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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Clinical Course by the Bomb Radiation

   The initial general symptoms appearing in the crew included fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and anorexia.  Conjunctivitis was observed in all cases.  Leucopoenia, thrombopenia, and moderate ormild anaemia also occurred.  The minimum counts of leukocytes were all less than normal: 5 cases at a level of 3,000 per cubic millimetre, 13 cases at a level of 2,000 per cubic millimetre, and 5 cases at a level of 1,000 per millimetre.  The minimum count of blood platelet was at a level of 1,000 per cubic millimetre.  A few cases showed mild hemorrhagic tendencies.  These findings correlated with the condition of the bone marrow.  The affected bone marrow ran a course from aplasia to hypoplasia to partial recovery to normalization.  As the bone marrow recovered, peripheral blood-cell counts approached normal levels.  A temporary decease in the number of spermatozoa was found, but signs of recovery appeared two years after exposure, and there was no permanent exposure-related sterility. 
     The main site of injury was the exposed areas of the skin.  Working clothes, gloves, and shoes played an unexpected role in protecting the crew from bata ray exposure.  Skin injuries developed in this sequence: erythema, edema, bulla, and erosion.  Ulceration and recovered after a few months in most instances.  Some individuals showed depigmentation, pigmentation, telangiectasia, or atrophy of the skin without, however, signs of carcinogenesis for many years.
     Thyroid nodules were observed in the major of the Marshall Islanders who were 10 years or younger at the time of nuclear test.  One of these cases died from acute myelogenous leukaemia 18 years after exposure. 

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