Radiation poisoning

Radiation poisoning, also called "radiation sickness", is a form of damage to organic tissue due to excessive exposure to ionizing radiation. The term is generally used to refer to acute problems caused by a large dosage of radiation in a short period. Many of the symptoms of radiation poisoning occur as ionizing radiation interferes with cell division. This interference causes particular problems for cells that normally divide rapidly, such as those lining the gastrointestinal tract. Likewise, this is one reason for the effectiveness of radiotherapy in treating cancer — cancer cells are among the fastest-dividing in the body, and will be killed by a radiation dose that adjacent normal cells are likely to survive.

Further reading

• Michihiko Hachiya, Hiroshima Diary (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1955), ISBN 0807845477.
• John Hersey, Hiroshima (New York: Vintage, 1946, 1985 new chapter), ISBN 0679721037.
• Ibuse Masuji, Black Rain (1969) ISBN 087011364X
• Ernest J. Sternglass, Secret Fallout: low-level radiation from Hiroshima to Three-Mile Island (1981) ISBN 0070612420 (online)
• Norman Solomon, Harvey Wasserman Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America's Experience with Atomic Radiation, 1945-1982, New York: Dell, 1982. ISBN 038528537X, ISBN 0385285361, ISBN 0440045673 (online)