The BioPositive Effects of Naturally Occuring Nuclear Radiation
(Note that we are referring to Low Level Naturally Occurring Nuclear Radiation only)
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Make Your Own Radiation Hormesis Tools to Boost Health
Quick Links to Recent Research Papers
The LNT Myth and low level radiation harmlessness
(Extensive Scientific refutation of the concept that low level radiation causes cancer by B. Cohen 2008)
© Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (September 22, 2008)
Historical Perspective Hormesis: Implications for Low-Dose Cancer Risk Assessment
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2889502/
© 2010 University of Massachusetts
The Truth About the Health Benefits of Low-Dose Radiation
http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/nuclear.html
© 2005 21st Century Science Associates. All rights reserved.
Summer Issue 2000
Historical and Modern Uses of Radiation Hormesis
Nobel Prize Winners and Pioneers in Radiation Before WW1
Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) Marie Skłodowska-Curie (1867 – 1934) Pierre Curie (1859 – 1906)
The History of Radioactive Hot Spring Healing Spas
The idea that certain springs have miraculous healing power is not a new one. For thousands of years, the sick have journeyed long distances seeking cures at the waters of Bath in England, Badgastein in Austria, in Japan, Germany, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic, USA, Canada and countless other healing hot springs worldwide. Many if not all of these hot springs are still in operation today.
The ancient springs-town of Ikaria was buried after a landslide. It was on a peninsula 300 meters east of where Therma is today. As the findings prove, there was a settlement and organized facilities for the bathers about 2500 years ago. Today all that survive are ruins of a small part that remained on the surface and some buildings dating from the Roman Period.
The island inhabitants are being
studied right now by a team of researchers who are trying to
determine what lifestyle factors have left 30% of the island
residents over the age of 90. The ancient springs
are still very popular with the inhabitants and most of the
old timers visit the spring monthly. If
radiation were as hazardous as many people believe, why would
the island with the highest percentage of people 90 years of
age and older be the one. The residents bathe regularly
in radioactive hot spring water. Good food and
lifestyles are important too and the island foods are being
studied by scientists. The residents are noted for their
very low occurance of all diseases as well as their very long
average lifespan.
In the United States,
the most famous curative waters are those at Hot Springs,
Arkansas. Indeed, the properties of these waters have been
valued so highly that in 1832 Congress established the
Arkansas Hot Springs as the first federal reservation, a
forerunner of the national park system. Even the
military recognized the importance of these waters and
established the Army and Navy General Hospital there in 1879.
At first, personnel undergoing treatment were required to lie
in tubs of water that was pumped in directly from the springs.
However, the 140-degree temperatures generated grumbling from
patients who did not appreciate what was good for them. In
response, cooling towers were installed to reduce the
temperature.
In Canada Radium Hot Springs is a village of approximately 800 people situated in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. The village is named for the hot springs located in the nearby Kootenay National Park. From Banff, Alberta, it is accessible via Highway 93.
The Radium hot springs were named
after the radioactive element when an analysis of the water
showed that it contained small traces of radon which is a
decay product of radium. The radiation dosage from bathing in
the pools is inconsequential; approximately .13mrem from the
water for a half-hour bathing. The air concentration of radon
is about 23pCi/L which is higher than the level (4pCI/L) at
which mitigation is necessary at residences; but is also
inconsequential (about .7mrem for a half-hour bathing) from a
dose impact perspective.
Canada also has Harrison Hot
Springs near Vancouver which does not speak of the levels of
radon but is known to have low levels, as do all hot springs.
In 1903, the discoverer of the electron, J.J. Thompson, wrote a letter to the journal Nature in which he described another remarkable discovery of his, the presence of radioactivity in well water. This led to the discovery by others that the waters in many of the world's most famous health springs were also radioactive. This radioactivity is due to the presence of radium emanation - what we now call radon gas - produced by the radium that is present in the ground through which the waters flow.
