How is it that the body survives for weeks or months before finally succumbing to death after a lethal full body dose of radiation poisoning? I’ve heard that the penatrating radiation of gamma rays and neutrons destroy the DNA beyond repair. So how does the body continue to function for so long afterwards before finally losing the battle? How do cells without DNA carry on?
In: Biology
The LD 50/60 Dose is the dose that if exposed to will result in 50% of a population dying in 60 days without medical intervention. Just to give a number that’s roughly 400 rad. Death if it occurs at this point is generally from hematopoietic syndrome, which is basically where the blood forming tissues(bone marrow) are killed/damaged and your body cannot effectively replenish blood cells that die off naturally and you can eventually die from that, this could take couple months.
Around 1000 rad gastrointestinal syndrome becomes major concern, your GI tract is basically killed, and you can no longer absorb nutrients from food via your intestines and either starve to death, or die of infection as your intestines break down, killing in a week or two, death is effectively guranteed even with medical help.
Central nervous system syndrome starts to occur around couple thousand RAD and kills in a few days as your nervous and circulatory systems basically fall apart, if your lucky you’ll be unconscious that whole time.
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