Radiation risk of individual multifactorial diseases in offspring of the atomic-bomb survivors: a clinical health study

There is no convincing evidence regarding radiation-induced heritable risks of adult-onset multifactorial diseases in humans, although it is important from the standpoint of protection and management of populations exposed to radiation. The objective of the present study was to examine whether parental exposure to atomic-bomb (A-bomb) radiation led to an increased risk of common polygenic, multifactorial diseases-hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes mellitus, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction or stroke-in the first-generation (F-1) offspring of A-bomb survivors. A total of 11 951 F-1 offspring of survivors in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, conceived after the bombing, underwent health examinations to assess disease prevalence. We found no evidence that paternal or maternal A-bomb radiation dose, or the sum of their doses, was associated with an increased risk of any multifactorial diseases in either male or female offspring. None of the 18 radiation dose-response slopes, adjusted for other risk factors for the diseases, was statistically significantly elevated. However, the study population is still in mid-life (mean age 48.6 years), and will express much of its multifactorial disease incidence in the future, so ongoing longitudinal follow-up will provide increasingly informative risk estimates regarding hereditary genetic effects for incidence of adult-onset multifactorial disease.