Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
Assignment:
1. Read the following medical article about radiation sickness.
2. Highlight the points of interest:
statements that could be investigated further;
significance of each section.
3. Make notes in the margin for both questions and comments you might have.
4. Define any vocabulary you are not familiar with.
Rubric:
100 points if completed, including writing assignment
50 points if not completed
1 point if little or no effort made
Radiation Sickness
By Mayo Clinic staff
Radiation sickness is damage to your body caused by a very large dose of radiation often received over a short period of time
(acute). The amount of radiation absorbed by the body — the absorbed dose — determines how sick you'll be.
Radiation sickness is also called acute radiation sickness, acute radiation syndrome or radiation poisoning. Common exposures to
low-dose radiation, such as X-ray or CT examinations, do not cause radiation sickness.
Although radiation sickness is serious and often fatal, it's rare. Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan,
during World War II, most cases of radiation sickness have happened after nuclear industrial accidents, such as the 1986
nuclear reactor accident at a power station in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
Symptoms
The severity of signs and symptoms of radiation sickness depends on how much radiation you've absorbed. How much you absorb
depends on the strength of the radiated energy and the distance between you and the source of radiation.
Absorbed dose and duration of exposure
The absorbed dose of radiation is measured in a unit called a gray (Gy). Diagnostic tests that use radiation, such as an X-ray,
result in a small dose of radiation — typically well below 0.1 Gy, focused on a few organs or small amount of tissue.
Signs and symptoms of radiation sickness usually appear when the entire body receives an absorbed dose of at least 1 Gy.
Doses greater than 6 Gy to the whole body are generally not treatable and usually lead to death within two days to two weeks,
depending on the dose and duration of the exposure.
Initial signs and symptoms
The initial signs and symptoms of treatable radiation sickness are usually nausea and vomiting. The amount of time between
exposure and when these symptoms develop is an indicator of how much radiation a person has absorbed.
After the first round of signs and symptoms, a person with radiation sickness may have a brief period with no apparent illness,
followed by the onset of new, more serious symptoms.
In general, the greater your radiation exposure, the more rapid and more severe your symptoms will be.
Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
Early symptoms of radiation sickness
Mild exposure (12 Gy)
Moderate
exposure (2-6
Gy)
Severe exposure
(6-8 Gy)
Very severe
exposure (8-10
Gy or higher)
Nausea and
vomiting
Within 6 hours
Within 2 hours
Within 1 hour
Within 10
minutes
Diarrhea
--
Within 8 hours
Within 3 hours
Within 1 hour
Headache
--
Within 24
hours
Within 4 hours
Within 2 hours
Fever
--
Within 3 hours
Within 1 hour
Within 1 hour
Later symptoms of radiation sickness
Dizziness and
disorientation
--
--
Within 1 week
Immediate
Weakness,
fatigue
Within 4 weeks
Within 1-4
weeks
Within 1 week
Immediate
Hair loss, bloody
vomit and
stools,
infections, poor
wound healing,
low blood
pressure
--
Within 1-4
weeks
Within 1 week
Immediate
Source: Adapted from "Bushberg JT. Radiation exposure and contamination. The Merck Manuals: The Merck
Manual for Healthcare Professionals" and "Upton AC. Radiation injury. In: Goldman L, et al., eds. Cecil
Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007."
When to see a doctor
An accident or attack that causes radiation sickness would no doubt cause a lot of attention and public concern. If an event
occurs, monitor radio, television or online reports to learn about emergency instructions for your area.
If you know you've been exposed to radiation, seek emergency medical care.
Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
Causes
Radiation is the energy released from atoms as either a wave or a tiny particle of matter. Radiation sickness is caused by
exposure to a high dose of radiation, such as a high dose of radiation received during an industrial accident. Common exposures
to low-dose radiation, such as X-ray examinations, do not cause radiation sickness.
Sources of high-dose radiation
Possible sources of high-dose radiation include the following:
An accident at a nuclear industrial facility
An attack on a nuclear industrial facility
Detonation of a small radioactive device
Detonation of a conventional explosive device that
disperses radioactive material (dirty bomb)
Detonation of a standard nuclear weapon
Radiation sickness occurs when high-energy radiation damages or destroys certain cells in your body. Regions of the body most
vulnerable to high-energy radiation are cells in the lining of your intestinal tract, including your stomach, and the blood cellproducing cells of bone marrow.