Who could doubt that it must be the radioactivity that was responsible for the curative properties of the health springs? Certainly not Surgeon General Dr. George H. Torney, who wrote (ca. 1910) that "Relief may be reasonably expected at the Hot Springs in . . . various forms of gout and rheumatism, neuralgia; metallic or malarial poisoning, chronic Brights disease, gastric dyspepsia, chronic diarrhea, chronic skin lesions, etc."
Further details were provided by Dr. C.G. Davis, who noted in the American Journal of Clinical Medicine that "Radioactivity prevents insanity, rouses noble emotions, retards old age, and creates a splendid youthful joyous life."
Professor Bertram Boltwood of Yale explained the scientific basis for the cures in the following way: The radioactivity was "carrying electrical energy into the depths of the body and there subjecting the juices, protoplasm, and nuclei of the cells to an immediate bombardment by explosions of electrical atoms," and that it stimulated "cell activity, arousing all secretory and excretory organs . . . causing the system to throw off waste products," and that it was "an agent for the destruction of bacteria." Radon was believed to be so important to water that it was considered its life element. Without it, water was dead. Radon was to water what oxygen was to air.
Now that
turn-of-the-century in 1900 science had an explanation for the
curative properties of the springs, the health spas and
resorts associated with them began to do a booming business.
Names were changed to include the magic terms radioactive or
radium. Visitors came from near and far to soak in the waters
and inhale the air. Marble palaces (still open for business)
were built over the springs in Joachimstal in what is now the
Czech Republic, and luxurious spas sprouted like weeds in hot
springs worldwide. North America does not
mention the radioactivity of its healing hot springs anymore,
but people still use them.
Worldwide Modern
Medical Association Use of Radioactive Healing Hot Springs
Germany, Poland, Japan, Austria, Russia, Greece, Czech
Republic and many European states offer through their official
medical plans a chance to be healed through the radioactive
hot springs. European studies speak of the
function of radiation in the healing process.
Unfortunately the cold war based fear of radiation has made
this branch of medicine disappear in North
America.
Radiation Hormesis Definition
Radiation Hormesis refers to the positive effects of low levels of nuclear radiation on living organisms. The keyword here is "low" level. We all know from Hiroshima and Nagasaki that nuclear radiation in large amounts will kill and produce cancer at ground zero. Low level radiation refers to the levels of radiation produced by natural uranium and thorium ores contained in the Earth's rocks. Alpha, Beta and Gamma waves are given off by these ores. We have evolved for millions of years to become immune to these low levels of nuclear radiation.
The effects of low level nuclear radiation from 1880s to 1980 were studied by Dr. T. D. Luckey who published the first book on the subject in 1981 called Radiation Hormesis. In over 1,250 studies he found during the 20th century it was determined that low levels of nuclear radiation were at least harmless. In some 70% of the experiments it produced positive effects such as increased growth rate for plants and also a reduction in the rate of cancer in lab animals. Just after WW1 experimental work showed that solid cancers would sometimes disappear following exposure to low level X ray radiation. It appeared to boost the body's immunity to both infectious diseases and cancer. All research with animals has shown an increase in lifespan. Studies of a number of highly radioactive Thorium based sand beaches, some in India and some in South America has shown that there are 30% fewer cancers and 20% fewer genetic mutations in these areas of the world. These areas are between 200 to 1000 times more radioactive than most cities.
Hiroshima Data Shows Protection from Cancer for Low Doses
The most surprising demonstration of Radiation Hormesis was observed in Japan over the last 65 years. For those who were bombed in the Second World War in Hiroshima by the atomic bomb, those that did not get directly hit or killed by the heat wave show protection from cancer! Here is the curve of radiation dose received vs the incidence of leukemia.
Why Does Nuclear Radiation Hormesis work?
