Host: The Japan Radiation Research Society
Co-host: Asian Association for Radiation Research
From 1968 to 1972,a survey was carried out to find miraculously survived persons who had been exposed to Atomic Bomb within 500 meters from the hypocenter, by Hiroshima University, NHK Hiroshima and Hiroshima City. After the confirmation of 78 survivors, Hiroshima University started a project called "Comprehensive Study on Heavily Exposed Survivors" in 1972. In this presentation, sociological, psychological and physiological damages among those 78 persons will be reported, as well as some evidences on biological effects caused by the high dose of radiation. Sociological damages: destruction of family unit by loss of more than two members at time of the bombing, orphans resulted from the A-bomb disaster; disturbance of family construction due to divorces. Psychological damages: psychological burdens due to spontaneous abortion in the female survivors; shift to neurosis or dysautonomia from normal condition after 50 - 60 years of the exposure, revealed by Cornel Medical Index method. Physiological damages: 55 deaths, of which 29 due to cancers(38%) including four persons with double or triple cancers, 20(36 %) due to cerebro-cardiovascular diseases and 6( 10 %) others. Exposed radiation doses estimated by chromosome aberration of the peripheral lymphocytes distributed from 1.1 to 5.1 Sv. Evidences of biological effects: chromosome aberration rate of the bone marrow cells in 40 years after the exposure was two third of that of the peripheral lymphocyte; presence of abnormal clones in the bone marrow and the exchanges by newly produced ones; a high value of EB(Epstein-Barr) virus antibody; presence of chromosome aberration-inducible serum factor(s)(bystander effects); RAS gene mutations in the bone marrow cells which might lead to the leukemia or solid tumor developments of the survivors; activation of intrinsic retrovirus; high incidences of meningioma and multiple cancers among the survivors.
