In the human environment lies in wait for a lot of phenomena that have an impact on him. These include rain, wind, change of atmospheric pressure, heat, landslides, tsunamis and so on. Due to the presence of perception with the help of the senses, a person can protect himself from adverse external influences: from the sun - with sunscreen, from rain - with an umbrella and the like. But in nature there are phenomena that a person cannot determine with the help of his perception, one of them is radiation.
Radiation detection
Before disassembling what is dangerous radiation, first consider its definition. Radiation is a stream of energy in the form of radio waves that comes from a source. This phenomenon was first known in 1896. The most unpleasant property of radiation is the effect on the cells and tissues of the body. To determine the dose of radiation requires special devices. What is it for? The thing is that the further tactics of the doctor / feldsher depend on the level of radiation: to treat or conduct palliative care (which reduces suffering to death).
What is the danger of radiation to humans?
The question is quite common. Almost everyone who is asked: “Why is radiation dangerous?” Will answer, but, unfortunately, not always correctly. Let's get it right.
All tissues of living organisms are composed of cells. Two most susceptible parts are distinguished in the cell: the nucleus and mitochondria. In the core, as you know, there is DNA and, undergoing irradiation, genetic damage to the following generations occurs. If during pregnancy a woman received a dose of radiation, then the effect on the embryo occurs, which leads to its defective development. This is the first answer to the question why radiation is dangerous to humans. Further:
- Changes in somatic cells. Somatic cells are the cells of the body. When they are irradiated, a mutation occurs, as a result of which tumor diseases of various localization are formed. Most often, the hematopoietic system is affected and leukemia develops. If you recall the story, then Marie Curie and her daughter died from leukemia. When strict rules for self-defense were not yet introduced when performing X-ray studies, there was a terminology such as “cancer and leukemia of radiologists”.
- Genetic mutations. In this case, the mutation occurs in one or both germ cells at once: sperm and egg. Not only the fetus will suffer, which will develop from these cells, but also subsequent generations. With this type of mutation, a fetus is more often born with external and internal pathologies (absence of one / all limbs, pathology of internal organs, for example, lack of cardiac partitions), which in many cases are incompatible with at least a long life.
- Cell death.
What diseases can lead to?
- Tumor diseases
- Leukemia
- Radiation sickness
The last point requires special attention.
Radiation sickness
Radiation sickness is a condition that develops when a person is irradiated in doses exceeding the permissible threshold and affects the organs of blood formation, nervous system, gastrointestinal tract and other organs, systems.
There are two forms of radiation sickness: acute and chronic. The chronic form develops with constant or frequent exposure to a small dose, but still exceeding the allowable threshold. Acute radiation sickness develops with a single exposure to a large dose. The severity is determined by the individual dosimeter (what dose the person received) and the symptoms.
Symptoms of radiation sickness
In the symptoms of radiation sickness, the dose volume and the area of the site play a large role.
There are four degrees of the course of the disease:
1) The first degree (mild) - irradiation with a dosage of 1-2 Gray.
2) The second degree (medium) - irradiation with a dosage of 2-4 Gray.
3) The third degree (severe) - exposure to a dosage of 4-6 Gray.
4) The fourth degree (extremely severe) is irradiation with a dosage of 6-10 Gray.
Periods of radiation sickness:
- Primary reaction. It begins after irradiation, and the larger the dose of radiation, the faster the initial reaction develops. The characteristic symptoms are nausea, vomiting, depression of consciousness or, conversely, psychomotor agitation, diarrhea. During this period, there is a high probability of death, which is why radiation is life threatening at this stage.
- The second period (imaginary well-being): the patient feels better, the condition improves, but the disease still progresses, which reflects a blood test. It is for this reason that the period is called the period of imaginary well-being.
- The third period (the height of the disease) is characterized by the appearance of all the symptoms of the disease, the features of toxic poisoning of the body by radiation are determined. Symptoms of damage to the central nervous system increase, headaches appear again and intensify, which are not stopped by the administration / administration of analgesics. Topical dizziness, vomiting. Almost always, this period is accompanied by fever.
- The fourth period is the period of convalescence (recovery) or death.
How to protect yourself from radiation?
As a preventive measure of radiation sickness, personal protective equipment is used: gas masks and special clothing. However, having learned what radiation is dangerous, no person will want to contact with it. But what to do if such a catastrophe happened, and there are no personal protective equipment?
To do this, recommended means to reduce the radiosensitivity of cells and body tissues to radiation, as well as slowing down radiochemical reactions. According to experts, the most appropriate remedy for such purposes is the drug "Cystamine". This drug reduces the oxygen content inside the cell, and, as many studies have shown, the resistance of the cell to radiation exposure increases with its hypoxia (oxygen starvation). The drug begins its action 30-40 minutes after administration and lasts about 4-5 hours. It is low toxic and can be reused.
Sorting victims
In the introduction of the article, the premise is made that not all patients who received a large dose of radiation will survive. It is to this group of people that they provide only palliative care (reduction of suffering). But why? The table below shows how to determine the degree of disease by symptoms:
| Index | 1 degree | 2 degree | 3 degree | 4 degree |
| Vomiting (onset and duration) | After 2 hours, single |
After 1-2 hours, repeated |
After 30 minutes, multiple | 5-20 minutes later, indomitable |
| Headache | Short-term | Not strong | Strong | Very strong |
| Temperature | Fine | 37.0 - 38.0 | 37.0 - 38.0 | 38.0 - 39.0 |
The severity is determined by vomiting. The earlier vomiting occurs after irradiation, the worse the prognosis. Vomiting that occurs after 5 minutes is a fact that a person lives his last day. Such a patient is assisted in the form of anesthesia, lowering body temperature, the introduction of drugs to stop vomiting and simple nursing care.
First aid
Understanding the danger of human radiation, in the event of such a catastrophe involving people in it, the first thought is to provide emergency assistance to the victims. What needs to be done?
Firstly, entering the lesion, it is necessary to wear personal protective equipment. This is a taboo if you do not want to lie next to the victim. Next, we remove the victim from the lesion and carry out decontamination (special treatment against radiation).
It includes:
- taking off clothes;
- mechanical removal of all contaminants and dust that has absorbed radiation;
- washing the skin and visible mucous membranes;
- Gastric lavage without the use of a gastric tube. We give the victim to take the iodized sorbent, then mechanically induce vomiting (two fingers in the mouth) and again give the sorbent. We repeat this procedure several times.
We render all the above actions and wait for the arrival of the doctor.
