How does radiation poisoning kill you, and why does it sometimes take weeks?
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Radiation poisoning causes damage by creating unstable chemicals in the body when radiation strikes existing molecules. These chemicals can cause damage to cells, especially DNA. Minor DNA damage can be repaired, but extreme damage caused by radiation can leave the DNA unsalvagable, killing the cell or at least stopping it from reproducing. Depending on the level of damage, different organ systems will start to suffer from the cellular damage at different rates. Major cell damage will lead to burn-like injuries (sunburn is an example of this) as large amounts of cells are killed by the body to contain the genetic damage. Deeper tissues are likely to suffer lesser damage. Organs like the heart or brain are unlikely to be severely damaged (except in extremely high doses), so immediate death is rare. Instead, organs like bone marrow and the digestive tract tend to be the most vulnerable to even minor genetic damage, which can cause anemia and malnutrition respectively, eventually leading to death in days or weeks if the symptoms can’t be treated.
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