By the year 2000 the DNA repair function of the body began to be understood. Cells can repair DNA damage such as is caused by nuclear radiation. The human body is found to carry out up to 1,000,000 DNA repairs each day of our life since we were born. These errors are caused by the strong chemical processes going on in the body. Exposure to low levels of naturally occurring radiation typically accounts for 10 errors / hour or less. Thus it is very easy for the body to repair nuclear radiation induced errors to the DNA code. When the body experiences minor damage from nuclear radiation it responds by increasing the DNA repair activity by hundreds of percent. These same DNA errors could produce genetic mutations or cancers if they were not repaired. Immunity to viral and bacterial infection is also improved. Lifepan can be increase slightly. This website will include references to the original science papers for those that wish to read the research themselves.
Nobel Prize Winner Lied About Radiation Danger
Why Do People Believe That All Nuclear Radiation is Harmful today?
News from 2011
Nobel prize winner Hermann Muller knowingly lied when he
claimed in 1946 that there is no safe level of radiation
exposure, a new study asserts. This led to the Linear
No Threashold model for radiation that states "there is no
safe level of nuclear radiation"'
UMass researcher points to suppression of evidence on radiation effects by 1946 Nobel Laureate.
AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental toxicologist Edward Calabrese, whose career research shows that low doses of some chemicals and radiation are benign or even helpful, says he has uncovered evidence that one of the fathers of radiation genetics, Nobel Prize winner Hermann Muller, knowingly lied when he claimed in 1946 that there is no safe level of radiation exposure.
Calabrese’s interpretation of this history is supported by letters and other materials he has retrieved, many from formerly classified files. He published key excerpts this month in Archives of Toxicology and Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis.
Muller was awarded the 1946 Nobel
Prize in medicine for his discovery that X-rays induce genetic
mutations. This helped him call attention to his long-time
concern over the dangers of atomic testing. Muller’s
intentions were good, Calabrese points out, but his decision
not to mention key scientific evidence against his position
has had a far-reaching impact on our approach to regulating
radiation and chemical exposure. It led directly
to an extreme fear of radiation by the public
worldwide. It also lead to the dismissal by the
scientific community of the healing effects of
radiation. A few leading scientists like Calabrese
and Luckey refused to abandon their research on Radiation
Hormesis.
These positive effects of
nuclear radiation were hidden by a number of key scientists
for political reasons. It was not until
Dr. T D Luckey published his Radiation Hormesis book in 1981
that serious study of the subject was restarted after a
break of nearly half a century. Political
propaganda seriously affected the advancement of science and
it has been very difficult to do low level radiation
research since 1960.
The Principle of Hormesis in General
Hormesis refers to the positive effect of poisons when delivered in very low doses. The 20th century had a primitive way of classifying things into either poisonous or non-poisonous categories. It has been well known for centuries that "The dose makes the poison" To quote Dr. T D Luckey ...
The Paracelsus paradigm, “the dose is everything,” is ageless. This many-splendored view of the history of hormology highlights my contributions. The more succinct statement of Dr. R. Arndt of the Psychology Department of the University of Greifswald is paraphrased: “unusually low doses of a toxicant should be beneficial” (Schulz, 1918). The concept that small doses of poisons are stimulatory was verified experimentally by Dr. H. Schulz (1888) (Pharmacology Department, University of Greifswald) with mercury, chromium, arsenic and iodine in yeast cultures. This established the Arndt-Shultz law, generalized and paraphrased: sufficiently diluted toxicants should have a beneficial effect on the organism. In Sept. 1979, I visited the campus and was keynote lecturer at the II Symposium of Gastrointestinale Mikroflora des Menchen, Greifswald, DDR.
Applied to Nuclear Radiation, hormesis refers to the non lethal, health enhancing effects observed to happen when low levels of nuclear radiation are present.
One of the first studies in radiobiology (1898) found that X-irradiated algae grew faster than unirradiated control groups. Stimulated growth was noted in trees (1908) and increased life span in invertebrates (1918) and insects (1919). X-Rays stimulated seedlings (1927), plant growth (1937), along with guinea pigs, rabbits and mice (1940's). Increased life span was the rule in low dose irradiated rats, dogs, and even house flies (1950's). In a 1981 monograph (CRC Press), T. Luckey revived the term "hormesis," but this time with ionizing radiation and backed it up with a review of over 1250 articles from 85 years of experimental biology.
