Effects of A-Bomb Radiation on the Human Body

Abstract

Released just before the 50th anniversary of the first and second wartime uses of atomic weapons, this book collects and summarizes the adverse health effects resulting from the detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is an expanded version of the<i>A-Bomb Radiation Effects Digest</i>published in 1993 and previously reviewed in<i>JAMA</i>.¹Both volumes have been adapted from the publication of the data in Japanese (<i>Genbaku Hoshasen no Jintai Eikyou</i>), with subsequent translation into English. This larger volume contains 20 major sections written by 39 Japanese authors, who compile and collate the literature and research on adverse health effects in the survivors into 1991. The book begins with a brief overview of the physical destructive effects of the bombs, then turns to the radiation releases and subsequent health effects. Because of the importance of exposure to understanding the health effects, the various exposure and dose estimates are compared beginning