3
No gross abnormalities of bone marrow smears
were reported at 6 months post exposure.
Depression of peripheral blood elements in the
Ailingnae and Rongerik groups was not so pronounced as in the Rongelap group. However, a
slight lag in complete recovery in the Ailingnae
peripheral blood count has also been noted.
The persistent depression of peripheral blood
elements in the exposed people makes it appear
likely that there is slight residual bone marrow
damage.
A generalanemic tendency has been evidentin
both exposed and unexposed Marshallese. PriceJones curves, on the average, showed a slight
mucrocytic tendency. Serum iron levels have generally been normal, and the cause of this anemic
tendency has been undetermined.
Reticulocyte counts have been about the same
in the exposed as in the unexposed people.
Except for radiation-induced lesions of the skin,
patchy epilation, and early gastrointestinal symptoms, clinical examinations have revealed no disease processes or symptoms which could be related directly to radiation effects. No prophylactic
ot specific therapy ofradiation effects was ever considered necessary or given. Epidemics of chicken
pox and measles ihat occurred showed no greater
incidence or severity in the exposed than in the
unexposed Marshallese people.
During thefirst months post exposure abouthalf
of the exposed group exhibited loss of weight of
several pounds. This may possibly have been related to their radiation exposure, although it is
difficult to rule outeffects possibly due to change of
environment,
At 3 years post exposure the immune response
to primary and secondary tetanus antitoxin was
tested and found not to be significantly different
in the exposed compared to the unexposed populations.
Four persons in the exposed population died of
disease: (1) a 46-year-old man with a hypertensive
heart disease which had been present at the time
of exposure, who died 2 years after the accident;
(2) a 78-year-old man who died, 3 years after ex-
posure, of coronary heart disease complicating
diabetes; (3) a 35-year-old man who died of acute
varicella, 4 years after exposure, who had received
only 69 r, having been on Ailingnae at the time of
the fallout; and (4) a 60-year-old woman whodied
of a cancer of the ovary at 5 years after exposure.
There was no apparent relationship between any
of these deaths and radiation exposure. Four deaths
have occurred in the comparison population. The
four deaths that have occurred in the exposed
people since exposure represent a mortality rate of
7.1 per 1000 population, compared with 8.3 for
the Marshall Istands as a whole.
Growth and development studies on the chil-
dren (height, weight, anthropometric measure-
ments, radiographic studies for bone age) have
revealed that slight retardation in growth and de~velopment has occurred in the exposed boys who
were under 12 years of age at the time of exposure,
particularly those 12 to 18 months of age at exposure. Only slight immaturity was noted in the
exposed female children. It was also noted that
children born of exposed parents were slightly
retarded and that they had slightly lower levels of
neutrophils, lymphocytes, and platelets, compared
with male children of unexposed parents.
It was difficult to evaluate the effects on fertility.
However, a review of the birth rate of the exposed
group over the past 7 years seems to indicate no -
noticeable effect of their exposure onfertility. The
31 births represent a rate of 54 per 1000 population, compared with 37.3 for the Marshall Islands
(1957). The 21 births over a 4-year period for the
comparison population represent a rate of 72 per
1000 population. A somewhat greater incidence of
miscarriages and stillbirths was noted in the ex-
posed women during the first several years after
exposure, but because of the paucity of vital statistics on the Marshallese and the small number of
people involved, the data are not readily amenable
to statistical analysis.
A cardiovascular survey of the adults (1959)?
showed no outstanding differences between the ex-
posed and unexposed groups. The people appeared
to have less hypertension on the whole than is noted
in people in the continental United States.
An arthritis survey (1959)* showed no great differences between the exposed and the unexposed
people, and about the same incidence as is seen in
American populations.
Ophthalmological surveys showed no remarkable
differences between the exposed and unexposed
groups except possibly a slightly greater number
of cases of pterygia, pingueculae, and corneal scars
in the exposed group. It is not known whetherthis
finding is of any significance in relation to their
radiation exposure. Slit-lamp observations showed
no opacities of the lens characteristic of radiation
exposure. As a whole, visual and accommodation