Table 5
Mortality, 1954-1969, by Age as of 1954
Group
Age:
<10
Rongelap (175 rads)
0/19*
Unexposed**
0/56
Ailingnae (69 rads)
Utirik (14 rads) —
0/6
1/56
11-20
21-30
1/13
0/10
2/7
1/28
0/30
4/21
0/1
0/20
31-40
41-50
0/1
3/15
1/1
5/18
51-60
3/5
0/1
9/13
3/17
61-70
71-80
>80
Total
t/1
3/3
1/1:
11/64
1/1
1/1
3/3
8/11
4/17
_—
3/4
—
—
5/18—
30/157
16/189
*Mortality/number in group.
**This group was not examined until 1957 and includes occasional new subjects examined through 1966 (Subject 1511).
Table 6
Adult Mortality
Exposed
Subject
Year
Age
No.
& sex
24
38
46M
78M
30
60F
1962
1962
26
56
21M
75F
1963
57
1956
1957
1958
1959
31*
62
1962
46
1962
1963
52
1964
1965
43*
28*
Heart disease
Heart disease, diabetes
Year
1958
1959
Subject
Age
No.
& sex
857
854
65M
55 F
Cerebral thrombosis
Infection in urinary tract, diabetes
68 F
Diabetes, cancer of cervix (?)
Acute varicella
Ovarian cancer
1960
1960
933
927
84M
Heart disease
1962
953
48M
893
61F
55 F
107 F
77¥F
79F
29*
55
77M
88M
1968
59*
58F
13
Probable cause
35M
60 F
1966
1966
1966
Unexpased
71F
Cancerof cervix*"
1960
861
Accident
Accident
1962
1963
“Old age” (?)
1964
862
Asthma,heart failure
Heart disease
1967
1967
967
936
Influenza~pneumonia
1968
Poliomyelitis, bulbar
Pneumonia,heart disease
Heart disease
Cancerof uterus**
1964
1964
1966
1967
848
886
56M
65M
41F
54M_
91M
894
964
68 F
90 M_
853
62M
860
24M
76F
78M
Probable cause
Pneumonia, secondary to influenza
Pneumonia,secondary to influenza
Status asthmaticus
Neurosyphilis (?)
Asthma (?)
Dhiabetes
Heart disease
Pneumonia
Probably cardiovascular (?)
Accident
Infection complicating diabetes
Diabetes
Congestive heart failure
*Ailingnae group.
**Not confirmed by autopsy or biopsy.
to the United States for extensive thyroid studies
at Brookhaven National Laboratory and later
surgery in Boston. In 1969 five further cases were
brought over for thyroid studies and surgery in
Cleveland.
The deaths during the past 3 years are included
in Tables 5 and 6. Three exposed people died. The
98-year-old woman (#59) referred to above, who
died of pneumonia complicating influenza, had
had a partial thyroidectomyfor benign thyroid
adenomathe previous year. Another death, that
of a 71-year-old woman (#13), was thoughtto be
fe
Qt
oh
rvey.
due to cancer
Whe uterus, and an 88-year-old
man (#55) dietcardiovascular disease with
heart failure. Among the unexposed population
three older men died, one with diabetes (#853),
owl
i} £ i.) *r
one with heart failure (#860) and one from unknown cause ( #964). An older woman ( #936)
died of complications of diabetes. A 24-year-old
male (#967) died in an auto accident. The boy
mentioned above died of complications of influenza. During the past 15 years, 16 deaths have
occurred among the exposed Rongelap people.
This represents 13.0 deaths per 1000 persons per
annum comparedwith 8.3 per 1000 for the Marshall Islands as a whole (1960).
Table 7 lists the births and miscarriages during
the last 3 years for both populations. The 33 births
during the 3-year period in the exposed group,
compared with 30 in the unexposed group,are in
line with the birth rate in previous years and show
no impairmentoffertility in the exposed women.