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Cancers will increase as young Hiroshima victims live on

Those exposed to A-bomb radiation in early adolescence or at a younger age have shown a higher rate of cancer than those exposed to the radiation as adults. Most of the survivors living now were adolescents or younger at the time of the blast. Many more cancer patients are expected to emerge — probably 70,000 to 80,000 new cases by 2040………

Disease and regret weigh on atomic-bomb survivors By NANAO KAMADA, M.D., chief director of the Hiroshima Atomic-bomb Survivors Relief Foundation. The Japan Times Aug. 6, 2010 “……Among the survivors, various types of malignant tumors developed over time because of their exposure to atomic radiation. The occurrence of leukemia started to increase three years after the bombing, thyroid gland cancer eight years after, breast and lung cancer 10 years after, and stomach and colon cancers 15 years after.

So far, it has been confirmed that a total of 13 different types of cancer have clearly increased among survivors. Recently, there have been cases of survivors contracting a second or third type of cancer. For example, one person who was exposed to radiation at a point 410 meters from ground zero at age 11 developed thyroid cancer at 43, bowel cancer at 62 and a brain tumor at 67.

Why has cancer developed in so many survivors and more than one type of cancer among some of them? It is because A-bomb radiation damaged genes in their cells. The cancer incidence of survivors correlates with the amount of radiation they received at the time of exposure. The closer one was to ground zero, the higher has been the incidence of cancer……..

Currently there are about 240,000 A-bomb survivors. Fifty-four percent of all A-bomb survivors have passed away. The youngest survivors, age 64, suffered radiation exposure while in the womb. It is estimated that the number of survivors will decrease to several thousand around 2040.

Those exposed to A-bomb radiation in early adolescence or at a younger age have shown a higher rate of cancer than those exposed to the radiation as adults. Most of the survivors living now were adolescents or younger at the time of the blast. Many more cancer patients are expected to emerge — probably 70,000 to 80,000 new cases by 2040………

Nanao Kamada, M.D., is chief director of the Hiroshima Atomic-bomb Survivors Relief Foundation.

Disease and regret weigh on atomic-bomb survivors | The Japan Times Online

August 7, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Japan | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive