Experts: Store nuke workers’ blood as precaution via The Japan Times

NEW YORK — Workers at the troubled nuclear plant should store blood cells now in case they need them later as treatment for radiation overdose, Japanese experts suggest.

Plant workers are struggling to control radiation leakage from the Fukushima No. 1 complex. Radiation levels are dangerously high in some areas of the plant, and the experts say the work there will take years, posing a risk of accidental exposure.

High doses of radiation can destroy the blood-making cells of bone marrow, a potentially fatal outcome that can be treated with transplants of blood stem cells. Such transplants are standard therapy now for blood diseases like leukemia. Getting those cells from a donor takes time, and potential incompatibility between the donated cells and the recipient can lead to severe complications, the experts noted.

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