[ RadSafe ] Letter: Homeopathy and Hormesis

[John Jacobus]

Dr. Long,
I suggest you write a letter to the editor of the
Skeptical Inquirer.  That is the source of the letter
I posted.  

I do agree that the conceptual processes behind 
homepathy are not the same as for hormesis.  Also, I
have not read the review of Copeland Cure that was
cited in the letter.

--- howard long <hflong at pacbell.net> wrote:

> John,
>   Cameron wrote that hormesis was NOT like hormesis,
> because 
>   hormesis requires a specific dose range just below
> the harmful level of any substance. 
>   That is unlike homeopathy, which often
>   dilutes so much it is unlikely a single molecule
> remains in a "dose"
> 
>   Howard Long
>   
> John Jacobus <crispy_bird at yahoo.com> wrote:
>   >From another list server.
> 
> ---------------------------
> Dear Group,
> 
> Ran across this Letter to the Editor in the latest
> edition of Skeptical Inquirer.
> 
> See http://www.csicop.org/
> 
> I thought some of our group might find it
> interesting.
> I wish John Cameron (sp?) were still around to give
> his views.
> 
> Skeptical Inquirer - the magazine for science and
> reason - Vol. 30, No. 1 Jan/Feb 2006 p.68
> 
> Homeopathy and Hormesis:
> 
> Homeopathy is back, stronger than ever and more
> global. (See the review of Copeland's Cure, SI
> July/August 2005.) Now termed hormesis, it extends
> homeopathy to include toxic chemicals and radiation,
> among other hazardous materials. Hormesis (defined
> operationally as low-dose stimulation, high-dose
> inhibition) is often used to promote the notion that
> while high-level exposure to toxic chemicals are
> detrimental to human health, low-level exposures are
> beneficial, as in homeopathy. Some proponents claim
> hormesis is an adaptive, generalizable phenomenon
> and
> argues that the default assumption for risk
> assessments should be exposure to toxic chemical
> induces stimulatory (i.e., "beneficial") effects at
> low exposures. And, thus, we need not worry.
> 
> 

+++++++++++++++++++
"It is not the job of public-affairs officers to alter, filter or 
adjust engineering or scientific material produced by NASA's technical 
staff."
MICHAEL D. GRIFFIN, NASA administrator.

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

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