News: チェルノブイリの記憶~原発から1300km地点での鼻血、甲状腺機能障害

I write this to Japanese readers.

This is a really valuable message. We couldn’t take it too seriously.

We mustn’t repeat the tragedy.

日本の読者に向けて書きます。
非常に貴重なメッセージだと思います。真剣に受け取らなければなりません。
チェルノブイリと同じ悲劇を繰り返さないために。

This is a communication with a reader and me.

これは、下記のリンクの投稿での、ぼくと読者の間のやり取りです。

It was under http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/10/news-cesium-from-children-who-evacuated-to-kyoto/

MX:

Only several weeks ago did I put some pieces together.

In the winter following Chernobyl, I had intense nosebleeds. They would start when I was in the classroom, writing an exam, or in the morning, right before breakfast, or outside, playing with other kids.

I was about 10 years old. I mostly remember that the nosebleeds were sudden, violent and copious. My parents had to buy a lot of handkerchiefs for me (maybe paper tissues were not popular back then).

They stopped when the winter was over and never came back.

Chernobyl was about 2000 km away and no one from the circle of my family and friends had ever been there.

数週間前にやっとパズルのピースがつながった気がします。
チェルノブイリ事故のあった冬、私は激しい鼻血に襲われました。教室にいるとき、試験を受けてる時、朝、朝食の前の時間、外、あるいは友達と遊んでいるとき、時と場所を選ばず出続けました。

その時10歳でした。覚えてるのは、その鼻血が非常に急で激しく、大量だったことです。両親は、当時ティッシュがまだあまり一般的ではなかったのでハンカチを大量に買い込まなければいけないほどでした。

鼻血は冬が終わると共に止まりました。
チェルノブイリは約1300km離れています。(原文の2000kmというのは誤り) 親類や家族でもそこに実際に行った人はいません。

Me:

Do you think it has something to do with radiation?

それと放射能の関係があると。

MX:

Definitely. I was not able to see the connection before, but now I do.

A member of my family also developed severe health problems which are still unresolved, and I understand now that they are Chernobyl-related.

絶対にあります。今まで気づきませんでしたが、今わかりました。
家族のメンバーも一人深刻な病気を抱えていて、まだ治ってません。今ならチェルノブイリとの関連性に気づきます。

Me:

That is crucially important info.I would love to hear more detailed story,such as the color of the nosebleed,stickiness etc., and also what kind of disease your family had, if it is ok.

Where are you located at?

非常に重要な証言ですね。出来ればもっとお話を伺いたいのですが。たとえば鼻血の色や、粘り気 などなど。
あと、ご家族はどんな病気にかかられたんですか?もし失礼でなければ。
どちらにお住まいで?

MX:

I spent my childhood and youth in former Yugoslavia (I don’t mean Serbia, I mean Yugoslavia before 1991). My region is 2000 km away from Chernobyl.

幼い頃と若いころはユーゴスラビアで過ごしました。(セルビアではありません。1991年以前でのユーゴスラビアです。)私の地域はチェルノブイリからは1300km離れていました。

In the year of Chernobyl’s accident, I was not allowed to play outside or eat strawberries and other fruits. Yet that winter, as I said, I had intense nose bleeds.

チェルノブイリ事故のあった年、私は外で遊ばせてもらえないし、イチゴや果物を食べることも許してもらえませんでした。でもその冬、れいの激しい鼻血に襲われたんです。

I am not certain whether I have any long term consequences, but I do have chronic problems with fatigue and sleep. I think I need a lot more physical rest than other people my age. I eat very healthy food, but I don’t seem to get a lot of energy from it. I don’t smoke or drink, and my parents are very physically active. Sometimes I experience a metallic taste in my mouth.

長期に渡る影響は受けませんでしたが、慢性的な倦怠感と睡眠障害があります。どうやら同年代の他の人達よりも多く休まないといられないようです。食生活には気をつけていますが、どうも元気がでないんです。私はお酒もタバコもすいませんし、両親は非常に活発な方です。時々口の中が金属の味がすることもあります。

My sister developed hyperthyroidism some three years after the Chernobyl accident. She was a young adult who spent a lot of time hiking and swimming.

