Radiation poisoning is caused when a person is exposed to one form or another of radiation. The causes and symptoms of radiation poisoning depend on the type of exposure. Acute poisoning is caused when a person is exposed to high levels of ionizing radiation within a very short period and the health problems that occur can be acute and severe. Very high doses of radiation can cause neurological problems and other side effects and generally a very quick death, other supportive treatments used are with antibiotics and blood transfusions.
There are three forms of acute radiation poisoning the first is hematopoietic which causes a fall in white blood cells and an increase in infections, a fall in red blood cells which causes anemia, and bleeding occurs from a drop in platelets. The second is gastrointestinal which comes from an exposure of 600 to 1000 rad, this can occur several hours after exposure and is marked by loss of appetite, abdominal pain, nausea, fever and vomiting. The third is neurological and vascular with an exposure of over 1000 rad causing severe headaches, dizziness, severe diarrhea, high fever, a lack of vomiting, there is also tremor, seizures, ataxia and lethargy plus a reduction in consciousness, with patients generally dying within forty eight hours.
Chronic radiation poisoning is generally caused by long term exposure where radiation levels are too low to cause an acute sickness. It manifests itself as other symptoms such as neurological problems and a low count of blood cells. Exposure to radiation has the effect of causing other problems over an extended period and this may be different types of cancers which are caused from genetic mutations. The amount of the radiation dose has a bearing on what damage is done and the way the symptoms will manifest themselves. There are two types of exposure, internal and external. External exposure is caused when the radioactive source comes from outside the body, this can be from nuclear explosions, sealed radioactive items worn close to the body, cosmic rays where space travelers can become irradiated from exposure, and controlled treatments by brachytherapy and teletherapy for cancer. Internal exposure results from the ingestion or inhalation of the source and this can be from animal products or food which has been exposed to a source of radiation and then consumed, as well as certain types of cancer treatments.