The History of the Radiation Hormesis Industry
Just after 1900 it was observed that all the healing hot springs in the world were slightly radioactive. There are springs in Poland, Germany, Austria, Greece, Russia and in fact in most European countries as well as Japan and China that have been used for literally thousands of years to cure the effects of arthritis. In Europe today these same springs are used by the medical professions to treat arthritis. The reason it works is radiation hormesis and the radioactive element in all these springs was found to be mostly radon gas. Is radon gas a healer or a threat? It certainly can be a healer for arthritis. The question of its danger in basements is debated in the scientific community.
In 1912 a product called the Revigator was created. It was a water jug with uranium ore built into the clay material it was made from. The idea was to fill it with water the night before and drink water from it the next day so that radon could enter the body to help with arthritis. This was the very first radiation hormesis device from the early 20th century.
The Revigator Patented 1912
Now you can have all the radioactive water you can drink in the convenience of your own home!
We laughed about the revigator from 1950 onwards but in reality it was a possibly useful radiation hormesis tool. Unfortunately some of them used poor quality uranium ore that was high in arsenic ... not much, but enough to possibly counteract the hormesis effect. If the water was used for bathing, rather than drinking, this devices was excellent at replicating healing hot spring water! This first radiation therapy device was based on low level radiation. The ore selected for the Revigator was somewhat high in several heavy metals such as arsenic, vanadium and lead. There were benefits for many but for some people the presence of these heavy metals was not good for health.
I do not drink it but I use a revigator in my own bathroom to generate bathtub water ... eliminating the need to visit the nearest radon hot spring resort to deal with my arthritis. Most therapeutic hot springs should not be consumed by drinking due to measurable toxic levels of metallic minerals. I am 62 years old and have not found any satisfactory treatment for my arthritis in Western Medicine since I was 20. I do have some luck with a glucosamine hcl supplement that improves lubrication of the joints. With radon spa treatments in my own home I am dancing again many weekends. It works well for me and I understand how popular a treatment it must be in Europe.
Modern Revigator Designs
A similar device is in use today made by a Colorado Medicine Man Jay Gutierrez of Night Hawk minerals. He simply uses a small piece of carefully selected uranium ore (low in arsenic, lead etc.) that you put in a gallon jug of water overnight ... and you drink it the next day. Several thousand people are using this new version of the revigator and it seems to work. He has been using radiation hormesis for about 20 years and has invented a number of low level naturally radioactive tools to improve health.
Many other products followed, most based on radon gas generation. These products proved to be useful and quite harmless but a competition started about 1930 to see who could produce the most radioactive medicine! It led to a major disaster that ended the industry.
The industry forgot the basic definition of a poison ... the poison is in the dose! Even table salt is poisonous if taken in sufficient quantities. The revigator would never kill. Over 300,000 revigators were sold and there are no reports at all of anyone being harmed. We would not drink such water these days since more is known about heavy metals such as lead.
The early radiation hormesis devices were relatively harmless. Then the competition started to see whose medicine was the strongest. Radithor won the contest!
Tragic End to the Early 20th Century Radiation Medicine Industry
From 1920 to 1930 a competition was underway to see who could produce the most radioactive home remedy. The winner (unfortunately) was Radithor, a bottle containing a microgram of radium which is a very powerful radioactive element. Several famous and rich people who could afford to purchase it in large quantities died horrible deaths from radiation poisoning. The industry mostly had ended by 1950.
Prior to being emptied, the bottle pictured at left contained one-half ounce of Radithor, i.e., triple distilled water guaranteed to contain at least 1 microcurie each of Ra-226 and Ra-228. The manufacturer of the product, Bailey Radium Laboratories of East Orange, New Jersey, offered $1,000 to anyone who could prove the product contained less than the stated amount. No one ever did. It was USA government certified!
