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Early effects on survivors |
| Within several months to several years after the atomic bombings |
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Early effects include various acute radiation symptoms. Information on
these symptoms was obtained by interviewing more than 100,000 atomic-bomb
survivors primarily from 1956 to 1961. Among the acute radiation symptoms
recalled by survivors, epilation (hair loss)
is regarded as the most reliably reported. That is, it is
considered to be more objectively remembered than other symptoms,
such as vomiting, bleeding from the gums, diarrhea, and purpura.
In general, acute radiation symptoms do not appear at
low-dose radiation exposures, giving rise to a concept known
as a threshold dose.
That is, below a certain radiation dose, no acute symptoms
occur. This is in contrast to a theory known as the linear
dose-response relationship, which is illustrated by malignant
diseases, one of the most well established late effects of
radiation exposure. This concept implies that the higher the
radiation dose, the greater the risk of developing a malignancy. |
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For more-detailed explanations of
specific topics related to early effects on survivors, select
a topic below.
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Acute
radiation syndrome