radiation sickness

noun

: sickness that results from exposure to radiation and is commonly marked by fatigue, nausea, vomiting, loss of teeth and hair, and in more severe cases by damage to blood-forming tissue with decrease in red and white blood cells and with bleeding

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Currently, there are just a handful of treatments for acute radiation syndrome, also called radiation sickness, with some of those only working for specific elements or isotopes. —Lacy Schley, Discover Magazine, 27 June 2019

Five workers at the scrapyard and four waste collectors ended up in hospital with radiation sickness. —Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 20 Mar. 2023

He was especially influenced by Dr. Fumio Shigeto, director of a Hiroshima A-bomb hospital and a survivor himself, who had become one of the first to understand radiation sickness. —Daniel Lewis, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2023

He was especially influenced by Dr. Fumio Shigeto, director of a hospital and a survivor himself, who had become one of the first to understand radiation sickness. —Daniel Lewis, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Mar. 2023

The number of short-term deaths from the disaster (those who died immediately or in the weeks or months thereafter from radiation sickness) is about 54; estimates of long-term deaths as a result of exposure to radiation vary widely, from thousands to tens of thousands and even much higher. —Arthur Herman, National Review, 18 July 2021

If delivered all at once, .5 gray is enough to cause radiation sickness. —Korey Haynes, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2019

The capsule contained trace amounts of Cesium-137, a highly radioactive isotope that can cause radiation sickness and burns. —Devika Rao, The Week, 1 Feb. 2023

Exposure to the radioactive substance could also cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, according to the DFES. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 31 Jan. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

radiation sickness

noun

: sickness that results from exposure to radiation and is commonly marked by fatigue, nausea, vomiting, loss of teeth and hair, and in more severe cases by damage to blood-forming tissue with decrease in red and white blood cells and with bleeding