Another of the company's
guarantees, that "Radithor is harmless in every respect,"
proved false. Radithor is one of the few radioactive
quack cures that can be unambiguously linked to someone's
death, specifically that of Eben Byers at age 51. He
was the USA amateur golf champion 15 years earlier.
The industry faltered and
by 1950 Cold War propaganda had made such an industry
unthinkable. Radiation dangers were
exaggerated to prevent the proliferation of the A
bomb. No one wanted to even encounter
radiation! This avoidance of
radiation has had a health cost since it is now known
that radiation is a micro nutrient that prevents many
cancers from occuring. Swiss experiments
in a deep non radioactive mine in the 1960s showed
that plants and animals could not reproduce and grow
if there was no radiation at all.
Do Scientist Agree that Radon is Dangerous for Homeowners?
There is little disagreement that breathing the hundreds of pCi/L of radon that caused thousands of uranium miners to get fatal lung cancer is definitely harmful. However miners are also in contact with carcinogenic rare earth metals and other dangerous heavy metals. By the 1960s uranium mining was using carcinogenic solvents down in the mine itself. Uranium mining is dangerous by general agreement. However the safety of radon in homes is an area of controversy.
Many scientists disagree with the USA EPA about what the level of radon should be before it should be reduced.
The EPA studied the lung cancer risk of uranium miners exposed to 400 pCi/L. They assume the risk of a home owner exposed to 4 pCi/L to be one hundredth as much. Based on this assumption, the EPA guideline level of 4 pCi/L represents a much greater risk than allowed for other environmental pollutants.
Other scientists have tested more than 70,000 homes across the United States. Cohen collected and published a huge USA study in 1995. This study of all USA county radon data shows the counties with the highest average radon levels had the lowest incidence of cancer. Radon showed a hormetic effect to prevent lung cancer. Perhaps, breathing the low levels of radon found in the home environment, might not be harmful. If the levels are low, such as is the case with radon therapy for arthritis or typical levels in our homes there is no danger.
As far as radon safety in houses goes, there is conflicting research, but the largest study by Cohen which includes all the counties in the USA shows a bio-positive effect for radon in almost every county. A danger for smokers appears to be true in some counties. There is also evidence that nicotine damages the DNA repair mechanism.
There is a multi billion dollar industry called the "radon mitigation industry" which proposes to pump radon from all of our basements. When looking at research on the effects of radon it is important to make sure that the research is not funded by this industry!
3000 Years of Radon Therapy
There is historical evidence that radon and uranium have been in use for therapeutic purposes in Europe for thousands of years. Use of Radioactive Substances in the 1500s to reduce arthritis and improve health was happening in Germany in a silver mining town. People drank water from the mine and had yellow powder (uranium oxide) from the mine sewed into pockets in their clothing to treat arthritis.
This is a quote from the article 100 years of radon therapy by Klaus Becker.
It was generally known since the Middle Ages that the miners in the silver miners of Saxony/Germany and nearby St. Joachimsthal in Bohemia (now Czech Republic), although working under very difficult and generally unhealthy conditions and frequently suffering (and dying early) from lung diseases ( K. Becker 2003), had less problems with arthritic and
similar diseases than the rest of the population. Therefore, the miners had sometimes uranium containing ore residues sewn into their clothes. They drank water which originated in the mines, and the local population used pitchblende (U ore) packages for the external treatment of inflammatory diseases (W. Schüttmann 1987). A C. Bruschius already wrote in 1548 in a description of the high-radon Fichtelgebirge/Germany: “Here people get very old, have few diseases, and recover quickly if they have any.”
On the Greek Island of Icharus there is a radon hot spring that has been popular for over 2500 years. It was used by the ancient Greeks. This healing hot spring has both radon and radium and it is still popular today. Such traditional knowledge of Radon therapy explains why Europe supports spa therapy in their medical systems.
