[ RadSafe ] Abstract: Age-at-exposure effects on risk estimates for non-cancer mortality in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors

[John Jacobus]

Age-at-exposure effects on risk estimates for
non-cancer mortality in the Japanese atomic bomb
survivors
    Wei Zhang, Colin R Muirhead and Nezahat Hunter
    2005 J. Radiol. Prot. 25 393-404

    Abstract: 
http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/-alert=1221/0952-4746/25/4/003

    Full text PDF:
http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/-alert=1221/0952-4746/25/4/003/jrp5_4_003.pdf

    Statistically significant increases in non-cancer
disease mortality with radiation dose have been
observed among survivors of the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The increasing trends arise
particularly for diseases of the circulatory,
digestive, and respiratory systems. Rates for
survivors exposed to a dose of 1 Sv are elevated by
about 10%, a smaller relative increase than that for
cancer. The aetiology of this increased risk is not
yet understood. Neither animal nor human studies have
found clear evidence for excess non-cancer mortality
at the lower range of doses received by A-bomb
survivors. In this paper, we examine the age and time
patterns of excess risks in the A-bomb survivors. The
results suggest that the excess relative risk of
non-cancer disease mortality might be highest for
exposure at ages 30-49 years, and that those exposed
at ages 0-29 years might have a very low excess
relative risk compared with those exposed at older
ages. The differences in excess relative risk for
different age-at-exposure groups imply that the dose
response relationships for non-cancer disease
mortality need to be modelled with adjustment for
age-at-exposure.


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"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."
"John F. Kennedy, U.S. President and former Naval Officer 

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

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