私の姉はチェルノブイリ事故から3年後に甲状腺機能亢進症を発症しました。彼女はハイキングや水泳を楽しむのが好きでした。

After 15 years, she had to have her thyroid removed because it was causing constant severe problems. She lost all of her hair, and it did not grow back (it’s been 4 years now). She could not have any children, and she has to have medications every day for the rest of her life because she does not have a thyroid any more.

15年後には彼女は甲状腺を摘出しなければならなくなりました。継続的に症状が悪化していたのです。髪は全部抜け落ち、もう4年経ちますが生えてくることはありません。もう子供をもうけることもできないし、毎日薬を飲まないといけないんです。死ぬまで。

I have heard of other cases similar to hers.

似たような話は他にも聞きましたよ。

In addition, a member of our family died recently after handling radioactive materials used on a US military base to create depleted uranium shells. He was a healthy man in his 50s. He developed cancer and died very painfully.

ちなみに、最近別の家族がこの世を去りました。米軍基地で劣化ウラン弾を製造するのにつかわれた放射性廃棄物を処理していたんです。彼は50代の働き盛りでした。でも癌を発症し、猛烈な痛みの中で死んだんです。

Depleted uranium shells were also dropped on my country in the 1990s as well as on Iraq and Lebanon. It seems that cancer rates among children went up 10-fold. **I think it’s very important to study long-term effects in Iraq**, which was bombed very severely. I am grateful to Busby for mentioning Iraq repeatedly.

劣化ウラン弾は1990年代にイラクやレバノンと同様、私の国にも落とされました。どうやらこれが子供たちの間で癌の発症率が10倍近くになっている原因のようです。私はイラクでの長期的な影響を調査することは非常に重要だと思っているので、バズビー博士が繰り返しイラクに言及してくれるのは嬉しく感じます。

Because Chernobyl was a lot less severe than Fukushima (it only looked more spectacular), I think many Japanese, especially the children, will develop problems much sooner than my sister did. My heartfelt advice is for people to evacuate. Long-term consequences are immense. It doesn’t mean everyone will experience them, but many did, and it’s unpredictable.

チェルノブイリは見た目は派手でしたが、福島よりもはるかに小規模です。私は多くの日本人、特に子供たちは、私の姉よりもずっと早く病気になるのではないかと思います。
心からの助言ですが、どうか避難してください。長期的な影響は計り知れません。全員ではないかも知れませんが、多くの人が経験するでしょう。しかもそれは予測不可能なのです。

Best wishes to everyone…

どうかご無事で。。

MX:

Well, it seems certain that radiation spreads unevenly.

In my sister’s case (and a few others) it is clear that she was affected. But my parents weren’t, nor was my brother. Perhaps that makes the point that children (me) and young women (my sister) are more vulnerable than adults or young males.

放射能の影響はまだらに広がるみたいですね。私の姉や他のケースはあきらかに放射能の影響でした。
でも両親はなんともなく、兄も元気です。もしかしたら、若くて、なおかつ女の子の方が影響を受け易いのかも知れません。

She was a student in Sarajevo at the time, and air in Sarajevo pools because of the mountains and stays there for a while along with any particles.

彼女はその時サラエボで学生をしていました。サラエボは盆地なので空気がたまりやすいんです。

That could be another reason. Otherwise it would mysterious, because she was further to the south than we were, even further away from Chernobyl.

だから放射性物質も一緒に滞留していて、それもひとつの原因かも知れません。
そうじゃないと、説明がつかないんです。だってサラエボは私達がいたところよりも南で、チェルノブイリよりも遠かったから。

I should also add that before Fukushima, I had not realized that my sister’s health problem is related to Chernobyl.

福島の前まで、姉の病気がチェルノブイリと関連するなどとは気づきませんでした。

Some connections only appear in hindsight.

あとになって分かったんです。

My sister is a middle-class professional, meaning that she has excellent health care in Germany, but no doctor was ever able to help or to explain why she developed this problem.

彼女はドイツでいい医療手当を受けられる立場にいたのですが、どの医者も原因がわかりませんでした。

Me:

I don’t know why I’m still in Japan!!

おれなんでまだ日本にいんの?

