Radiation Sickness
Radiation Poisoning

The Effects of Exposure to Radiation

Ionizing radiation affects human tissue, almost immediately. Ionizing radiation comes from medical tests (x-ray), radiation treatments, nuclear bombs and weapons and nuclear fission (in nuclear reactors).

While there is no real safe level of radiation exposure, most harm occurs when a person is exposed to high levels of radiation, and the effects of exposure to radiation at high levels leads to radiation poisoning or sickness…

Nuclear and Radiation Accidents

Three Mile Island (TMI) is an example. I lived 20 miles north of TMI when the partial meltdown of TMI occurred. Fortunately the radiation was "contained" and remained in the plant. But what the public doesn’t know is that there were dozens of small accidents or releases of radiation for weeks before the big accident.

Farmers were submitting milk from their cows to laboratories—to be tested for radiation. Radiation levels in local milk supplies rose when there was a release of radioactivity from TMI.

The most serious accident, before Fukushima, Japan’s earthquake and psunami, was Cherynobl in the Soviet Union. That accident was a total meltdown and was estimated to be one million times more serious than the nuclear accident at TMI.

Fukushima, Japan may prove to be the greatest nuclear disaster in history. And people who are close to the plant may suffer from radiation sickness now—and cancer in years to come.

Symptoms of Radiation Poisoning

Chronic low radiation exposure leads to cancer and premature aging. High dose radiation exposure (medical radiation treatment or nuclear accidents) has the radiation symptoms that follow.

Without being scanned for radiation, a rough rule of thumb for severity is that the less time it takes for symptoms to appear and the worse the symptoms—the higher the exposure, and the more serious the radiation sickness or poisoning.

In fact, radiation symptoms don’t necessarily appear within hours (or even days) after exposure. They can appear months after you are exposed to radiation.

Another anomaly is that, you can also have radiation sickness symptoms initially, followed by a brief period with no symptoms, and then have another round of new and more serious radiation symptoms.

• Vomiting – If a person vomits within an hour after exposure, it usually means that he was exposed to very high levels of radiation, and death can occur.
• Nausea – This is pretty common, even with radiation treatment for cancer
• Diarrhea
• Bleeding from the nose, mouth, gums and rectum
• Fainting spells
• Inflammation and redness or bleeding of areas of body that were exposed to radiation.
• Headache
• Fever
• Weakness and fatigue
• Dizziness
• Disorientation
• Hair loss

If you think that you have been exposed to radiation, you need to seek medical attention immediately. If you are exposed, the first step in decontamination is a good, thorough shower with soap and water.

Your doctor may prescribe potassium iodide, and you need to follow directions carefully. If you take too much potassium iodide, or you don’t need it and take it, you can cause permanent damage to your thyroid.

If you live in an area that will receive some radiation (perhaps the west coast of Canada or the U.S.), and you are not sure whether to take potassium iodide or not, you can safely take Kelp tablets. They are made from natural seaweed, and kelp is high in natural iodine.

Of course the best way to avoid radiation sickness is simply to leave the area where there is radiation danger. But this is not always possible.

So, if you think you have been exposed, get checked out by a doctor and keep track of any possible radiation symptoms that you may have.

Radiation Sickness to Radiation Poisoning

Radiation Sickness to Pandemic Flu and Emergency Preparedness

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