BBC Website Article: Health Effects of Radiation

[Robin_Siskel@notes.ymp.gov]

Thought you all might be interested to note this article.  It is at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/medical_notes/newsid_461000/461921.stm



Health: Medical notes

Radiation sickness factfile



The Chernobyl nuclear disaster claimed thousands of lives



Exposure to radiation can cause devastating damage to the immune system and to
the tissues of the body. The effects are known as radiation sickness or
syndrome. Radiation can also cause little understood changes to the body's
genes, which can be manifested through the development of diseases such as
cancer later in life, and possibly as birth defects in future generations.
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What does radiation do to the body?

Radiation turns atoms, the basic building block of the body's cells, into
potentially dangerous particles called ions.

Natural background radiation causes only low levels of damage which can be
repaired by the body.

However, when the body is exposed to unnaturally high levels of radiation it
cannot combat the damage caused.

Among the cells that are most sensitive to radiation are those that line the
intestine (crypt cells), white blood cells that fight infection and the cells
that make red and white blood cells.

The impact on these cells leads to the classic early symptoms of radiation
sickness.

For instance, damage to the intestine cells stimulates nausea, vomiting and
dehydratation.

Radiation can be breathed in, swallowed or absorbed through the skin.

What are the symptoms?



There are many symptoms of radiation sickness, and their severity varies greatly
depending on the dosage. The initial symptoms include:

Nausea
Vomiting
Diahorrea
Fatigue
These symptoms may be followed by:

Headache
Shortness of breath
Rapid heartbeat
Inflammation of the mouth and throat
Worsening of tooth or gum disease
Hair loss
Dry cough
Heart inflammation with chest pain
Burning
Permanent skin darkening
Bleeding spots anywhere under the skin
Haemorrhage
Anaemia
In severe cases, where the radiation exposure has been severe - approximately 10
gray (gray are measures of radiation) or more - death may occur within two to
four weeks.

Those who survive six weeks after the receipt of a single large dose of
radiation to the whole body may generally be expected to recover

What treatment is available?

Anti-nausea drugs and painkillers can be used to relieve symptoms of radiation
sickness. Antibiotics may also be needed to fight off secondary infection.

Blood transfusions may be necessary for patients suffering from anaemia.

What is the long-term health impact?

Radiation-related illnesses tend to show themselves about 10 to 15 years after a
radiation disaster.

The body's endocrine, or hormone-secreting, glands appear to be particularly
sensitive to radiation.

It is now widely accepted that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has led to a
massive increase in thyroid cancers in the three countries most affected.

Already, 680 cases of thyroid cancer have been recorded in Belarus, Russia and
Ukraine. Belarus has shown a 100-fold increase, from 0.3 per million in 1981-85
to 30.6 per million in 1991-94.

Unicef has noted significant increases in many types of health disorders in
Belarus since the disaster.

For example, problems of the nervous and sensory organs have increased by 43%;
disorders of the digestive organs by 28%; and disorders of bone, muscle and the
connective tissue system have increased by 62%.

The Ministry of Chernobyl in Ukraine estimates that those people living in
contaminated areas are twice as likely to suffer from disease as people from
clean areas.

What about future generations?

Scientists studying victims of the Chernobyl disaster have discovered that
radiation-induced genetic mutations can be passed down from generation to
generation.

Genetic mutations appear to occur twice as often in the children of families
exposed to radioactive fallout and represent permanent damage to the DNA that is
passed down through the generations.

The effect was not observed in the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This page contains basic information. If you are concerned about your health,
you should consult a doctor.



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