The Atom & Health

The doctors in military uniform had something to tell the A.M.A. doctors about what happens when an atomic bomb falls, and what to do about it. The news was chilling.

It would be a good idea, they said, for civilian doctors to get blood banks organized and join in the civil defense program. Light clothes are best to wear for an atomic bombing (Hiroshima victims proved that dark clothes increase the chances of fatal burns). If death does not come quickly, "the patient may become extremely emaciated." After that he may die, but "emaciation" sounds more cheerful than "atomic death."

Dr. Paul C. Aebersold of Oak Ridge and Dr. Joseph G. Hamilton of the University of California tried to be reassuring, too. There is no reason to worry about atomic bombs making men & women sterile, they said: a dose that would sterilize would be enough to kill. Anyhow, most damage from atomic bombs comes not from some mysterious ray but from ordinary blast (like high-explosive bombs) and burns (like fire-bombs). An enemy would probably blast and burn, rather than make whole cities radioactive. It would be "inconvenient" to evacuate parts of cities, but Geiger countermen would be around to spot safe areas.

The news of atomic medicine was none too good, either. The scientific exhibit that won first prize (a gold medal) illustrated a method that might help victims of radiation. J. Garrott Allen and six co-workers at the University of Chicago Medical School were able to stop hemorrhage in people suffering from acute leukemia. (Hemorrhage is one of the reasons people die from radiation.) They used two drugs which worked equally well: toluidine blue, a tissue stain, and protamine sulfate, a protein compound. The doctors used the drugs on dogs that had fatal doses of X rays, and prolonged the dogs' lives 26 days. The drugs might, they think, be useful on human victims of radiation sickness.

One atomic-energy by-product (radioactive sodium) is being used to study blood circulation. Drs. Myron Prinzmetal and Eliot Corday of Los Angeles' Cedars of Lebanon Hospital inject the sodium into a patient's veins, place a Geiger counter over the heart, record the appearance of the tagged blood on a special machine. Their method, they reported, spots enlarged hearts sooner than any other now in use.

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