~ Three Energies of Atomic Bomb: No1.Radiation~"75 Years Atomic Bomb"DAY6/50

Three types of energies were emitted to humans from Atomic bomb. The fastest energy to reach the ground was "radiation".

Radiation, a speed of one millionth of a second

 Radiation was emitted quicker than the bomb shell bursted, at a speed of one millionth of a second. While the bomb was still keeping its original shape, radiation has already reached to the ground and humans.

When exposed to a large amount of radiation, human organs are destroyed at the cellular level. People suffer not only acute symptoms but also chronic symptoms with a cause of various cancers after months or decades.

〜Acute Radiation syndrome〜

Bone Marrow Symptoms

Bone marrow easily gets influence of radiation. So, at the early stage, bone marrow stopped its function to produce blood cells. Then, white-blood cells, red-blood cells and platelets rapidly decreases, and run out in some cases.

Then, what symptoms do people have?

With acute radiation influence to bone marrow,  a human body quickly loses red blood-cells. Red blood-cells have a role to deliver oxygen to cells of a human body. People feel symptoms of lack of oxygen, such as being out of breath, feeling severely tired, and heavy to move.

White blood-cells fight against pathogens to protect a human body from infection. When the white blood cell count is reduced, Immunity system to combat pathogens is collapsed. So people who was exposed to radiation are beaten by even so weak pathogens. 

Immunity gets weak, virus and bacteria easily get into a human body, spread to the whole body and let a human die. For example, if somebody gets wound which has pus, bacteria increases and spread through blood vessels. In a case infection occurred in a body of a person who was exposed to radiation, he/she becomes a life-threatening condition.

Furthermore, when platelets get decreased, bleeding cannot be stopped. Platelets normally gather to a bleeding pint and stop bleeding.  

“I got many purple spots on my skin!"

This is one of symptoms that suggests platelets decreasing.　Bleeding from gums also suggests abnormal platelets' function. Those symptoms mean that a patient got in life-threatening condition.

Acute symptoms of digestive tract

As acute symptoms of radiation syndrome, nausea,vomiting, diarrhea, and melena(bloody bowel discharge) were commonly seen from an early stage in people who got radiation exposure. 

Digestive tracts like esophagus, stomach and bowels easily get radiation effects. People feel ill in hours to days from the explosion, because their stomach and bowel lose their usual function and movement, so people cannot digest food properly. Also ulceration in tissues of digestive tract is seen. Melena is common symptom as bleeding from ulcer of colon. In addition, platelets decreasing (thrombocytopenia) accelerates bleeding. Furthermore, white blood-cells decreasing (leucopenia) brings immunity down, so people suffer severe colitis.

Internal Exposure of Radiation

People are exposed to radiation from outside of a body as external exposure and from inside of a body as internal exposure. Digestive tract directly receives the influence of internal exposure more by taking radioactive food and drink, than of external exposure. 

Not only Hibakusha but also their family members and friends who came in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to look for their people, ate vegetable from a field and drank water from broken water pipes. There were many people who drank from water pool or river.They did not know water or food contained radiation which broke their body from inside at all. They  also inhaled dust and ash containing radiation when they breathed, as internal exposure.

 
Epilation was seen 2 weeks from the explosion of an atomic bomb. Hair cells are damaged, and stop producing new hair. After months later, hair usually starts to grow again but takes time to recover the original condition. This is very shocking for women and men as well. Of course, it is a big shock as a meaning of cosmetic view. But also, they feel fear.

"I may die, I must have got a radiation damage a lot."

What's more, hair-loss used as a reason of discrimination. People who dis not know about radiation influence, teased a person with epilation. This is very sad. People who do not know well about radiation may misunderstand that epilation can be contagious. This is unbelievable but it actually happens.  Hibakusha was fighting against many physical conditions by radiation, but also they had to suffer from discrimination as well. To imagine that, we know that Hibakusha experienced pain so much.  

We cannot expect when people get radiation disaster now or in the future, because of nuclear weapons which we have numerous on the planet and accidents in Nuclear facilities. So, we should know and educate  well about radiation as general knowledge, to prevent discrimination, to help people properly in such a disaster, and to stop producing nuclear weapons.

〜Chronic Radiation Syndrome〜

Chronich radiation damage comes months, years and decades later after the atomic bomb explosion.

About 1950, 5 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki's atomic bomb explosion, patients with leukemia greatly increased. After 1955, cancer patients rose up, such as thyroid, breast, lung, colon, liver , skin and bone cancer,etc.

〜Babies exposed in Womb〜

When pregnant women were exposed to radiation, their babies in a womb got radiation influence. Babies mostly were unborn. Its mortality rate was high, and as malformation, cases of anencephaly or microcephaly were seen.

As to say the second generation of Hibakusha, so far, there were no evidence to be inherited any disease by the influence of radiation. But, observation should be conducted. Which means, still the atomic bomb suffer people like the second generation and their family mentally. My aunt, 90 year old, Hibakusha, said 

"I am sorry, that's my fault!"

when her daughter got breast disease.