- Email: [email protected]
The most powerful cause of sudden death
FROM THE EDITOR
The Most Powerful Cause of Sudden Death In December 1982 at a cardiology course, I gave a talk on “sudden CardllC death” and descrlbad its many causes.’ One that I did not mentlm was nuclear explosion. On fhe same program was Dr. Bernard town. who spoke on “physicians, nuclear weapons, and nuclear war.“’ The insignificanceofmyearliertalkonsuddencardiacdeathwasdiitmatically exposed by Lown’s description of the %any of horrors resulting from blast, fire, and radiion” were a nuclear war to occur.2 Since the dropping of the “small” (only 13 kilotons) nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki just over 40 years ago, world arsenals of nuclear weapons have increased to 15,000 mqatons, the equivalent of 1 million Hiroshima% and now nuclear weapons are “the greatest threat to health that human kind has ever known.” 3 As so eloquently described byCassel and associates3: . . .Thearmsracehasprogressedtosuchapointthat even to think of nuclear weapons as ‘weapons’ rather asinstmmen&ofterrorandmassdestnMionistobe dangerously misled about their physical and biologic effects. Physicians have become increasingly involved inspeakingoutaboutthemedicalconsequencesofthe use of nuclear weapons. This involvement has been based on the following precepts: (1) nuclear war cannot be won, limited, or survived in any meaningful sense of the term; (2) thsre is no effective treatment once nuclear war has occurred-the only appropriate response is prevention; (3) the use of nuclear weapons would result in death, disease, and global environmer+ tatdamageonascalethatcannotbejustifiedbyany ideological differences; (4) the nuclear arms race itself is attended by unacceptable social, psychological, and ecological costs; (5) the halt and reversal of the nuclear arms race and the reduction of international tensions are the first, most effective steps toward prevention of nuclear war; (6) it is only through education of the public that these steps will be achieved; and (7) physicians, as part of their responsibiliies for the health of their individual patients and for the community, have a responsibility to further this education and to advance the steps that must be taken to prevent nuclear war. The prevention of nuclear war is not a partisan issue. It is something on which American and Soviet physicians can agree. A is a simple scientific truth that nuclear war would bring unimaginable disaster of pro portions that cannot even be clearly estimated. Cur undeniile cultural and political differences with the Soviet Union cannot be resolved or even managed byfhebuiidupofnucleararsenals.Theonlyethical conclusion is that nuclear weapons shoukt never be
usedandthatint~diplomacymusttakeother, more effective avenues. The lntemational Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), an organization started by Cardiologists BernardLownandEugeneChazovandwhichwasawardedthe Nobel Peace prize in 1985, gathered in Budapest in June 1985undertheslogan, “CooperationnotconfronWionisthe ‘impera% of a nuclear age.” Since its incep&xr 5 years ago, this organization has grown to 145,000 members from 45 rixmbhs. It has established a broadbased, freeflowtng dii between physicians of the 2 major power blocs-the USA and the USSR-and it now calls for a moratorium on all nuclear explosions.* lt has previously urged freezing, reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons and a commitment to no first use as the best means of eradi&ng the greatest public health threat of all time.* Cardiiogist E. Greg Diamond has suggested an exchange programofuniversitystudeMsbetweentheUSAandthe USSR as a means of preventing nuclear confroMatfon4 Earlier, Diamond had stated that the 10,000 Chinese scholarsinAmericanuniversitiestodayserveasvirtualguaran&s ofpeacewithChina.5Diamondnowadvocatesexchangeof 250,000 university studen& between the USA and USSR to actasagentsofsecurkyforbothsidesbecause”peopleare unlikely to bomb their chil&en.“4 Gsorga Lundberg, ths editorofthe&wnafofAmwkanMBdicalAssoc~,added 4 other prescription& “ 1) extensive international travel at all times because people are unlikely to bomb their friends; 2) further development of global economybecausepeopleare unlikely to bomb their own companies; 3) extensive scientific and cuttural exchanges because people are unlikely to bomb their colleagues, and 4) widespread intemxMage across countries because people are unlikely to bomb their own families and progeny.”
William C. Roberts, MD Editor in Chief 1. December 1982 Program in Williamsburg. Virginia, entitled “Coronary. Hypertensive, Valvular and Myocardial Heart Diseases and Peripheral Voscular Diseases: The Multidisciplinary Approach” sponsored by The American College of Cardiology. 2. Lown B. Chazov E. Cooperation not confrontation: the imperative of a nuclear
age. {AMA
1985;254:655-657.
3. Cassel CK. Jameton AL, Side1 VW, Storey PB. The physician’s oath and the prevention of nuclear war. JAMA 198.5;254:652-654. 4. Diamond EG. The logic of a university student USSR-US exchange program. [AMA 1985;254:658-659. 5. Diamond EG. A fundamental unit of peace. JAMA 1984;251:512. 6. Lundberg GD. Prescriptions for peace in a nuclear age. TAMA 198% 254~660-681.