To read the original paper click on link below.
Use your browser back arrow to return to here.
100 Years of Radon Therapy in Europe
Radiation Hormesis Tools from Colorado Medicine Man (2012)
Jay Gutierrez offers the following tools on his website http://nighthawkminerals.com. I am using these tools myself to promote health and to avoid prostate cancer.
Puts out approx. 180 uSv/hour for local use
Uranium neck pendant (4 uSv/hour approx)
Uranium ore mudpack for use in bed (20 uSv/hour)
(Historical Roots of Mudpack below)
The above uranium ore pad is the origin device for the mudpack and dates from 1920-1930
Small piece of Carnotite Uranium Ore (4 uSv/hour)
This is a modern Revigator and is placed in a gallon jug of water overnight.
(historical roots of Water Stone below)
Small picture of the Revigator (left), a similar device from (1920-1940).
On the right is the Thomas Cone, placed in water to generate radon (1930-1940).
Radiation Hormesis Beads
Radiation Hormesis Research in Japan
Radiation Hormesis research in Japan has been carried out for a number of decades since they started to study their own people involved in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the initial bombing and deaths the remaining people who received the lower doses of radiation from nearby cities and towns were studied. This study continues today and it has been observed that no ongoing genetic mutations have been observed in Japanese families. It would appear that the genetic heritage is well protected naturally. These ongoing studies have shown longer lifespans and a lowered incidence of cancer in the people who surived the first 10 years.
In addition Japan has the largest collection of healing hot springs in the world. Hot springs are extremely popular in Japan and the health of villages which host hot spring spas have been studied. Hormetic (positive) healing results have been observed in all the studies. Mifune (1992) (Mifune et al. 1992) and his co-workers indicated that in a spa area (Misasa), with an average indoor radon level of 35 Bq/m3, the lung cancer incidence was about 50% of that in a low-level radon region. Their results also showed that in the above mentioned high background radiation area, the mortality rate caused by all types of cancer was 37% lower.
The use of Radiation Hormesis in medicine is still experimental in Japan but they are 20 years into the work. It was Japanese scientists who helped to launch human studies of radiation hormesis in Ontario Canada. McMaster University is the centre for this research in Canada but without the support of the Japanese researchers it would not have moved forward so quickly.
Here are some links to leading edge Japanese research and researchers ...
Radiation Hormesis Overview
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/radioadaptive/inthorm.html
http://www.mitosyfraudes.org/Ingles2/Sadao.html (Using Low-dose Radiation for Cancer Suppression and Vitalization)
Comparing Naturally Occurring Radiation to Nuclear Accident Releases like Fukushima
The press consistently confuses naturally occurring radiation from that released by a nuclear accident such as at Fukushima in Japan. Naturally occurring radiation comes from Uranium and Thorium mainly which have a half life in excess of 4 billion years. Both give off a mild type of radiation dating back to the formation of the Earth. On the other hand, many radioactive components escaping from Fukushima have a half life of days, not billions of years. That means all the radiation is given off a million times more quickly ... and it could poison people. Please do not confuse natural radiation with man made isotopes which can be very dangerous.
One thing the Japanese have in their favour is the popularity of radon hot springs for healing. This means the Japanese people have developed an elevated resistance to the effects of radiation from their cultural hot spring bathing behaviour. Lets hope this protects them.
For USA and Canadian folk worried about the tiny amounts of bad isotopes floating in from the ocean ... time to build up your immunity. Shop for beads at your local bead shop. The good ones are called vaseline or uranium glass beads. They are 2% uranium and give off very low levels of natural radiation which will build up your immunity to both diseases and to radiation.
The Major Radiation Hormesis Researchers in 2012
For further research please look at the scientific papers by the following researchers ...
Dr T. Don Luckey of the USA: The original researcher to surprise the world by stating that radiation can be biopositive! Here he is with Jay Gutierrez, a medicine man from Colorado who heals with uranium rocks. Luckey is in his 90s in this picture from last fall.
