Re: Re[3]: Chernobyl Health Study Findings (fwd)

[Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 22:14 28.04.1996 -0500, you wrote:
>        In answer to Dr. Field's message of 27 April, I must point out that
>we would never claim that the stress reactions seen in the people who used
>to live near Chernobyl have anything do to per se with radiation. It must
>be realized that these people have gone through a very difficult time,
>caused by displacement from their homes, separation of family members, and
>by major economic failures associated with the political changes in the the
>region. The finding that there appears to be an association with areas of
>radiocontamination is more likely to result from their perception of
>radiation exposure, rather than to any biophysical effect of ionizing
>radiation.
>
>                                Michael R. Quastel MD PhD
>                                Head, Institute of Nuclear Medicine
>                                Soroka Medical Center
>                                Faculty of Health Sciences
>                                Ben Gurion University of the Negev
>                                Beer Sheva, Israel
>                                Fax 972-7-274696
>                                E-mail: maay100@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
>
>
>
>At the IAEA-WHO-Chernobyl Conference in Vienna data were presented, that
showed that people in non-contaminated areas of Ukraine etc. attributed
their health problems to approximately the same percentage to the Chernobyl
accident than did people in affected areas. I really do not interpret this
in a way that people are foolish, it is only an indication for me, that
there are extreme effects of stress, anxiety and distraction.

Franz Schoenhofer, Vienna, Austria