Long-Term Mental Disorders in the Accident-Exposed Population of the Southern Urals

Abstract

Purpose: To study late mental and behavioral disorders (ICD-10) in individuals who were accidentally exposed in the Southern Urals.
 Material and methods: The research subjects are the persons who were exposed to radiation as a result of dumping of radioactive waste into the Techa River (1949–1956), who were born before 1953 and lived in the Techa River basin between 1950 and 1960. The study group consists of 425 people, women predominate (72.5 %), people with secondary special education make up 44.5 %, and pensioners amount to 89.4 %. Mean age at examination was 67.3 ± 5.3 years. Information on radiation doses included data on the absorbed dose to the stomach, which was considered as an analog of brain exposure (50 ± 3 mGy). The paper uses clinical-anamnestic, clinical-psychopathological, clinical and instrumental methods.
 Results: It has been demonstrated that in the long-term period, accidentally exposed individuals have organic nonpsychotic mental disorders (72.2 %), with the predominance of organic asthenic (29.6 %) and organic cognitive (36.5 %) disorders. Among the studied individuals, only 20.9 % showed no signs of mental illness. Higher absorbed doses to the stomach (70 ± 8 mGy, p = 0.01) was determined in patients with organic cognitive disorder. Concomitant somatic pathology is present in patients with organic cognitive disorder — hypertension (90.3 %, p = 0.005), ischemic heart disease (56.7, p = 0.004), chronic brain ischemia (43.2 %, p = 0.04). Patients with organic asthenic disorder may have hypertension (94.4 %, p = 0.0002), ischemic heart disease (51.6 %, p = 0.04), chronic brain ischemia (35.7 %, p = 0.02). In the group of patients without mental pathology, the most common were hypertension (76.4 %), diseases of the musculoskeletal system (61.7 %, p = 0.03), and ischemic heart disease (37.1 %). Multiple correlation analysis showed a weak statistically significant association of organic mental disorders with chronic brain ischemia, hypertension, ischemic heart disease and the age of patients.
 Conclusion: The performed study complements the current understanding of long-term mental disorders in exposed individuals, and requires further research to study the pathogenesis of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases in individuals exposed to radiation.

Characteristics of Cognitive Disorders in Prenatally Exposed Persons

“…Проблема медико-биологических эффектов радиационного воздействия, возникающего в результате чрезвычайных ситуаций, в том числе радиационных аварий и инцидентов, не теряет своей важности и остроты, поскольку данные ситуации обусловлены не только производственной деятельностью человека, но и угрозой ядерного терроризма. Исследования состояния психического здоровья населения, проживающего на территориях Южного Урала, загрязненных в результате производственной деятельности ПО «Маяк» на реке Теча, свидетельствовали о широком распространении среди облученных непсихотических психических расстройств с преобладанием органических психических нарушений (когнитивных и астенических) [1][2][3].…”