Many soldiers who participated in the U.S. nuclear testing program complain of stomach problems, respiratory problems, chronic skin rashes, loss of hair and teeth and other ailments that started soon after they were exposed to radiation. We believe that their digestive systems suffered damage at the time of exposure from which they never fully recovered. This is based on observations and on opinions of experts. Our focus here is on the symptoms of chronic radiation sickness. Anatomically we are no different from the many Japanese and Chernobyl victims who died soon after showing symptoms of radiation sickness and the many survived to suffer from chronic life-debilitating radiation sickness due to permanent damage to their gastro intestinal tracts.
All cases die within two days.
These symptoms would persist for several days, and in addition you could probably lose your hair and your fingernails might turn black. Your white blood cell count may decrease from its normal level of 8000 cells per cubic millimeter to 50. Consequently, your body would lose its major defenses against all kinds of bacteria, and toxic infectious substances. This is medically known as the hematopoietic syndrome from radiation, and it alone is enough to almost certainly kill you. The surface of our small intestines are lined with thousands of villi, fingerlike projections covered with special cells that extract nourishment from food.