Between 1948 and 1954, John Hopkins Hospital began working on a federally funded experiment to shrink the adenoids of Baltimore City school children. 582 third grades had metal rods inserted into their nostrils with a sealed capsule of Radium-226 (50 milligram source strength) on the end. These rods were held in place for 10 to 12 minutes, three to four times, a few weeks apart. The intent was to determine the affects of radium on long term hearing loss. The procedure was performed on 20,000 military personnel for a shorter duration.
The practice was originally introduced in the United States in 1926 as a treatment to shrink swollen lymphoid tissue in the region of the head near the back of the nose. It was considered good medical practice to treat a number of ailments in the head and neck this way throughout the 1960s. In the Netherlands children received the same treatment at nine doctor's offices as late as 1981.
The results were not good. A later Hopkins study found that there was an 8.8% increase in brain cancer deaths over the lifetime of each of the 1,000 children. The exposure levels to radiation were higher than those who survived the atomic bombings in Japan. In 1995, further research determined the number who had been exposed was actually 1.2 million total. This is a rare example where a large portion of healthy children were exposed at an early age. While this has become a hidden tragedy for those who dealt with cancer and other related side effects, this has the potential to become a treasure trove of information for children who are receiving radiation treatments for cancer. The way in which the earlier exposed children exhibited symptoms may help us to treat those who may run into similar symptoms in the future.
-Professor Walter
You may read more about Nasal Radium Irradiation at The National Cancer Institute's website.
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