A comparative study of the effects of low doses gamma rays on blood for healthy people and diabetes

The objective of this study was to explore the effect of gamma irradiation on the hematological and biochemical parameters of complete blood counts for diabetic and healthy persons This study is conducted at the Blood unit, Department of Diagnostic Laboratory Services of Al-Nasiriya Heart Centre (NHC) A total of 20 blood samples were collected from diabetic persons, and the same number was collected from healthy persons of different ages. The samples were analyzed before and after irradiation (0.5 mCi Cs-137 Gamma-ray standard source) using a Hematology analyzer to determine the hematological and biochemical parameters. Significant changes were observed between the control samples before irradiation and the samples after irradiation. The results show a significant change in the number of RBC at 18.863 mGy/hr compared with the control sample in healthy and diabetic from 4.47x10^6 μL to 1.82x10^6 μL and from 4.32x10^6 μL to 1.05x10^6 μL, respectively. The results appear also a significant change in all hematological and biochemical parameters such as WBC, PLT, Hb, Hct, Mcv, McH, and HcHc after irradiation, especially at a high dose rate of more than 5 mGy/hr In comparison between healthy persons and diabetic, the results appear that diabetic persons have more affected by gamma radiation within the used dose rate than the healthy. The recommendation of the current study for diabetics is to avoid electromagnetic radiation (gamma ray and X-ray) whose dose rate exceeds 5 mGy/hr. The obtained results are in good agreement with the data and recommendations of recognized international organizations and agencies such as the EPA, IAEA, WHO, UNSCEAR, and ICRP.