Tests and diagnosis
When a person has experienced known or probable exposure to a high dose of radiation from an accident or attack, medical
personnel take a number of steps to determine the absorbed radiation dose. This information is essential for determining how
severe the illness is likely to be, which treatments to use and whether a person is likely to survive.
Information important for determining an absorbed dose includes:
Known exposure. Details about distance from the source
of radiation and duration of exposure can help provide a
rough estimate of the severity of radiation sickness.
Vomiting and other symptoms. The time between
radiation exposure and the onset of vomiting is a fairly
accurate screening tool to estimate absorbed radiation
dose. The shorter the time before the onset of this sign,
the higher the dose is. The severity and timing of other
signs and symptoms may also help medical personnel
determine the absorbed dose.
Blood tests. Frequent blood tests over several days
enable medical personnel to look for drops in diseasefighting white blood cells and abnormal changes in the
DNA of blood cells. These factors indicate the degree
of bone marrow damage, which is determined by the
level of an absorbed dose.
Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
Dosimeter. A device called a dosimeter can measure the
absorbed dose of radiation but only if it was exposed to
the same radiation event as the affected person.
Survey meter. A device such as a Geiger counter can be
used to survey people to determine the body location of
radioactive particles.
Type of radiation. A part of the larger emergency
response to a radioactive accident or attack would
include identifying the type of radiation people have
been exposed to. This information would guide some
decisions for treating people with radiation sickness.
Complications
Radiation sickness itself doesn't cause long-term medical problems for those who survive the illness. However, the radiation
exposure that caused the immediate radiation sickness does significantly increase a person's risk of developing cancer later in
life. Having radiation sickness could also contribute to both short-term and long-term mental health problems, such as grief, fear
and anxiety about:
Experiencing a radioactive accident or attack
Mourning friends or family who haven't survived
Worrying about the eventual risk of cancer due to
radiation exposure
Dealing with the uncertainty of a mysterious and
potentially fatal illness
Treatments and drugs
The treatment goals for radiation sickness are to prevent further radioactive contamination, treat damaged organs, reduce
symptoms and manage pain.
Decontamination
Decontamination is the removal of as much external radioactive particles as possible. Removing clothing and shoes eliminates
about 90 percent of external contamination. Gently washing with water and soap removes additional radiation particles from the
skin.
Decontamination prevents further distribution of radioactive materials and lowers the risk of internal contamination from
inhalation, ingestion or open wounds.
Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
Treatment for damaged bone marrow
A protein called granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, which promotes the growth of white blood cells, may counter the effect of
radiation sickness on bone marrow. Treatment with this protein-based medication, which includes filgrastim (Neupogen) and
pegfilgrastim (Neulasta), may increase white blood cell production and help prevent subsequent infections.
If you have severe damage to bone marrow, you may also receive transfusions of red blood cells or blood platelets.
Treatment for internal contamination
Some treatments may reduce damage to internal organs caused by radioactive particles. Medical personnel would use these
treatments only if you've been exposed to a specific type of radiation. These treatments include the following:
Potassium iodide. This is a nonradioactive form of iodine. Because iodine is essential for proper thyroid function, the thyroid
becomes a "destination" for iodine in the body. If you have internal contamination with radioactive iodine (radioiodine), your
thyroid will absorb radioiodine just as it would other forms of iodine. Treatment with potassium iodide may fill "vacancies" in
the thyroid and prevent absorption of radioiodine. The radioiodine is eventually cleared from the body in urine.
Prussian blue. This type of dye binds to particles of radioactive elements known as cesium and thallium. The radioactive
particles are then excreted in feces. This treatment speeds up the elimination of the radioactive particles and reduces the
amount of radiation cells may absorb.
Diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA). This substance binds to metals. DTPA binds to particles of the radioactive
elements plutonium, americium and curium. The radioactive particles pass out of the body in urine, thereby reducing the
amount of radiation absorbed.
Supportive treatment
If you have radiation sickness, you may receive additional medications or interventions to treat:
Bacterial infections
Diarrhea
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Fever
Dehydration
Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
End-of-life care
A person who has absorbed large doses of radiation (6 Gy or greater) has little chance of recovery. Depending on the severity
of illness, death can occur within two days or two weeks. People with a lethal radiation dose will receive medications to control
pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. They may also benefit from psychological or pastoral care.
May 8, 2010
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Research.
Writing Assignment:
Write an informative summary on the backside of this page.
Chatsworth High School
Medical Careers Academy
“By the Waters of Babylon”
Highlighting Assignment
Summary