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Re: Limited radiation exposure may actually benefit health
I think there is a big difference between saying that
low level, low dose-rate radiation has no demonstrated
effect and saying that it is beneficial.
The purpose of the DOE shipyard study was to
demonstrate no exposure effects, which it did. The
study did not demonstrate a benefit from exposures.
--- Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net> wrote:
> Here's a newspaper article that puts a positive
> light on radiation. I
> think I've heard of this guy somewhere before....
>
> --Susan Gawarecki
>
> Limited radiation exposure may actually benefit
> health
> By JOHN CAMERON
> Gainesville Sun
> April 05. 2004 6:01AM
>
> Studies have shown that radiation from nuclear power
> can actually be good.
>
> he Three Mile Island (TMI) Nuclear power accident in
> March 1979 is still
> remembered. Many people still have a fear of things
> nuclear. The average
> person has never learned that there was no real
> danger to the public
> during the TMI accident.
>
> The important aspect of the TMI accident was that
> the safety features
> worked. The reinforced concrete building kept nearly
> all the
> radioactivity safely inside. The small amount that
> escaped probably
> improved the health of those who got some of it, as
> you will learn
> later. The Chernobyl nuclear accident was much worse
> because it didn't
> have those safety features.
>
> The fear of nuclear radiation is a fear of the
> unknown. We need to
> educate the public that low-level radiation, such as
> we all get from
> nature, is beneficial if we get enough of it. There
> is good evidence
> from government-funded studies that we need more
> radiation for good health.
>
> It is a shame that most people still believe that
> even a little
> radiation may cause cancer. The government has not
> told the public that
> we need more radiation for good health discovered
> with over $10 million
> of taxpayer's money.
>
> Natural radioactivity in our body hits millions of
> our cells every
> minute, billions of our cells every day and
> trillions of cells every
> year. Our cells are also bombarded by more radiation
> from external
> natural radioactivity in the environment and from
> cosmic rays.
>
> External radiation can easily be measured with a
> Geiger counter. When I
> fly, my Geiger counter indicates about ten times
> more radiation than on
> the ground.
>
> A government study in 1973 showed that people in our
> mountain states are
> exposed to 300 percent more natural radiation than
> people in the Gulf
> States. However, the cancer death rate in the Gulf
> States is 25 percent
> greater. That is, an increase in radiation does not
> increase the risk of
> cancer.
>
> The average dose from medical x-rays in the United
> States is much less
> than we get from nature, so you can stop worrying
> about that also. The
> results of two radiation studies show that we need
> more radiation for
> good health.
>
> In 1980-1988, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
> studied the health of
> 28,000 U.S. nuclear shipyard workers who had
> received the largest
> radiation doses. Their health was compared to 32,500
> shipyard workers
> with the same ages and same jobs, but who didn't
> work on nuclear
> propelled ships. The DOE expected to see an increase
> in cancer among the
> nuclear workers. Instead they found a 15 percent
> decrease. The results
> of this important study have yet to be published or
> told to the public.
>
> The increased radiation apparently stimulated the
> immune system of the
> nuclear workers. The nuclear workers are living
> about three years longer
> than the unexposed workers. I know about the nuclear
> shipyard worker
> study because I was one of eight scientists that
> supervised the study
> from 1980-1988.
>
> The earliest radiation workers were the doctors who
> used x-rays. The
> 100-year study of British radiologists (British
> Journal of Radiology
> June 2001) showed that the earliest radiologists
> (1897-1920) had a 75
> percent increase in cancer compared to other English
> doctors. There is
> no doubt that large radiation doses caused the
> increased cancer.
>
> After 1920 British radiologists were more careful
> and never again had a
> significant excess of cancer compared to other
> English doctors. That is,
> their radiation dose did not exceed the high level
> that can cause
> cancer. This is also known from a 1974 study of the
> radium dial painters.
>
> Recent English radiologists (1955-1979) have less
> cancer and are living
> over three years longer than other doctors. That is
> an increase in
> longevity that is greater than would occur if all
> cancer were curable!
>
> This confirms the increase in longevity of the
> nuclear shipyard workers.
> The results of these two studies were the basis of
> my recent article in
> Radiology (October 2003) that increased longevity,
> not cancer, is the
> best measure of health effects of radiation.
>
> Visit the Virtual Radiation Museum at
> http://www.sciencemuseum.us to
> learn more about ionizing radiation. I started it a
> couple years ago and
> it will continue to grow.
>
> John Cameron is a professor emeritus of the
> University of
> Wisconsin-Madison's departments of Medical Physics,
> Radiology and
> Physics, and a visiting professor at the University
> of Florida's
> Department of Radiation Oncology.
>
>
>
>
>
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=====
+++++++++++++++++++
""A fanatic is one who cannot change his mind and won't change the subject." Winston Churchill
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail: crispy_bird@yahoo.com
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