How does radiation poisoning kill you, and why does it sometimes take weeks?
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Ionizing radiation is the sort that kills. It’s called that because it’s powerful enough to hit an atom and knock electrons off it. That could break a molecule, or cause a chemical reaction that wouldn’t normally happen.
“Radiation poisoning” isn’t actually poisoning. It’s what we call it when someone gets exposed to enough ionizing radiation that the radiation has torn up molecules throughout a person’s body and makes them deathly ill.
It’s particularly rough on DNA in cells that were dividing at the time of exposure because those cells were busy unwinding their DNA into single strands to make copies, and were in a position where damage like a cut in a DNA molecule couldn’t be fixed. Those cells can stop working and just die. The cells of the skin and digestive system are especially vulnerable, also bone marrow (which makes blood cells).
It takes a while because not all the cells die at once, and those that survive keep trying to do their thing. The process of cells dying also takes a little time.
What happens though, is the bone marrow stops replacing the blood and making immune cells. The lining of the throat, stomach, and intestines dies and begins to fall apart. A lot of fluid begins flowing into the gut as the lining tears off and is pooped out; and blood is lost. The skin also responds like it got a terrible sunburn and begins to peel away and sores form. Gums bleed, teeth fall out, and the person starts getting all sorts of infections because they can’t fight them any more. Then, if the person survived that far, their organs fail.
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