The Most Powerful Cause of Sudden Death In December 1982 at a cardiology course, I gave a talk on “sudden CardllC death” and descrlbad its many causes.’ One that I did not mentlm was nuclear explosion. On fhe same program was Dr. Bernard town. who spoke on “physicians, nuclear weapons, and nuclear war.“’ The insignificanceofmyearliertalkonsuddencardiacdeathwasdiitmatically exposed by Lown’s description of the %any of horrors resulting from blast, fire, and radiion” were a nuclear war to occur.2 Since the dropping of the “small” (only 13 kilotons) nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki just over 40 years ago, world arsenals of nuclear weapons have increased to 15,000 mqatons, the equivalent of 1 million Hiroshima% and now nuclear weapons are “the greatest threat to health that human kind has ever known.” 3 As so eloquently described byCassel and associates3: . . .Thearmsracehasprogressedtosuchapointthat even to think of nuclear weapons as ‘weapons’ rather asinstmmen&ofterrorandmassdestnMionistobe dangerously misled about their physical and biologic effects. Physicians have become increasingly involved inspeakingoutaboutthemedicalconsequencesofthe use of nuclear weapons. This involvement has been based on the following precepts: (1) nuclear war cannot be won, limited, or survived in any meaningful sense of the term; (2) thsre is no effective treatment once nuclear war has occurred-the only appropriate response is prevention; (3) the use of nuclear weapons would result in death, disease, and global environmer+ tatdamageonascalethatcannotbejustifiedbyany ideological differences; (4) the nuclear arms race itself is attended by unacceptable social, psychological, and ecological costs; (5) the halt and reversal of the nuclear arms race and the reduction of international tensions are the first, most effective steps toward prevention of nuclear war; (6) it is only through education of the public that these steps will be achieved; and (7) physicians, as part of their responsibiliies for the health of their individual patients and for the community, have a responsibility to further this education and to advance the steps that must be taken to prevent nuclear war. The prevention of nuclear war is not a partisan issue. It is something on which American and Soviet physicians can agree. A is a simple scientific truth that nuclear war would bring unimaginable disaster of pro portions that cannot even be clearly estimated. Cur undeniile cultural and political differences with the Soviet Union cannot be resolved or even managed byfhebuiidupofnucleararsenals.Theonlyethical conclusion is that nuclear weapons shoukt never be
usedandthatint~diplomacymusttakeother, more effective avenues. The lntemational Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), an organization started by Cardiologists BernardLownandEugeneChazovandwhichwasawardedthe Nobel Peace prize in 1985, gathered in Budapest in June 1985undertheslogan, “CooperationnotconfronWionisthe ‘impera% of a nuclear age.” Since its incep&xr 5 years ago, this organization has grown to 145,000 members from 45 rixmbhs. It has established a broadbased, freeflowtng dii between physicians of the 2 major power blocs-the USA and the USSR-and it now calls for a moratorium on all nuclear explosions.* lt has previously urged freezing, reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons and a commitment to no first use as the best means of eradi&ng the greatest public health threat of all time.* Cardiiogist E. Greg Diamond has suggested an exchange programofuniversitystudeMsbetweentheUSAandthe USSR as a means of preventing nuclear confroMatfon4 Earlier, Diamond had stated that the 10,000 Chinese scholarsinAmericanuniversitiestodayserveasvirtualguaran&s ofpeacewithChina.5Diamondnowadvocatesexchangeof 250,000 university studen& between the USA and USSR to actasagentsofsecurkyforbothsidesbecause”peopleare unlikely to bomb their chil&en.“4 Gsorga Lundberg, ths editorofthe&wnafofAmwkanMBdicalAssoc~,added 4 other prescription& “ 1) extensive international travel at all times because people are unlikely to bomb their friends; 2) further development of global economybecausepeopleare unlikely to bomb their own companies; 3) extensive scientific and cuttural exchanges because people are unlikely to bomb their colleagues, and 4) widespread intemxMage across countries because people are unlikely to bomb their own families and progeny.”
William C. Roberts, MD Editor in Chief 1. December 1982 Program in Williamsburg. Virginia, entitled “Coronary. Hypertensive, Valvular and Myocardial Heart Diseases and Peripheral Voscular Diseases: The Multidisciplinary Approach” sponsored by The American College of Cardiology. 2. Lown B. Chazov E. Cooperation not confrontation: the imperative of a nuclear
age. {AMA
1985;254:655-657.
3. Cassel CK. Jameton AL, Side1 VW, Storey PB. The physician’s oath and the prevention of nuclear war. JAMA 198.5;254:652-654. 4. Diamond EG. The logic of a university student USSR-US exchange program. [AMA 1985;254:658-659. 5. Diamond EG. A fundamental unit of peace. JAMA 1984;251:512. 6. Lundberg GD. Prescriptions for peace in a nuclear age. TAMA 198% 254~660-681.