Total dose and dose rate determine somatic or genetic effects of radiation. However, in cases of extreme exposure caused from atomic weapons or a power plant meltdown, such as Chernobyl, the effects can be fatal. Radiation sickness can result in patients with low exposure levels, such as cancer treatments, and leave them with symptoms similar to a case of the flu. Japanese doctors described an unknown disease with symptoms that “suddenly appeared in certain patients with no apparent injuries.” It is now known that these first patients were suffering delayed effects of radiation exposure. The first observable cases of radiation sickness occurred after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Because the damage is irreversible, patients exposed to radiation that are experiencing symptoms should seek medical help immediately so that drugs can be administered. The effects of radiation exposure on an individual are cumulative.Īlthough there is currently no treatment to repair cells that have already been damaged by radiation, the FDA has recently approved drugs that are very effective at removing radioactive elements from the body. As a rule, large doses of radiation are of concern because of their immediate effects on the body (somatic), while low doses are of concern because of the potential for possible late somatic and long-term genetic effects. An observable effect due to radiation exposure becomes quite certain after a single dose of several hundred rads. Radiation sickness describes the harmful effects–acute, delayed, or chronic–produced by exposure to ionizing radiation. 5 Myths About Orphan Drugs and the Orphan Drug Act.

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