Cancer Radiotherapy
Radiation Sickness

Radiation Sickness

When radiation therapy was first developed, doctors and radiologists were not fully aware of the damages the treatment could causeon the tissue. Years later, they started to realize that being exposed to radiation brought side effects and diseases, which they later referred to as radiation sickness. Typically, radiation sickness isn’t common, but when it happens it’s because you were exposed to high doses of radiation, such as a nuclear war. This means that the even if the length of exposure is short, the outcome can be extremely critical and eventually fatal.

Symptoms of Radiation Sickness

Just like regular diseases and cancer itself, radiation sickness can present signs and symptoms that indicate you have been exposed to radiation. However, these will depend on the amount of radiation that you received and how intense was the radiation. The unit of measurement that is used in the radiology world is called gray (Gy), and it’s used to measure how much radiation a person has been exposed to and absorbed. To give you an idea on how much this unit represents, a regular x-ray exposure will have you absorb approximately 0.1 Gy; in order to present any type of symptom, your body needs to absorb a minimum of 1 Gy. Some of the symptoms you will experience if you are exposed to radiation sickness are:

  • Fever
  • Diarrhea
  • Nausea/vomiting
  • Headache
  • Fatigue
  • Disorientation
  • Hair loss
  • Bloody vomit

Tests for Radiation Sickness

Severe radiation sickness takes place when there is a massive attack, such as a nuclear bomb or nuclear war. If you’re exposed to levels of radiation above 6 Gy, you will experience the symptoms immediately and you will most likely pass away in the next hours or days. The instructions given by the government and medical facilities include seeking medical information immediately after being exposed to radiation. It’s extremely important for the treating doctor to learn a few things about your exposure, such as:

  • How long were you exposed and how close were you to the source
  • DNA and blood testing will help them learn about the damage already done
  • Symptoms such as vomiting will provide a better idea on the severity of exposure
  • The type of radiation you were exposed to will help doctors choose a treatment for you

Treatment for Radiation Sickness

Certainly, there is treatment that can be administered when you have acquired radiation sickness; however, this depends on how severe the exposure has been. The main goal of the doctors is to free your body of the radiation, which means they have to decontaminate you.Treatment for radiation sickness is as follows:

    • Decontamination –as you have seen in the movies, taking off your clothes will get rid of the grand majority of the external radiation.
    • Bone marrow –protein will be administered to make up for the decrease in white blood cells.
    • Internal contamination –using potassium iodide will prevent your thyroid from absorbing any internalradiation.
    • Additional medication – pain relievers
    • End of life –people exposed to 6 Gy or more will not be able to recover. Doctors will provide pain relievers and emotional support.