Complications from ARS include an increased risk of developing radiation-induced cancer later in life. According to the controversial but commonly applied linear no-threshold model, any exposure to ionizing radiation, even at doses too low to produce any symptoms of radiation sickness, can induce cancer due to cellular and genetic damage. The probability of developing cancer is a linear function with respect to the effective radiation dose. Radiation cancer may occur after ionizing radiation exposure following a latent period averaging 20 to 40 years. History
Acute effects of ionizing radiation were first observed when Wilhelm Röntgen intentionally subjected his fingers to X-rays in 1895. He published his observations concerning the burns that developed that eventually healed, and misattributed them to ozone. Röntgen believed the free radical produced in air by X-rays from the ozone was the cause, but other free radicals produced within the body are now understood to be more important. David Walsh first established the symptoms of radiation sickness in 1897.Ingestion of radioactive materials caused many radiation-induced cancers in the 1930s, but no one was exposed to high enough doses at high enough rates to bring on ARS. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted in high acute doses of radiation to a large number of Japanese people, allowing for greater insight into its symptoms and dangers. Red Cross Hospital Surgeon Terufumi Sasaki led intensive research into the syndrome in the weeks and months following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
If the cell is in interphase, while it is still a single strand of chromatin, the damage will be replicated during the S1 phase of cell cycle, and there will be a break on both chromosome arms; the damage then will be apparent in both daughter cells. If the irradiation occurs after replication, only one arm will bear the damage; this damage will be apparent in only one daughter cell. A damaged chromosome may cyclize, binding to another chromosome, or to itself. Diagnosis
Diagnosis is typically made based on a history of significant radiation exposure and suitable clinical findings. An absolute lymphocyte count can give a rough estimate of radiation exposure. Time from exposure to vomiting can also give estimates of exposure levels if they are less than 10 Gray (1000 rad). Prevention
A guiding principle of radiation safety is as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). This means try to avoid exposure as much as possible and includes the three components of time, distance, and shielding. Time
The longer that humans are subjected to radiation the larger the dose will be. The advice in the nuclear war manual entitled Nuclear War Survival Skills published by Cresson Kearny in the U.S. was that if one needed to leave the shelter then this should be done as rapidly as possible to minimize exposure.In chapter 12, he states that "[q]uickly putting or dumping wastes outside is not hazardous once fallout is no longer being deposited.