Dr. Sanjay Gupta Answers Questions About Japan: Submit Your Own

Thanks for all of your great questions! The doctor's answers are in. Click here to see what Dr. Sanjay Gupta has to say.
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CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Japan to report on Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami. Many are feared lost in the disaster zones, and health concerns now also include concerns of nuclear exposure.

Comments

[Eris23]

01:00 PM on 03/15/2011

Wasn't this the guy that was schilling for the health care industry as is? What is his current background in nuclear physics? I can't say it's all that surprising that Gupta is doing the circuit saying this isn't a big deal. I'd be interested to see where his checks come from.

[Jenny Yasi]

09:07 PM on 03/14/2011

You have been to the scene of some of the most horrible tragedies, and yet you seem to be able to stay calm, and mentally healthy. The tragedy around you doesn't seem to influence your ability to respond. I don't see your knees knocking anyway! I can't imagine how what the Japanese are going through, but I can see even the people around me, thousands of miles from the disaster, seem to be experiencing an emotional, mental trauma or shock. I can feel the emotional strain in my community. How do you cope with this sort of immensely stressful experience? Do you meditate, or what? What can people do to stay calm and hopeful, mentally as well as physically able to cope, even when the scope of the problem is so far beyond human ability to respond?

[pseudonymous28]

08:48 AM on 03/14/2011

bring larry kudlow with you to sift through the rubble

[Osapient1]

07:42 AM on 03/14/2011

Hey Sunja, wasn't it radiation the spawned Godzilla?

[Pundit Commentator]

07:20 AM on 03/14/2011

Oh good grief. I can feel the bile rising. What the frack is Sanjay Gupta supposed to go over there and answer questions for? If he wants to help out with rescue operations, have at it. Quit playing around with stupid transparent B.S. like this.

[Ascoli]

06:07 AM on 03/14/2011

Why would I ask Gupta about the Earthquake....
He's not a scientist.
He's the most irritating 'doctor' on TV.

[Jennifer Hagan]

06:59 AM on 03/14/2011

That is what I don't get either. He's a MD not a PHD in geology.

[ddpalmerr]

05:37 AM on 03/14/2011

I hear that over at the 'E' channel they are having Dr. Drew answering questions about the reactor situation.

I mean just like Sanjay, Drew is a doctor and we know that a doctor knows everything about everything. I mean why would you take the time and effort to get a PhD in nuclear physics or nuclear engineering.

[muck-raker]

04:44 AM on 03/14/2011

I saw Dr Gupta doing brain surgery in a open air tent in Haiti...somebody give this man a medal for valor now..

[Genespark]

03:27 AM on 03/14/2011

Would have the low pressure vessel reactors used by France and the UK have been less vulnerable than the old tech GE reactors?

[Jewel Gray]

03:16 AM on 03/14/2011

This is bull hockey. Sanjay is a brain surgeon. What the hell does he know about earthquakes?

[gbrooks]

05:09 AM on 03/14/2011

I was wondering that myself....

[European1919]

05:46 AM on 03/14/2011

Look around you ... gobshiteism is generally the order of the day.

[liberalbug]

02:43 AM on 03/14/2011

Dr. Gupta, how are you at all qualified to answer questions on how to respond to an earthquake?

[fresberg]

02:33 AM on 03/14/2011

Have medical supplies and facilities been decimated, or are they going to be able to handle the numbers of injured people there are? Are water supplies so compromised, including in some areas from possible radiation, that there is little or no safe drinking water?

[SitandStay]

02:08 AM on 03/14/2011

Dr Gupta,
Is there any thought of creating an airlift of aid workers into Japan and then flying Japanese citizens to the US on temporary emergency visas to give some relief to the pressure of provding for so many people without utilities and in danger of so many remaining threats?

I would feel better about conributing directly to Japan because of the waste of contributions in more indirect avenues. They are honorable.

[Blackorpheus]

02:05 AM on 03/14/2011

That CNN has sent its narcissistic in-house doctor to Japan scarcely makes him an expert.

[fresberg]

02:26 AM on 03/14/2011

Whoa. What gives?

[cliffhammond]

02:04 AM on 03/14/2011

Is it true that the Fukushima nuclear plants are using "MOX", a mix of oxidants that include plutonium? If so, is it true that radioactive particles released that include plutonium cannot be treated with the usual iodine pills?

[ddpalmerr]

05:43 AM on 03/14/2011

The iodine pills have nothing to do with whether the fuel is uranium or mixed uranium and plutonium. They are only effective in limiting the absorption of Iodine-131 a radioactive nuclide produced within the reactor that can be released if the fuel is damaged.

Due to its short half life and the fact that it concentrates in the thyroid it can cause a marked increase in levels of thyroid cancer in those exposed, especially children. This was clearly seen at Chernobyl. But also because of the short half life the danger from Iodine-131 rapidly drops and is basically completely gone after about 1 month.

[smolensk-lies]

04:44 PM on 03/14/2011

shameful. the radioactive iodine at Chernobyl lingered for years at damaging levels.

Researchers at the World Health Organization accurately located and counted the cancer victims from Chernobyl and were startled to find that “the increase in incidence [of thyroid cancer] has been documented up to 500 km from the accident site...significant doses from radioactive iodine can occur hundreds of kilometers from the site, beyond emergency planning zones."[21] Consequently, far more people than anticipated were affected by the radiation, which caused the United Nations to report in 2002 that “The number of people with thyroid cancer...has exceeded expectations. Over 11,000 cases have already been reported.”[