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Ionising radiation’s long-term effects include heart disease and stroke

Correcting for other habits known to be associated with both conditions had no impact on their findings, suggesting that the radiation alone was responsible for their findings.

Survive the A-Bomb, Die Prematurely from Stroke and Heart Disease, Brain Blogger, March 24, 2010 | By T. A. McNamee, MD The survivors of the World War II atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have considered themselves lucky, at least at first. Shortly thereafter, however, those who didn’t die from radiation poisoning learned that the radiation from the bombings placed themselves and their children at increased risk of cancer. Now, they can add heart disease and stroke to their list of potential medical problems.

A recent article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) examined the rates of death from heart disease and stroke in survivors of these bombings based on their distance from the epicenter and subsequent calculated radiation exposure. It found that those exposed to higher doses of radiation had an increased risk of both stroke and heart disease, with excess relative risk per gray of radiation of 9% for the former and 14% for the latter. Correcting for other habits known to be associated with both conditions had no impact on their findings, suggesting that the radiation alone was responsible for their findings.

While no one anticipates another atomic bombing, the results of this study are still relevant due to the widespread exposure of individuals to radiation from medical diagnostic tests such as CT scans.
Reference

Little, M. (2010). Exposure to radiation and higher risk of circulatory disease BMJ, 340 (jan14 1) DOI:
Radiation Exposure from Medical Diagnositic Imaging Procedures: Health Physics Society Fact Sheet [PDF].

Survive the A-Bomb, Die Prematurely from Stroke and Heart Disease | Brain Blogger

March 25, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive