What is the danger of radiation: the consequences of exposure, possible diseases

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

In the human environment, many phenomena lie in wait that affect him. These include rain, wind, changes in atmospheric pressure, heat, landslides, tsunamis, and so on. Due to the presence of perception with the help of the senses, a person can protect himself from adverse external influences: from the sun - with sunscreen, from rain - with an umbrella, and the like. But in nature there are phenomena that a person cannot determine with the help of his perception, one of them is radiation.

Determination of radiation

Before we analyze the dangers of radiation, let's first consider its definition. Radiation is a flow of energy in the form of radio waves that comes from a source. This phenomenon became known for the first time in 1896. The most unpleasant property of radiation is the effect on the cells and tissues of the body. To determine the radiation dose, special instruments are required. What is it for? The thing is that the further tactics of the doctor / paramedic depend on the level of exposure: treat or provide palliative care (reducing suffering to death).

Why is radiation dangerous for humans?

The question is quite common. Almost everyone who is asked: “Why is radiation dangerous?” will answer, but, unfortunately, not always correctly. Let's figure it out.

All tissues of living organisms are made up of cells. In the cell, there are two parts most susceptible to damage: the nucleus and mitochondria. As you know, DNA is located in the nucleus and, having undergone irradiation, genetic damage occurs to the next generations. If during pregnancy a woman received a dose of radiation, then the fetus is affected, which leads to its inferior development. This is the first answer to the question why radiation is dangerous to humans. Next:

Changes in somatic cells. Somatic cells are body cells. When they are irradiated, a mutation occurs, as a result of which tumor diseases of various localization are formed. Most often, the hematopoietic system is affected and leukemia develops. If you remember the story, Marie Curie and her daughter died of leukemia. Before there were strict rules about self-protection when performing X-ray examinations, there was such terminology as "radiologists' cancer and leukemia".
Genetic mutations. In this case, the mutation occurs in one or both germ cells: sperm and egg. Not only the fetus that develops from these cells will suffer, but also subsequent generations. With this type of mutation, a fetus is more often born with external and internal pathologies (absence of one / all limbs, pathologies of internal organs, for example, absence of cardiac septa), which, inin many cases are incompatible with life, at least a long one.
Cell death.

What diseases can it lead to?

Tumor diseases
Leukemia
Radiation sickness

The last item requires special attention.

Radiation sickness

Radiation sickness is a condition that develops when a person is irradiated in doses exceeding the permissible threshold and affects the hematopoietic organs, the nervous system, the gastrointestinal tract and other organs and systems.

There are two forms of radiation sickness: acute and chronic. The chronic form develops with constant or frequent exposure to a low dose, but still exceeding the permissible threshold. Acute radiation sickness develops with a single exposure to a large dose. The degree of severity is determined by an individual dosimeter (what dose a person received) and by symptoms.

Symptoms of Radiation Sickness

In the symptomatology of radiation sickness, the volume of the radiation dose and the area of the site plays an important role.

There are four degrees of the course of the disease:

1) First degree (mild) - irradiation with a dosage of 1-2 Grays.

2) Second degree (medium) - irradiation with a dosage of 2-4 Grays.

3) Third degree (severe) - irradiation with a dosage of 4-6 Grays.

4) Fourth degree (extremely severe) - irradiation with a dosage of 6-10 Grays.

Radiation sickness periods:

Primary reaction. It begins after irradiation, and the greater the dose of radiation, the faster the primary reaction develops. Typical symptoms are nausea, vomiting, depression of consciousness or, conversely, psychomotor agitation, diarrhea. During this period, there is a high probability of death, which is why radiation is life-threatening at this stage.
Second period (imaginary well-being): the patient feels better, the condition improves, but the disease is still progressing, which reflects the blood test. It is for this reason that the period is called the period of imaginary well-being.
The third period (the height of the disease) is characterized by the appearance of all the symptoms of the disease, the features of toxic poisoning of the body by radiation are determined. The symptoms of damage to the central nervous system increase, headaches reappear and intensify, which are not stopped by the intake / administration of analgesics. Actual dizziness, vomiting. This period is almost always accompanied by a fever.
The fourth period is the period of convalescence (recovery) or death.

How to protect yourself from exposure?

In order to prevent radiation sickness, individual protective equipment is used: gas masks and special clothing. However, having learned how dangerous radiation is, no person wants to contact it. But what to do if such a disaster occurs, and there is no personal protective equipment?

To do this, recommended means to reduce the radiosensitivity of cells and tissues of the body to radiation, as well as slowing downradiochemical reactions. According to experts, the most suitable remedy for such purposes is the drug Cystamin. This drug reduces the oxygen content inside the cell, and, as many studies have shown, the cell's resistance to radioactive irradiation increases with its hypoxia (oxygen starvation). The drug begins its action 30-40 minutes after ingestion and lasts about 4-5 hours. It has low toxicity and can be reused.

Triage of casu alties

In the introduction of the article, the assumption is made that not all patients who received a large dose of radiation will survive. It is this group of people who receive only palliative care (reduction of suffering). But why? Below is a table that indicates how to determine the degree of the disease by symptoms:

Indicator	1 degree	2 degree	3 degree	4 degree
Vomiting (start and duration)	After 2 hours, single use	After 1-2 hours, repeat	After 30 minutes, multiple	In 5-20 minutes, invincible
Headache	Short-term	Not strong	Strong	Very strong
Temperature	Fine	37, 0 - 38, 0	37, 0 - 38, 0	38, 0 - 39, 0

The degree of severity is determined by vomiting. The earlier vomiting occurs after exposure, the worse the prognosis. Vomiting within 5 minutes isthe fact that a person lives his last day. Such a patient is helped in the form of pain relief, reduction of body temperature, administration of drugs to stop vomiting and simple nursing care.

First aid

Understanding how dangerous human radiation is, in the event of such a disaster involving people, the first thought is to provide first aid to the victims. What needs to be done?

Firstly, entering the lesion, you must wear personal protective equipment. This is a taboo if you do not want to lie next to the victim. Next, we take the victim out of the lesion and carry out decontamination (special treatment against radiation).

It includes:

removing clothes;
mechanical removal of all contamination and dust that has absorbed radiation;
washing the skin and visible mucous membranes;
Gastric lavage without using a gastric tube. We give the victim to take an iodized sorbent, then mechanically induce vomiting (two fingers in the mouth) and give the sorbent again. We repeat this procedure several times.

We are doing all of the above and waiting for the arrival of the doctor.

Chernobyl: is it dangerous today?

Thinking about this topic for a long time, the thought of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 involuntarily comes to mind. On that day, April 26, the power unit exploded, followed by the release of a large amount of radioactive substances into the environment. Sufferednot only Chernobyl, but also the nearby city of Pripyat. According to statistics, about 600 thousand people died from acute radiation sickness and about 4 thousand from cancer and tumor diseases of the hematopoietic system.

This happened more than 30 years ago, but why is the radiation in Chernobyl still dangerous? The thing is that the period of decay of radioactive substances is very long. Today, Chernobyl and Pripyat have only had a half-life. Every subsequent 30 years, their activity is actually reduced by exactly two times. Based on these facts, scientists have concluded that these cities are relatively safe: viability will be restored only after a few decades.

By the way, now some organizations conduct excursions in Chernobyl and Pripyat, of course, in personal protective equipment. For such unusual services and the price is quite high.

Therefore, the answer to the question of what is the danger of radiation in Chernobyl for humans will be this article on radiation and statistics on mortality during the accident itself.