Mental health consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.
Author: Bromet EJ.
Reference: J Radiol Prot. 2012, 32 (1): N71–75.
Association between dementia and midlife risk factors: the radiation effects research foundation adult health study
Author: M. Yamada, F. Kasagi, H. Sasaki et al.
Reference: J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. — 2003. — Vol. 51, № 3. — P. 410–414.
Keywords: vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Hiroshima
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between midlife risk factors and the development of vascular dementia (VaD) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) 25 to 30 years later.
DESIGN: A prevalence study within a longitudinal cohort study.
SETTING: Subjects in the Adult Health Study (a prospective cohort study begun in 1958) have been followed through biennial medical examinations in Hiroshima, Japan.
PARTICIPANTS: One thousand seven hundred seventy-four subjects in Hiroshima, Japan born before September 1932 (1,660 with no dementia, 114 with dementia (51 with AD, and 38 with VaD) diagnosed from 1992 to 1997 according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria).
MEASUREMENTS: The subjects were examined for effect on dementia of sex, age, education, atomic bomb radiation dose, and midlife factors associated with risk (smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, dietary habits, systolic blood pressure (SBP), body mass index, and history of diabetes mellitus) that had been evaluated in 1965-1970.
RESULTS: VaD prevalence increased significantly with age, higher SBP, and lower milk intake. The odds ratios of VaD for age (in 5-year increments), SBP (10 mmHg increments), and milk intake (almost daily/less than four times a week) were 1.29, 1.33, and 0.35, respectively. The risk factors for VaD were compatible with the risk factors for stroke in this study population. AD prevalence increased significantly with age and lower education. Other midlife factors and radiation dose did not show any significant association with VaD or AD.
CONCLUSION: Increased SBP and low milk intake in midlife were associated with VaD detected 25 to 30 years later. Early behavioral control of the risk factors for vascular disease might reduce the risk of dementia.
URL: http://hnb.tokushukai.jp/contents/risk-factors-for-dementia/abstract/93
Exposures and effects of the Chernobyl accident / UNSCEAR 2000 report to the General Assembly
Author: Annex J.
Reference: International Journal of Radiation Medicine, Special issue. — 2000. — Vol. 2–4, № 6–8. — P. 3–109.
Abstract: full text available online.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme genotype and encephalopathy in Chernobyl cleanup workers
Author: A.D. Kehoe, A.M. Nikiforov, S.S. Alexanin et al.
Reference: Eur. J. Neurol. — 2009. — Vol. 16, № 1. — P. 95–100.
Keywords: cleanup; angiotensin-converting; angiotensin-converting enzyme; encephalopathy; worker; enzyme; ace activity; ace genotype; ace gene; ace inhibition;
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To identify, using a genetic model, a key role for the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the development of dyscirculatory encephalopathy (DE) in Chernobyl cleanup workers (CCW). The insertion/deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene denotes a substantial individual variation in RAS activity with the D-allele being associated with higher ACE activity. METHODS Ninety-three male, Caucasian CCW were recruited from those under regular review at the All-Russia Centre of Emergency and Radiation Medicine, St. Petersburg. The presence or absence of DE was determined using existing institutional guidelines. ACE genotype was determined using internationally accepted methodologies. RESULTS Angiotensin-converting enzyme genotype distribution in 59 subjects with DE was II: 10 (17%), ID: 31 (53%), DD: 18 (30%), D-allele frequency 56.8%. Whereas in those without the condition the distribution was II: 12 (35%), ID: 19 (56%), DD 3 (9%) and D-allele frequency 35.9%(P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS These data are the first to identify an association between the ACE D-allele and DE in CCW. They provide evidence of a significant role for the RAS in the development of DE and suggest that clinical trials of ACE inhibition would be profitable in this group.
