Radioactive isotopes have many useful applications. In particular, they are central to the fields of nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. In nuclear medicine, tracer radioisotopes may be taken orally or be injected or inhaled into the body. The radioisotope circulates through the body or is taken up only by certain tissues. Its distribution can be tracked according to the radiation it gives off. In radiotherapy, radioisotopes typically are employed to destroy diseased cells. Radiotherapy commonly is used to treat cancer and other conditions involving abnormal tissue growth, such as hyperthyroidism. Beams of subatomic particles, such as protons, neutrons, or alpha or beta particles, directed toward diseased tissues can disrupt the atomic or molecular structure of abnormal cells, causing them to die. Medical applications use artificial radioisotopes that have been produced from stable isotopes bombarded with neutrons.
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