One of the worst legacies of World War II is the remaining survivors and their descendants who were subjected to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In what is arguably one of the worst war episodes in history, more than 125,000 Japanese were killed, injured or reported missing after the bomb hit its target and statistics were gathered (Minear 169-170). Much has been written about this episode in American and Japanese history, but a good deal of these reports focus on the psychological effects of the bomb on survivors and their descendants and the descendants of those who did not survive. However, less literature is devoted to the physiological effects on the survivors and the descendants of this human atrocity. This analysis will explore some of the physiological effects experienced by survivors and their descendants of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
If the initial blast of an atomic bomb does not kill a human being, enormous waves of heat and radiation continue to kill and injure anyone in the surrounding vicinity. Such was the case with the bombing of Hiroshima. When we look at the effects of the atomic bomb on human physiology, there are three categories: “Category 1 is instant death; category 2 includes those who develop symptoms of diarrhea and die; category 3 includes those who have no major superficial injuries—yet still die” (Minear 176). Clinical studies show that the effects of radiation on the human body from exposure to an atomic bomb are great and many. We now know that radiation destroys bone marrow to an extent, a situation which causes an anemic like condition because of loss of red corpuscles. Anemia then leads to fever, hoarseness, inflammation of the tonsils and other symptoms that mimic diphtheria. Human beings exposed to certain levels of radiation also develop tumors, lack of blood coagulation because of reduced red corpuscles, and there is a ris
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