Pathological Effects of Atomic Bomb (Part 4 of 4)

Nuclear Bomb Casualties (Continued)

1. SOME BASIC FACTS ABOUT THE BOMB

When an atomic bomb strikes, it causes:

1. The heat ray of some million degrees centigrade that burns everything near the flashing point.
2. An extremely high atmospheric pressure at the center(several hundred-thousand times the normal pressure), creating blasts that destroy both human bodies and buildings.
3. Release of radioactive rays. Gamma ray and neutrons are the most harmful to human body, but the residual ray also affects organs in countless manners.

2. SYMPTOMS

Based on the previous report headed by Miyake and Kinoshita, Liebow's report in the American Journal of Pathology, and our reexamination of the returned data from the U.S., we divide A-bomb casualties as follows:

a. Acute Symptoms

1. Immediate Symptoms(0 - 14 days after the bomb attack):

In both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the death toll during these two weeks exceeded all other periods. More than 90% were instantaneous, either from collapsed buildings, enormous pressure, or severe heat. Clinical record also shows that some patients began to suffer from bleeding and decrease in white blood cells, both indications that their hematogenous organs had been affected.

2. Acute Symptoms(15 - 35 days after the attack):

Major clinical symptoms were all radiation-related -- high temperature, dullness, bleeding of gum, and bloody excrement. As these symptoms worsened, many victims, who otherwise had no fatal wound or burn, lost their lives. Also, a number of patients began to lose their hair -- another effect of radiation. Pathologically, hematogenous dysfunction was the most commonly observed symptom. Production of white blood cells, red blood cells, as well as blood platelets had stopped almost altogether, and the patients' bone marrow came to resemble those with aplastic anemia. This clearly shows that hematogenous organs were the most vulnerable to radiation.

3. 36 - 60 days after the attack:

Infection, which the damaged hematogenous organs could not prevent, caused many deaths. Some also suffered jaundice. Among the relatively less serious patients, blood producing function began to restore, and their white blood cells and blood platelets started to increase.

4. 61 - 120 days after the attack:

By this time, most symptoms stopped advancing. Lost hair also began to come back. On the other hand, many died from RUISO or damages in kidney and/or liver.

5. Keloid:

Heat burns from the bomb often developed into bulbil (NIKUGA), many of which became keloid. This bomb-related type was accompanied by distinctive features. Compared to keloids that sometimes develop from a burn or an operation, a heat burn from the bomb was much more likely to turn into a keloid. The change usually occurred after the first four months, but we classify keloid here because its causes are obviously acute symptoms. After about one and a half years, the keloid would stop growing and would slowly harden, eventually forming permanent marks on the body. (Related Page)

b. Late Defects

1. A-bomb Cataract:

Usually cataract is a common disease among the old, but A-bomb victims from near the flashing point often suffer this disease from relatively young age. This type of cataract is easily detected by opaque spots in lens that do not follow the pattern of regular cataract patients'. However, when an A-bomb victim develops cataract after reaching a certain age, it is difficult to determine whether or not this is related to the bomb.(Related Page)

2. Leukemia:

About five years after the attack, leukemia became alarmingly noticeable among the A-bomb victims, as had been feared, for it was known that doctors and nurses who work with X ray are more prone to leukemia than an average person. The data shows strong correlation between the level of radiation one was exposed to and one's proneness to leukemia (see chart 1 below).(Related Page)

As for myeloma, Prof. MICHITO ISHIMARU of Nagasaki University pointed out in his research that bomb victims that were of old age and had been exposed to a significant amount of radiation were likely to develop this disease. Our analysis of autopsy data also supports his research.

3. Cancer

a. Thyroid Gland Cancer: Thyroid Gland is one of the sensitive organs to radiation. After about eight years and onwards, many female victims from the bombed center -- and those that were young -- became afflicted with this cancer.
b. Breast Cancer: Another sensitive organ to radiation. Numerous studies all point out that the younger the victim was, the more prone she became to this cancer.
c. Studies on cancers in liver and digestive organs are still under way, since all cancers do not come out at the same time.

4. Radiation Effects on Fetus:

Most of the victims that had been less than 18 weeks pregnant at the time of bomb strike had miscarriages or stillborns. The few babies that did survive were liable to suffer from overall growth defects or mental disorder. Sometimes the baby's head would be smaller than an average child's (This is called GENBAKUSHOUTOU SHO). In Nagasaki one such patient lived until the age of 16, in spite of serious growth defects in the cerebrum.

5. Hereditary Influence:

It is reported that in animal tests, if the parents are contaminated by radiation the abnormality in children is more common than average. However, there is no report from Hiroshima nor Nagasaki that there are radiation-related defects in children of bomb victims. Some suggest that human hereditary influences take into account other environmental factors and are more complex, so that the effect of the bomb might be concealed. Others say they need to trace five to six generations in order to reach a meaningful conclusion. Research shall continue in this field, although this is no easy task. For the privacy of victims must be protected, and the victims are spread out.
Heterochromosomes are reportedly more prevalent among the bomb victims than the average, but this does not necessarily result in a disease. What is more, it must be noted that the children of bomb victims do not carry heterochromosomes.

Epilogue