A study of workers at a nuclear plant in Russia published in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension has suggested that prolonged exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation increased the risk of hypertension.
High blood pressure, otherwise known as uncontrolled hypertension, can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and other severe health problems.
Previous studies connected exposure to high doses of radiation to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death from those diseases. The recent research is the first to discover an increased risk of hypertension to low doses of ionizing radiation among a large group of workers who were chronically exposed over many years.
Included in the investigation were more than 22,000 workers at the first large-scale nuclear enterprise in Russia known as the Mayak Production Association. The workers were hired between 1948 and 1982, with an average length of time on the job of 18 years. Half had worked there for more than ten years. All of the workers had comprehensive health check-ups and screening tests at least once a year with advanced evaluations every five years.
The evaluation of the workers' health by the researchers records up to 2013. More than 8,400 workers, 38 percent of the group, were diagnosed with hypertension, as defined in this study as a systolic blood pressure reading at 140 mmHg and a diastolic 90 mmHg. Hypertension incidence was found to be significantly connected with the cumulative dose.
To put in perspective, the hypertension incidence among the workers in the study was higher than that among Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb at the end of World War II but lower than the risk estimated for cleanup workers following the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
The lead author of the research at the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute in Russia, Tamara Azizova, said that while the development of cancer is commonly connected with radiation exposure, the researchers believe that an estimate of the detrimental health consequences of radiation exposure should also include non-cancer health outcomes. Now, they have evidence suggesting that radiation exposure may also lead to increased risks of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease, as well.
The main concern of the lead author of the study is that in recent years, the number of individuals exposed to radiation in everyday life including diagnostic procedures has increased. It is necessary to educate the public that not only high doses of radiation but how to moderate doses also increase the risk of hypertension and other circulatory system diseases which today contribute significantly to death and disability. Ultimately, workers and the general public must strictly follow all radiological protection principles and dose limits.
