Radiation or Cancer from exposure to hydrogen bomb?

Question

if a person survive the initial blast of a Hydrogen Bomb, will he/she get cancer or other health problem?

Answer 1

In regards to cancer, the survivors have a higher risk of cancer, but it's not like they will get cancer automatically... there have been studies done on this topic... Nagasaki and Hiroshima, also with Chernobyl, which show that there is a slight uptick in cancers when compared to a "control" population.

Chernobyl:
What do we know today concerning the cancer consequences of the accident?

A dramatic increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer has been observed among those exposed to radioactive iodines in childhood and adolescence in the most contaminated territories of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. It appears that iodine deficiency may have increased the risk of developing thyroid cancer following exposure to radioactive iodines, while prolonged stable iodine supplementation in the years after exposure may have helped in limiting the effects of radiation exposure.

Although increases in rates of other cancers have been reported, much of these increases appear to be due to other factors, particularly improvements in registration, reporting and diagnosis.

The impact of the accident on the risk of thyroid cancer outside Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine and the risk of other cancers is therefore unclear.

The full extent of the population health impact of Chernobyl is thus difficult to evaluate

Answer 2

Assuming that there was no effect from the heat (ie burning), the person could possibly survive with no ill effect.

Exposure to radiation tends to cause damage to DNA. So, if the radiation affects a strand of DNA in a way that causes a harmful mutation, and the person's body doesn't kill off the changed cell, cancer can develop.

Other effects would also include radiation poisoning which depending on dose could lead to weakened immune system, nausea, vomit, bleeding, hair loss, and death.

There are people that were very near where the bomb fell at Hiroshima, that are now elderly. So, it is possible to not have health problems, but the chance is greatly increased.