MX:

PS Unfortunately, I don’t remember many details about the nosebleeds except that they happened very frequently and suddenly when winter started.

A lot of blood came out every time (but I don’t remember the color or the texture). I only know I was feeling very helpless and afraid.

I only realized last month that this was directly connected to Chernobyl.

追伸 残念ながら、鼻血についてはあまりよく覚えていませんが、冬が始まるとすごい頻繁におこって、しかも突然だったのを思い出します。

量や粘度などについては覚えてませんが、毎回大量に出たのを覚えています。 これがチェルノブイリと関係すると気づいたのも、先月のことです。

Me:

Thank you very much. If possible,I’d like to post your comment with Japanese translation. Is that ok?

I’m wishing the best for your sister too.

どうもありがとうございます。もしよろしかったら日本語訳つきでブログに掲載したいのですが、構いませんか?
お姉さんのご無事をお祈りしております。

MX:

Of course you can translate!

Thank you for the good wishes. I also hope for the best for the Japanese people. You are on my mind all the time.

もちろんいいですよ。
日本のみなさんのご無事もお祈りしています。いつも気にかけています。

I just checked the precise distance and it’s about 1300 km by air from Chernobyl to my region, NOT 2000 km.

距離を確認したら、チェルノブイリから2000kmではなく1300kmですね。

However, my sister moved to Germany where she developed her problem as an adult, and Germany is more than 2000 km away from Chernobyl.

でも姉はドイツにいるときに発症したんですよ。ドイツはチェルノブイリよりも2000km以上離れています。

I should add that Yugoslavia was not a member of the Eastern Block. We did not have many people going back and forth between the two regions. Most of the contamination must have happened through air and water.

ユーゴスラビアが東部の一部になってなかったことも付け加えときます。つまり、人の行き来はあまりなかったんです。だから汚染のほとんどは空気と水でもたらされたんでしょう。

Me:

You saved my life. I really appreciate you. If you remember some other things, please inform me!

この話を聞かなかったら逃げるのが遅れてたかも知れない。感謝です。もしほかに思い出したことがあったらおしえてください。

MX:

I will let you know if I remember anything else.

I am very worried about this and it’s important to be able to help.

The only other thing that comes to mind right now is that friends of my parents had a child who was born with severe cerebral palsy around that time, but I honestly have no idea whether that’s related.

In the case of thyroid problems and fatigue, the connection is a lot more obvious.

はい、連絡します。
福島の状況はとても心配しています。手助けできるということが嬉しいです。
もう一つ思い出したのは、当時私の両親の友人が子供をもうけたのですが、脳性まひだったことです。正直、関連性はわかりませんが。
甲状腺機能と倦怠感についてはもっと関連性が明白ですね。

Me:
A friend of mine doesn’t care about radiation at all. Exactly speaking, maybe she doesn’t even know where Fukushima is located at. She lives exactly like before 311.

Though Tepco let everything leaked to the sea, she even went to the beach and swam in it around Tokyo.

I saw her last week. I had not seen her for about 2 months. Maybe I should not tell it to her, but her eyes were swollen and looked like they were coming out. A typical symptom of thyroid disease.

The situation is serious. It’s time to face the truth.

実はぼくの友人が一人放射能に全く気を付けない人で。というか多分福島がどこにあるのかも分かってないんじゃないかってレベルなんですけど、311以降も今までと全く同じように生活してたんです。
で、夏、東京の辺りの海に海水浴とかにも行ってたんですよ。東電があれだけ放射能垂れ流してるのに。
で、先週彼女をみたんですけど、おそらく2ヶ月ぶりくらいに。たぶんこんなこと本人に言っちゃいけないんでしょうけど、眼球が腫れてるんですよね。飛び出してると言うか。典型的な甲状腺機能障害の症状だと思いました。
結構状況酷いと思います。現実に向き合わないと。

MX:

My sister’s eyes are the same way since she got sick. Bulging, a bit uncontrolled in their movement.

私の姉の目も病気になってから同じ状態です。腫れていて、動きに問題が生じています。

She used to be a beauty queen and a professional dancer. The loss of her health is very traumatic to her.

