Study examines aging atomic bomb survivors

08:22 AM PDT on Sunday, May 15, 2005

By ROBERTA ROMERO / KING 5 News

SEATTLE -- In August it will be 60 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Six decades later, we are still learning about the medical effects from the deadly blast.

That's why for the past 30 years survivors come to Seattle to meet with Japanese and America doctors.

Eighty-two-year-old Henry Taniguchi considers himself one of the lucky ones. He was 22 years old and was at his home in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb dropped.

“The city was flattened, it was just a horrible day,” he said. “Good thing i went south because the wind was blowing north and that's why I avoided a lot of radiation, I think.”

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Eighty-two-year-old Henry Taniguchi was 22 when the atomic bomb dropped in his hometown of Hiroshima.

The devastation was complete. It wasn't until afterwards Taniguchi realized his mother was one of the hundreds of thousands of people who perished.

Taniguchi moved to Seattle and rebuilt his life. But he could never leave behind the after-effects of the bomb.

Thanks to his participation and hundreds of others, doctors from Japan and Seattle's Pacific Medical Center are able to follow his medical history and help him if anything comes up.

The problem is aging. As the population of Japanese survivors gets older, the medical issues have changed.

“We are also intereseted in the psychological effects so we're interested in how the effects of the bomb have affected them and their families over time,” said Dr. Rick Ludwig of Pacific Medical Center. “Understanding things will be different when you’re 70 years old as compared to 50 or 55 years old.”

Taniguchi is happy to participate in the check-up and medical studies and wants to share his story -- a reminder for everyone about the consequences of war.

Pacific Medical Center expects about 25 survivors to participate in this year's medical exams in Seattle.

The team from Japan will be heading to San Francisco to conduct similar exams.