Fw: RADSAFE digest 3645

["JOHN JACOBUS" <JENDAY1@email.msn.com>]

I think this is a very interesting point, which needs to be carried one step
higher. What mechanism makes radiation stimulate the immune system, if it
does?  Is it a unique response or do other agents also elicit a response?  I
have seen several posting about the effects, but little information on what
makes it happen.  And please, if someone responds, do NOT provide a list of
studies that show the effects, but not the mechanisms.  My time is too
valuable to weed through speculations.

-- John

John Jacobus, MS, CHP
Medical Health Physicist
3050 Traymore Lane
Bowie, MD 20715-2024
jenday1@email.msn.com (H)

------------------------------


On Mon, 12 Feb 2001, Franta, Jaroslav wrote:

> You wrote :
>
> --The fact that the number of DSBs induced by radiation is linear
> with dose seems obvious. However, it is estimated that chemical and
> thermal effects induce about 200 DSBs per cell per year, whereas 10 rem of
> radiation per year induces only about 4 per cell per year, so the
> contribution of low level radiation to the body's DSB accumulation is
> relatively negligible. This suggests that we consider the positive effects
> of low level radiation - stimulation of immune system, stimulated
> production of repair enzymes, etc - as relevant factors in deciding
> whether the net effect is good or bad.
> <><><><><><><><><><>
>
> Question :  that being the case, what is so special about radiation damage
> that it manages to evoke an immune response (hormesis), while all those
> other DSBs don't ?
> In other words, would one not expect the "hormetic message of a radiation
> dose" to be swamped, just like it is in the category of damaging effects
by
> non-radiation agents ?

On Mon, 12 Feb 2001 Bernard L Cohen wrote:

--I am not an expert on these matters, but I see no reason to
believe that stimulated production of repair enzymes or stimulated immune
response are caused by double strand breaks.


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