DPT 8.0
Severity of Injury
•The higher the dose, the more severe the early effects and the greater the possibility of delayed effects
Severity of Injury.

In general, the higher the dose, the more severe the early effects will be and the greater the possibility of delayed effects.

It is important at this stage to briefly discuss the effect of radiation on the cell.  Obviously, one can increase the dose until the cell is killed outright.  However, it is found that a much lower dose can stop cell division (sterilization).  For example, if we consider the hematopoietic system, an individual hematopoietic stem cell has the capability of producing millions of mature cells.  The death or sterilization of division means the loss of these cells. The importance of this is that a sub-lethal dose produces these effects.  Two important organ systems that have rapidly dividing cell lines are the hematopoietic and gastrointestinal systems (small intestine).