Radiation Emergency

Radiation Emergency General Information

Radiation Emergency Symptoms

Most clinical cases whose medical conditions were due to a certain type of Radiation Emergency presented Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). The first symptoms that such an individual will present are vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and so on. These unpleasant reactions can begin either a few days after the exposure or within minutes after the accident. The symptoms of this type of clinical disorder are known to be quite deceitful, as they come and go in the early stages of the condition. After developing the reactions that we have listed above, the patient will probably recover, and seem healthy for a short period of time. After that he or she will develop the same symptoms and some new ones (fatigue, lack of appetite, fever, seizures, coma, and so on). This is a severe stage of the disease; it may last up to a few months.

Patients who have been diagnosed with ARS due to Radiation Emergency also present symptoms of moderate to severe skin damage. The skin symptoms usually develop within hours after the exposure. The most common skin reactions include: skin redness, skin itching, swelling, and so on. Other patients also complained of hair loss. These symptoms present the same behavior as those that we have stated in the first paragraph, as they improve and recur more and more severe each time. The complete healing of the individual’s skin may last up to several years of therapy and it depends on the severity of the Radiation Emergency (on the radiation dose that the patient’s skin has received).

Radiation Emergency Treatment

The chance of recovery and of survival in the case of such patients lowers as the radiation dose that they received increases. The medical conditions that are due to the exposure to the radiation (to the Radiation Emergency) prove to be fatal in most clinical cases within several months. The most common cause of death is the destruction of the individual’s bone marrow. If it is affected by the radiation, several severe complications will arise, including internal bleeding, infections, and so on. The lucky survivors will have to continue a strict treatment schedule. The span of the therapy can last from a few weeks to a couple of years, depending on the severity of their medical condition. A rapid intervention is preferred, as it greatly increases the patient’s survival chances.

There are several forms of therapy that can be employed by physicians in the therapy of the medical conditions that are caused by a Radiation Emergency. They depend on the severity of the disorders, on the age and sex of the patient, on the specific type of radiation to which the patient has been exposed, and so on. For example, potassium iodide (also abbreviated as KI) has proven to be quite effective in the therapy of a patient who has unfortunately been exposed to a certain amount of radioactive iodine. This substance is known to be widely released in nuclear power plant accidents, nuclear bomb explosions, and so on. Only in very rare cases will a “dirty bomb” release radioactive iodide. Your personal physician will determine whether a therapy with KI is suitable for your medical condition. For example, patients who are suffering from a known allergic reaction to iodine should not be recommended a therapy with this substance. In such cases, it is the physician’s responsibility to seek adjacent therapy methods that should be more appropriate for the patient’s medical condition. Your personal health care provider prescribe you the proper way in which you should use this medication in order to be granted the best beneficial results.

In some clinical cases, the therapy for the consequences of the Radiation Emergency cannot be reversed. For this reason, physicians aim to correct the unpleasant symptoms of the disorders that have been triggered by the exposure. Physicians may prescribe painkillers and anti-nausea medical products for the ease of some symptoms, while the therapy with antibiotics can effectively fight off any potential secondary infection. If the patient develops anemia, he or she will probably need blood transfusions. The medicines that have been approved by the FDA for usage in the therapy of radiation exposure due to a Radiation Emergency (such as a “dirty bomb” or an industrial accident) include pentetate zinc trisodium (Zn-DTPA), pentetate calcium trisodium (Ca-DTPA) and Radiogardase. We strongly recommend you to ask your personal health care provider for more information regarding these medicines. In this way you will find out how a therapy with these medical products (or with similar drugs) can help your medical disorder. Another medicine that has proven to be quite effective in the therapy of patients who have been exposed to high doses of radiation is Neupogen (filgrastim), a medication that is currently prescribed in the therapy of patients who have undergone long term radiation therapy or chemotherapy. A treatment with this medication stimulates the growth of the body’s white blood cells. In this way, a treatment trial with this drug may help the affected bone marrow.