Consequences Of Fall Out From Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki
The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed in 1945 which caused the death of approximately 200,000 people. The deaths were more due to the release of radiation than direct explosive effect. The symptoms of sickness caused due to exposure to radiation were reported from all over.
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Dr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki, who authored the book Nagasaki 1945, wrote about these unknown conditions which appeared in the patients who suffered no prior injury. The doctors treating patients in the cities after the explosion realized after some days that they were actually handling patients with disorders which occur due to effects of radiations. These were termed as atomic diseases or radioactive contamination. No concrete information was available then regarding the cause or cure. The cases of death reported increased after a week to 10 days of exposure to radiation. Death came slowly to them.
The treating nurses and doctors were also exposed to radiations and suffered symptoms, like bleeding gums and diarrhea. The fear of death loomed large on the minds of the survivors.
Many of these survivors suffered from leukemia, cataract, and birth of malformed infants, premature ageing or other forms of cancer. The disease reported the most amongst the survivors of the bombings was leukemia. They also suffered from emotional problems and social discriminations. Not just direct but indirect exposure to radiation as in the case of expectant mothers and treating staff in hospitals and so on caused many individuals to contract cancer.
Cancer of the lungs, breast, thyroid and other organs began to rise rapidly in many of the survivors.
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ThinkQuest: Radiation Effects On Humans
http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/radiation_effects_body.html
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