The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 221 is up at ANS Nuclear Cafe
Atomic Insights - Why does conventional wisdom ignore hormesis?
Hormesis – the stimulation by some agent, such as radiation, of biological responses that are protective against damage done by that agent. It has the same etymological root as hormone, which is a molecule secreted by a gland to stimulate a response in some other part of the body.
In light of repeated assertions that all ionizing radiation is harmful no matter how high or how low the dose, the existence of a beneficial health effect may be surprising. But nearly a century of laboratory experimentation and epidemiological observation of both humans and animals supports the protective response region and contradicts the conventional wisdom. Why then does the concept that all ionizing radiation is harmful hang on with such tenacity, and how did it gain a foothold against all evidence to the contrary?
They rule out hormesis by fiat rather than by scientific evidence. They are forced to this maneuver since the evidence supports hormesis and contradicts LNT. The only reason that LNT is widely accepted is that virtually all political power stands behind LNT, so that it has long been the default position. This is not science.
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Atomic Insights - Why does conventional wisdom ignore hormesis?
Hormesis – the stimulation by some agent, such as radiation, of biological responses that are protective against damage done by that agent. It has the same etymological root as hormone, which is a molecule secreted by a gland to stimulate a response in some other part of the body.
In light of repeated assertions that all ionizing radiation is harmful no matter how high or how low the dose, the existence of a beneficial health effect may be surprising. But nearly a century of laboratory experimentation and epidemiological observation of both humans and animals supports the protective response region and contradicts the conventional wisdom. Why then does the concept that all ionizing radiation is harmful hang on with such tenacity, and how did it gain a foothold against all evidence to the contrary?
They rule out hormesis by fiat rather than by scientific evidence. They are forced to this maneuver since the evidence supports hormesis and contradicts LNT. The only reason that LNT is widely accepted is that virtually all political power stands behind LNT, so that it has long been the default position. This is not science.
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