MORPHOLOGIC AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGIC SIGNS 309 



stances formed in the organism during irradiation to pass into the central 

 nervous systein. 



Clinical Symptoms Appearing as a Result of Ionizing Radiation 



Much work has been done in recent years on the cHnical changes occur- 

 ring in the nervous system in humans exposed to \arious types of ionizing 

 radiation. 



Patients suffering from chronic radiation sickness complain first of tired- 

 ness, torpidity, apathy, poor sleep, irritability, loss of memory, vertigo, 

 nausea, and a tendency to weep; in other words, complaints of an asthenic 

 nature are predominant in the first stage. 



The symptoms revealed by objective research arc predominantly those of 

 vegetative dysfunction: lability of cardiac activity, increased activity of the 

 vasomotor nerves, pronounced red dermographia, abundant sweating, in- 

 tensification of the pilomotor refiex, acrocyanosis, and variation in the pulse 

 rate and arterial pressure.^ Along with these symptoms of vegetative dys- 

 function certain symptoms of damage to the somatic nervous system have 

 also been identified : lowering of the refiex from the mucosa, Chvostek's sign, 

 pseudobulbar signs, hypesthesia in the distal parts of the hands and feet, and 

 lowering of the sensitivity to vibration. 



Trophic disturbances are also pronounced: brittleness and exfoliation of 

 the nails, trichorrhea, hemophilia of the gums, and xeroderma. In more 

 serious cases these symptoms are accompanied by pains in the extremities, 

 distinct symptoms of sensory strain, disorder, nystagmus, and extrapyramidal 

 disorders. 



Allowing for slight shades of difference, these symptoms indicate, in the 

 main, the nervous system's response to all types of radiation (gamma rays, 

 x-rays, radioisotopes, radioactive luminous compounds). The picture of 

 damage to the nervous system is, accordingly, dependent on the close rather 

 than on the properties of the type of radiation.- 



The basic factor determining the neurologic picture is vegetative disturb- 

 ances. The forms of damage mentioned are regarded by some authors as 

 caused basically by functional disorders of the higher vegetati\e centers 

 situated in the hypothalamic region (Kurshakov, 1954: Kozlova ct al., 1957; 

 Kozakevich, 1957; Shamova, 1958; Morozov ct al, 1957). This hypothesis 

 is supported by the fact that pronounced vegetative trophic and endocrine 

 phenomena are combined in the pathologic picture, as Kozakevich pointed 



' Disturbances of the oculocardiac reflex, attacks simulating Meniere's syndrome, 

 and stenocardiac manifestations. Skvirskaya (1956) draws attention to distinct mani- 

 festations of a regional spasm. 



■ Certain changes in the nervous system, however, can be detected even when the 

 organism is exposed to small doses (Gusko\a. 1960). 



