What types of radiation sickness are there?
There are two main types, chronic and acute: • Chronic radiation sickness may take several days or weeks to develop. The cause can be radioactive fallout from a nuclear explosion, an industrial accident or long-term exposure to elevated radiation levels. Therapeutic radiation treatments for cancer also can cause temporary chronic radiation sickness. Chronic exposure may increase your risk of cancer, precancerous lesions, benign tumors, cataracts, skin changes and congenital defects. • Acute radiation sickness can develop quickly. A person with acute radiation sickness usually has been exposed to large amounts of radiation over a brief period. Extremely high levels of acute radiation exposure can result in death within a few hours, days or weeks, depending on the dose. Proximity to a nuclear explosion or an industrial accident could lead to acute radiation sickness — as would being intentionally poisoned with radioactive material. Either way, the higher the level of radiation exposure,