彼女は美人でならしていて、プロのダンサーだったんです。健康を失っていくのは彼女にとってトラウマチックでした。

Ironically, the eye effect is called by a Japanese name, after the Japanese scientist who first described it.

皮肉なことにこの目の作用は日本語の名前で呼ばれているんですね。日本人の科学者が命名したという。

Me:

Is it Hashimoto disease? That must have been very traumatic for her. I’m so so so sorry.

橋本病のことですか?
お姉さんはさぞ辛かったでしょうね。。心が痛みます。

MX:

I know a few other people with thyroid problems, but in their cases, I don’t know where they were during Chernobyl and what they were doing.

他にも甲状腺に問題を抱えてる人たちを知ってます。でもその人達がチェルノブイリの事故の時にどこで何をしていたかまではわかりません。

Usually doctors say that the high number of thyroid diseases is due to low iodine content of German drinking water. But that cannot be the case with my sister, because she developed her hyperthyroidism right BEFORE she came to Germany, and she drinks mineral water and consumes iodized salts.

よく、医者はドイツで甲状腺異常が多いのはドイツの水に含まれるヨウ素が少ないからだ、というんですが、姉の場合には違います。彼女はドイツに行く前に発症していたからです。それに彼女はミネラルウォーターを飲むようにして、ヨード入りの塩を使うようにしています。

PS It’s not genetic, no one else in my family had thyroid problems or cancers.

追伸 遺伝ではありません。家族で彼女以外に甲状腺に障害を持ったり癌になったりした人はいないからです。

My parents are extremely healthy, even though they eat meat and very little fruits and vegetables. Their parents were also healthy and lived to the age of 80+.

両親はものすごい元気です。肉ばっかり食べて野菜や果物は食べないのに。彼らの両親もまた元気で、80代まで生きました。

I eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, a lot of water and fruit juices, a lot of fish (two to three times a week) and tofu, and I am thirty years younger than my parents, but I have a lot less energy than they do.

私は果物、野菜、水、フルーツジュースを出きるだけとるようにして、一日2食は魚を食べています。
豆腐も食べてます。なのに30歳も上の両親よりも元気が無いんです。

The Hashimoto effect seems to have happened two or three years later, but the weird part is that doctors connect it with hypothyroidism, and she clearly had **hyper**thyroidism (loss of weight, nervousness, shakiness). I don’t know why there were elements of both.

橋本病は2,3年後に出てきたようです。でもおかしなことに、医者は甲状腺機能低下と診察したのですが、彼女はあきらかに甲状腺機能亢進症の様を呈していました。体重が減り、神経質になり、震えが出始めたんです。どうして両極端な症状が同時にでたのか私には分かりません。

  1. I am embarrassed but I hope it will be of help.

    It seems that the bulging eye actually belongs to Graves’ Opthamolopathy syndrome, but I got them mixed up because in my sister’s case, she has BOTH Hashimoto and Graves.

    She told me last weekend that she did not want to lose her thyroid gland, and that it makes her miserable to have to be completely reliant on medications which have a lot of side effects.

    Everyone in the family always asks about her hair, but she thinks the loss of the thyroid gland is much worse than the loss of hair.

  2. I am sorry for MX’s sister, her case sounds related to radioactivity, maybe Chernobyl, maybe something closer to home. There are tens of hotspots in Europe now for several reasons. I know that Mochi-san is always on the look-out for low-level contamination like nose-bleed but it’s mostly meaningless. My son has had some for a long time, actually less since 3-11. A lot of psychosomatic symptoms can appear when people are stressed out, also when they deny that there is a problem as so many do. Read about psychology, PSDS, etc. I am not saying that you are not experiencing some radioactivity in Tokyo, only that physiological response to psychological disorders can be surprising and similar to what you often describe.

  3. There are to mayor plants that can be used to dampen or can be used as asmatic medicine.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium
    This is powerfull stuff and sould be used very carefully and in small doses.
    The leafs dryed and smoked or drunken in Te.

    And the second is like wise, only not that powerfull and can be used to heal and dampen respiratory problems.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis
    The same, leafs dryed and smoken or used as Te, and by that way you can use the whole plant, Our creator and creatress gift to mankind.
    The first one is a halusagenic and use it with care.

    Take care.

    peace

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About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

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