Tissue cancers for radium dial painters9/24/2023 ![]() ![]() Yet, at the time, very few scientists or advertisements discussed or even referred to its physical properties. one ten-thousandth of a milligram)-can prove dangerous and even fatal. It is well known today that radium is a very dangerous substance, only a minute amount of deposited radium in the human body-as little as a microgram (i.e. ![]() Radium’s acceptance as a sort of “all-purpose intensifier” of whatever it was applied to reflected the hyperbolic nature of its public profile. Radium could also be applied locally for the relief of pain. Therefore, radium was used in treating skin ailments like birthmarks and eczema, as well as gout, rheumatism, arthritis, anemia, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, asthma, hay fever, bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, hemorrhoids, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, and even neurasthenia. Through advertisement, radium was portrayed as “abundant rather than rare, mineral rather than chemical, and healthful rather than medicinal.” This phenomenon occurred because the general public, relying solely on their faith in the teachings of the scientific community, held science in high regard. Headlines declared it as a “Positive Cure for Every Disease”. When news spread to the general public that radium could treat cancer, many assumed that radium could be a miracle cure for every disease. This therapy involved implanting radium-filled needles directly into cancerous tissue. The perceived effectiveness of radium created an explosion in American culture, the consequences of which may have a greater half-life than radium itself.Īfter the first medical usage of radium, mainly for the treatment of cancer, new therapeutic and aggressive methods were put into action. According to some estimations, one doctor from 1913 to 1917 reported injecting radium into 1,500-2,000 patients in order to identify doses for successful therapy. Doctors created lengthy lists of conditions that could be alleviated with radium treatment, suggesting it could be a great therapeutic agent. The substance started being used as a cancer treatment, though only for the very rich. This drastic increase in production was caused by demand for radium within the medical profession. By 1913, three-fourths of the radium being produced in the world came from American ores. Most radium had to be imported to the United States from European mines and refineries until 1910 when research allowed American refineries to increase the supply of radium. However, radium did not make its way into American culture until 1903, being incredibly expensive to acquire, at some points reaching $125,000 per gram. When radium was first extracted from pitchblende, a uranium ore, little was known about the element’s capabilities. The discovery of radium in 1998 by Marie and Pierre Curie changed the American public’s view about both scientific limitations as well as public health. After graduation (2018), she will be pursuing a Masters in Forensic Science. Heather Roesch is a biochemistry major at Grinnell College. ![]()
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