How does radiation poisoning kill you, and why does it sometimes take weeks?
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Radiation causes damage to your DNA. Your cells can survive for some time with damaged DNA but they can’t properly replicate. So as old cells die there are no new cells to replace them. This results in dysfunction/death of all of the fastest replicating cells (e.g. skin, intestinal, bone marrow, etc). The bone marrow is probably the most important as it produces your immune cells as well as your blood cells and platelets. So you simultaneously have no immune system, severe anemia and problems with clotting.
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