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SOMATIC EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION

1960; Canadian Science Publishing; Volume: 38; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1139/o60-039

0576-5544

E. A. Sellers,

Effects of Radiation Exposure

Radiation is similar to other environmental changes in that the response or injury produced bears a relationship to the degree of stimulus. A time–dose relationship also exists. It differs from other environmental changes in that many more cells of the body remote from the skin surface are affected. The effects depend on absorbed tissue dose and on dose rate. These dosage factors, the varying sensitivity of the tissues, and differing rates of repair account for the phasic pattern of symptoms and tissue damage which follow radiation. Compared with other stressors (especially chemical) the dose–response curve after radiation is steep. The somatic effects of radiation are the sequelae of the specific molecular injury produced by ionization rather than the primary lesions themselves.