Evening star., 1953-08-02
Atom
Radiation Terror
Somewhat Abuted
By BeyI Denzer

WdS oOBOVO "NAS
dead in the two cities, with an ad-
ditional 10000 injured and burned.
Within weeks a new and terrifying
aftermath was discovered: A high
incidence of steriity among those
exposed to "ionizing radiation" a
medical term for the mysterious
death rays of the chain reaction
associated with A-bombS.
For the Japanese who survived
the death-dealing experiment in
Hiroshima on August 6 and Naga-
Saki on August 9, 1945, what is
the prognoSis? Are they doomed,
even after eight years, or can they
expect normal health?
encouragement in Findings
There is every reason to be en-
couraged by the findings of the
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission.
ABCC teams, made up of Atomic
Energy Commission and National
Research Council representatives
and Japanese scientists, have ex-
amined since VI day 10000 A-bomb
victims. Four thousand casualties
have been checked periodically. AS
result of the survey, ABCC now
can report:
L. No Sterility in Japan as result
of the A-bomb. The condition
which provided the inspiration for
Pat Franks novel, mfr. ADAM"
story of the last potent man in the
world-apparently disappears in six
months. AS medical observers put
it. IF you live, you won't be sterile
from the A-bomb."
2.No genetic or hereditary
changes in the post A-bomb crop of
babies. These children are physi-
cally and mentally as sound as they
would have been if their parents had
not been exposed to the atomic
blast
8. No cancer attributable to ex-
poSure to A-bomb rays, although
leukemia-cancer of the blood-iS
being discovered in unusually re-
siStant persons who were exposed to
ordinarily fatal doses Of ionizing ra-
diation but did not die.
Other Effects
Fearsome as the death ray"
aspect of the A-bomb may seem, it
is actually the least of the horrors
which the weapon holds. Only Is
per cent Of the deaths at Hiroshima
and Nagasaki resulted from ionizing
radiation. Eighty-five per cent of
the deaths resulted from ordinary,
tangible flash burns and injuries.
But Brig. Gen. Ebert DeCoursey,
director of the Armed Forces In
stitute of Pathology here and one
of the Nations top pathologists, says
American medical know-how could
have saved half of the people who
died from the bombing"
Forty thousand persons injured
by falling buildings, fires and flying
steel and glass fragments died need
leSSly because Japanese medical
knowledge was not up to date, Gen.
DeCourSey claims. In reaching this
appalling conclusion, he personally
examined 1000 A-bomb victims and
studied 269 autopsies.
Simple, Prompt Core
The chief medical problem posed
by the A-bomb is how to treat all
the victims promptly. Never before
in history has the potentiality for
simultaneous mass injury been SO
great. But American doctors, look
ing into the possibility of applying
assembly-line technique in treating
bomb victims, have come up re-
Gently with fantastically simple
but extremely promising" method
of coping with burns: Clean them
and leave them alone. BY eliminat
ing pressure bandages, wet dress
ings, salves and other standard
treatments, countless doctor and
nurse hours-as we'll as huge piles of
materials-can be saved. Burns ex-
posed to the air appear to heal well.
A vital discovery by scientists
In Japan and at Bikini Atoll is that
radiation does not linger as de-
stroyer after the initial flash and
explosion, except when the A-bomb
Is exploded in direct contact with
water or the ground. Bombs
normally are set off over target, as
at Nagasaki and Hiroshima; thus,
doctors can move in Immediately
without undue radiation peril, and
rescue crews can remove the injured
from the vicinity of the flames.
Hope for Others
For the unlucky ones who do get
an overdose of ionizing radiation
comparable to overexposure to X
rays-there is also hope. In fact,
Gen. DeCoursey predicts that the
present so per cent fatality rate
among this group will ultimately
be cut to 10 per cent. The so-called
death rays" knock out the body'S
blood factories-the bone marrow,
spleen and lymph nodes.
But since VI day, scientists have
made startling discovery: These
organs have the power of regenerat-
ing new blood-if you can keep the
patient alive for six or seven weeks.
And, says Gen. DeCoursey, in most in
stances you can, with good nursing
care, proper medication, drugs to
combat infection, blood transfusions
in cases where infection-f1 fighting
white cells have been depleted by
the ionizing effect of the bomb,
and actual injection of healthy bone
marrow-a revolutionary treatment
in itself.
Pill Preventive?
Medical science is aware that if
it were possible to increase the re-
siStance of the human body only 10
per cent, thousands of A-bomb vic
tins might be saved. Gen. Decour-
Sey's long standing hope that
scientists would be able to concen-
trate in pill form drugs to combat
the effects of radiation (people
would carry them like aspirin, pop