Chernobyl: Looking back to go forward. Proceedings of an international conference
Title: Chernobyl: Looking back to go forward. Proceedings of an international conference
Reference: Proceedings series, Mar 2008, 260 p, IAEA, Vienna (Austria), International conference on Chernobyl: Looking back to go forward, Vienna (Austria), 6-7 Sep 2005
Abstract: […The accident led to numerous immediate and long term adverse consequences for the public and the environment. It has also had substantial psycho-social and economic impacts on the affected populations and has negatively influenced the nuclear industry worldwide. The international community was involved from the early days in the assessments and the practical efforts to overcome the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. The first post-accident review meeting was organized by the IAEA in August 1986. In 1990, at the request of the Soviet Government, the IAEA organized an assessment of the radiological consequences and an evaluation of protective measures by a large group of international experts coordinated by an International Advisory Committee…]
URL: http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1312_web.pdf
Medical consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe in Belorussia: problems and perspectives
Author: L.A. Postoyalko
Reference: Медицинские новости (Medical news), 2004
Keywords: Belorussia
Abstract: The Chernobyl catastrophe caused multiple serious and long-term problems, affecting vital interests of millions of people and their health condition…
In the zones of radiation contamination negative demographic tendency has been detected. Radiation-caused incidence has increased. Other stochastic effects, to the full, under chronic low-dose exposure or during rather long-term latent periods of irradiation, have not been confirmed.
Chernobyl Doses. Volume 2. Conifer Stress near Chernobyl Derived from Landsat Imagery
Title: Chernobyl Doses. Volume 2. Conifer Stress near Chernobyl Derived from Landsat Imagery
Author: Gene E. McClellan; Terrence H. Hemmer; Ronald N. DeWitt
Reference: Technical rept. 29 Sep 87-28 Feb 92
Keywords: Landsat Thematic Mapper, Forest damage, conifer stress
Abstract: This volume presents Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery of the area surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Station and derives quantitative estimates of the spatial extent and time progression of stress on coniferous forests resulting from the 26 April 1986 reactor explosion and release of radioactive material. Change detection between pre- and postaccident images demonstrates convincingly that remote sensing of the spectral reflectance of coniferous forests in visible and infrared wavelengths at moderate spatial resolution (30 meters) will detect the effects of large radiation doses to the forest canopy. This work was initiated at a time when the expectation for direct data from the Soviet Union on local, accident-induced radiation levels was limited and the satellite data provided an alternative source. Although information exchange with the former Soviet Union has improved dramatically, the results of this report are important, since they prove the feasibility of large- scale, spectral response measurements on radiation-exposed pine trees in a natural environment. Volume 1 presents the derivation of radiation doses from the imagery reviewed in this volume, describes changes in spectral reflectivity of the affected trees as a function of dose and time, and discusses the military operational implications of these results….Chernobyl, Forest damage, Landsat, Change detection, Conifer stress.
Chernobyl: An Unbelievable Failure to Help
Title: Chernobyl: An Unbelievable Failure to Help
Author: Rosalie Bertell
Reference: International Journal of Health Services March 2008, Vol. 38(3), pp. 543-60.
Keywords: The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA), World Health Organization (WHO)
Abstract: The disaster at the Chernobyl power reactor near Kiev, which began on 26 April 1986, at 1:21 AM, was one of the worst industrial accidents ever suffered in the world. Yet the global community, which is usually most generous in pouring out aid to a stricken community, has been slow to understand the scope of this disaster and to reach out to the most devastated people of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. It is the purpose of this discussion to probe the causes of the confusion of perception and failure of response to the needs of these victims. Clearly the problem is one of communication, and the true picture has not been well communicated to concerned people of all countries and faiths.
Subclinical hypothyroidism in children and adolescents
Author: N.M. Okulevich
Reference: Медицинские новости (Medical news), 2004. No.5
Keywords: subclinical hypothyroidism
Abstract: According to the laboratory НИКИ РМиЭ, in the course of carrying out mass screening surveys of children born between 1985-1986 in various regions of the country, was found relatively high frequency of SG.
Thyroid cancer in children
Author: E.P. Demidchik, Yu.E. Demidchik, V.Ya. Rebeko
Reference: Materials of the Intern. Scientific. Symposium “Medical aspects of radiation effects onto the population, living in contaminated territory after the Chernobyl accident”, Gomel, 6-7 May, 1994
Keywords: Belorussia, clinical experience
Abstract: Before the Chernobyl accident the incidence of thyroid cancer had been rare. After the accident the situation changed. Such incidence in children increased in the southern regions of the country, located near Chernobyl NPP. Experts consider that the increase was caused by radioiodine absorbed through inhalation or food. Clinical experience shows that the flow of thyroid cancer is more aggressive in children.