Atomic Bomb Survivors at Increased Heart Disease & Stroke Risks

People who survived the atomic bombs dropped on Japan more than 50 years ago may be more likely to suffer heart disease or a stroke, a new British study finds.

The study focused on more than 86,000 survivors of the United States bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, attacks that forced Japan’s surrender and the end to World War II. The survivors were exposed to absorbed radiation doses of between 0 and 4 Gy (Gray) at the time of the bombings, the researchers said.

Gray is the unit measuring absorbed radiation dose using special equipment called dosimeters, and the amount varies from person to person depending on their location and shielding at the time of the bombings, according to a Reuters news report.

The scientists behind the study said their research provides “the strongest evidence available to date that radiation may increase the rates of stroke and heart disease at moderate dose levels (mainly 0.5-2 Gy), though the results below 0.5 Gy are not statistically significant.”

Further study is needed to better determine the effects low doses of radiation may have had, the researchers said.

The researchers, led by the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Japan, monitored the survivors from 1950 to 2003 and found that 9,600 died from stroke while 8,400 died of heart disease, according to Reuters.

There was a higher risk of stroke and heart disease at doses above 0.5 Gy, and chances of these conditions occurring were more likely the higher the dose, the researchers found.

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