alpha particles and lung cancer

["Harry Hinks" <harryhinks@hotmail.com>]

Jim M,

I have been asking you for an explanantion on how alpha particles could be 
hormetic for lung cancer.  A friend from the U.S. sent me this article with 
a possible explanation of hormesis for other diseases, although I still do 
not understand the mechanism.  They claim the skin is the major site for 
hormesis for rheumatic illnesses.  I thought alpha particles could not 
penetrate through the skin?  Do you think the alpha particles are 
irradiating the sweat glands or Langerhans' cell? How would that produce the 
beneficial effects?

I would still like to see a reference from you showing how alpha particle 
irradiation to the lung is beneficial for protecting against lung cancer.  
The list of articles in the link you sent do not address it.  I know you are 
an engineer and not a biologist, but if you do not have such an article, 
what is your theory?

Harry Hinks
harryhinks@hotmail.com

Falkenbach A, Just G, Soto J

Gastein Research Institute, Gasteiner Heilstollen Hospital, Bad 
Gastein-Bockstein, Austria.

The objective was to evaluate whether activity of radon progenies can be 
detected in sweat following speleotherapeutic radon exposure (40 kBq/m3) in 
a warm (38 degrees C) and humid (relative humidity > 70%) environment. A 
group of 11 male patients with spondyloarthropathy (n = 6) or 
non-inflammatory rheumatic diseases (n = 5) underwent a 1-h treatment in the 
gallery of the Gasteiner Heilstollen, and 20 min after leaving the treatment 
area radon progeny activity was measured in sweat by utilizing a special 
filter set. The results suggest that radon is discharged with sweat, causing 
a significant activity of radon and radon progenies on the skin. This 
finding may be important from a clinical point of view, since specialists 
experienced in radon therapy have repeatedly emphasized the importance of 
the degree of radioactivity on the skin for the effectiveness of treatment. 
It has even been claimed that the skin is the major target for radon 
therapy, possibly because of the influence on Langerhans' cell function.


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