nuclear-news

Heart disease and stroke linked to moderate ionising radiation

Moderate Radiation Tied to Heart Disease, Stroke Study does not clarify whether exposure from scans raises risk Business Week  Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) –– New research based on the experiences of atomic-bomb survivors has found a link between exposure to moderate levels of radiation and higher levels of heart disease and stroke………….. For the study, researchers from the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Japan examined the medical records of 86,611 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic-bomb survivors who were followed from 1950 to 2003. All had been exposed to radiation doses from 0 to 4 Gy, with 86 percent exposed to less than 0.2 Gy.

After taking into account the possible effects of such factors as smoking, education and obesity, the researchers determined that the rates of stroke and heart disease went up among those who were exposed to doses higher than 0.5 Gy, which they labeled moderate. They did not clarify how lower doses affected risk.

In an accompanying commentary, Mark Little, of Imperial College London, agreed with the researchers that future study should explore whether low doses of radiation affect the body’s biological mechanisms in similar ways.

Moderate Radiation Tied to Heart Disease, Stroke – BusinessWeek

January 18, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, radiation, radioactive