How can doctors address the damage radiation does to your cells?
In: Biology
The treatment for people with acute radiation sickness is to support the body long enough for it to heal itself, which may not be possible depending on the level of damage.
This includes reducing and treating infections, maintaining hydration, and treating injuries and burns.
Bone marrow transplants may be required as the immune system is one of the first things to be destroyed.
If the person can survive long enough with external support then there’s a chance the body can recover from the extensive damage.
In many cases though the damage is simply too great and the person dies. Even if you survive the chances of cancers and other radiation related diseases is very high.
Caution: if you’re squeamish don’t look this up, it’s pretty horrifying.
The story of Hisashi Ouchi is an example of both what can be done, and doctors going too far. He was exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in an industrial accident and was kept alive 83 days by a team of Doctors.
The pain and problems he suffered from were just staggering, and many who study the case believe they should just have let him die, or euthanized him. But the argument was if they can keep him alive long enough he might just survive.
They can’t. The best they can do is try to limit the consequences.
You are going to be put on antibiotics and stay in a clean room. Because for the next few weeks you will not have an immune system.
If it bad but not lethal you will also have to deal with a lot of internal bleeding, so blood transfusions and draining of pooled fluids. Also possibly skin rot so cleaning/ removing affected skin.
Finally a ton of pain killers. You will need them.
If they can keep you alive for about a month your body will have time to replace the dead cells.
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