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was flawed by poor communication and delays in releasing data on dangerous radiation leaks at the facility, which was struck by an earthquake-triggered tsunami on March 11, a government-appointed investigative panel has found. The report attaches blame to both Japan's central government as well as the utility that operates the plant -- the Tokyo Electric Power Co. -- depicting a scene of harried officials incapable of making decisions to stem radiation leaks as the situation at the coastal plant worsened in the days and weeks following the disaster.