In order for Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) to occur, the victim must receive a dose to what area of the body?

In order for Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) to occur, the victim must receive a dose to what area of the body?

• A. Gastrointestinal (GI) system
• B. Cerebrovascular system
• C. Whole body
• D. Hematopoietic system

Answer: (C)

ARS shows up when a substantial portion of the body is irradiated, because the damage to rapidly dividing cells throughout the body, especially the bone marrow, leads to a systemic collapse of blood cell production and multi-organ effects. When the dose covers most of the body, the hematopoietic system can fail, infections rise, and other organs begin to fail, producing the syndrome as a whole. If the exposure is confined to a single area, you can get local damage there, but the full systemic illness of ARS won’t develop since the rest of the body isn’t receiving enough dose. So, a dose to the entire body is what makes ARS possible.

ARS shows up when a substantial portion of the body is irradiated, because the damage to rapidly dividing cells throughout the body, especially the bone marrow, leads to a systemic collapse of blood cell production and multi-organ effects. When the dose covers most of the body, the hematopoietic system can fail, infections rise, and other organs begin to fail, producing the syndrome as a whole. If the exposure is confined to a single area, you can get local damage there, but the full systemic illness of ARS won’t develop since the rest of the body isn’t receiving enough dose. So, a dose to the entire body is what makes ARS possible.