Clinical studies of radiation effects in man: a preliminary report of a retrospective search for dose-relationships in the prodromal syndrome.

Abstract

The effects of total-body irradiation on man have been studied clinically since Walsh (1) first described "radiation sickness" in 1897. Thus it is well-known that exposure to ionizing radiations can result in a delayed illness that may prevent a man from working. The dose-response relationships are poorly known (2, 3), however, and present estimates are based largely on conjectures derived by extrapolation from animal experiments (3) or from experience with radiation accident victims (4-9), atomic bomb casualties (3, 10-12) and therapeutically irradiated patients (1-3, 13-17). Because these estimates are all we have, it has been necessary to use them in the past for guidance in civilian defense, radiotherapy, and occupational medicine. They are not, however, sufficiently accurate for prediction of the probability that sublethal doses of radiation will cause deleterious functional effects that could lead to sudden or delayed decrements in performance capabilities (2). In developing the estimated residual dose (ERD) concept on which most occupational and civilian defense medical plans are based today (18-20), the ERD Committee did not consider a form of radiation sickness so mild that medical care was not required but severe enough to cause performance failure that could result in death. The Committee's conclusion, that 9 out of 10 persons exposed to less than