Webage about Radiation Hormesis written by Don Luckey in 2009 ...
http://giriweb.com/luckey.htm#ldeux
Douglas Boreham is a Radiation Biologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, at McMaster University.
Professor Boreham has attracted millions of dollars in research support for McMaster University and is building Canada’s first biological microbeam to study the effects of a single alpha particle in cells. He has over 22 years of radiation research experience and his expertise involves radiation cancer risk and genetic effects of radiation on living systems. He has published more than fifty scientific research manuscripts and has won four major teaching awards since moving to McMaster University. He has been invited to give scientific and public lectures about radiation risk around the world.
Doug Boreham will be conducting tests in Hamilton Ontario where human trials of radiation hormesis are underway soon to mitigate cancer in ex cancer patients using low dose X rays.
Jerry Cuttler of Canada: Jerry's wife was treated with half-body, low-dose irradiation therapy. This type of treatment has been provided to many cancer patients in Japan. This treatment was provided in 2011 as a prophylaxis to prevent the recurrence of cancer, after a tumour was removed by surgery.
Since 1995, Dr. Cuttler has been assessing the health effects of ionizing radiation and drawing international attention to radiation hormesis. He presented tens of papers at many conferences pointing out that low exposures are stimulating for curing infections, extending life and reducing the incidences of cancer and congenital malformations. He organized adaptive response sessions at nuclear energy conferences, inviting renowned radiobiologists to present remarkable evidence. He has urged many oncologists to use total-body low-dose radiation in cancer therapy. He has intervened with regulators with submissions that identify beneficial effects following low doses and debunk the LNT assumption. He arranged presentations by world specialists in low dose at hospitals, universities, nuclear centers and societies. He continues to communicate positive low dose information and fight politicized radiation scares on the Internet and at professional and social clubs.
Dr. Cuttler is the recipient
of 2011 International Dose-Response Society Award for
Outstanding Career Achievement. The award is presented to
individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the
field of Dose Response
Edward Calabrese of the USA has advanced the
theory of radiation hormesis through extensive
experimentation.
At an international conference this week at UMass Amherst, Andre Maisseu, president of the Paris-based World Council of Nuclear Workers, announced that Calabrese is the council’s 2009 Curie Prize winner. Maisseu saluted Calabrese during the annual meeting of the International Dose-Response Society, of which Calabrese, an environmental toxicologist, is a founder and current director. Maisseu said the prize recognizes an entire body of research that has improved scientific knowledge of low-dose ionizing radiation effects on human beings and biological communities. A formal award ceremony will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September.
Dr. Sadao Hattori is the now retired Vice President in charge of Nuclear Energy of Japan's Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI). He directed Japan's research program on the effects of low-dose radiation, conducted at 14 universities. A 1959 graduate of Tokyo Institute of Technology with a master's degree in nuclear engineering, Hattori received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo with a thesis on the risk assessment of nuclear energy. He has been a guest professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology and at the Nagoya Institute of Technology, and he has held his present position at CRIEPI since 1989. Hattori was interviewed by managing editor Marjorie Mazel Hecht in April 1997, and published in 21st Century Science & Technology. Summer 1997, Vol. 10, No. 2.
Download a .pdf interview with Hattori outlining Japanese medical research using rad. hormesis.
The University of Ottawa hosts the International Centre for Low Dose Radiation Research. This is a great source.
http://www.lowdose.uottawa.ca/projects.htm
The two main researchers can be contacted through the mail addresses below.
Philippe Duport,
Director,
555 King Edward Ave,
Ottawa, ON.
K1N 6N5
Russell Renaud
Project Manager,
555 King Edward Ave,
Ottawa, ON.
K1N 6N5
There are many many other researchers in the field of Radiation Hormesis. This is just a sample of the researchers.
These researchers will lead you to other researchers. The topic of Radiation Hormesis is a very hot topic in biology and many PhD papers have come out in the last few years on this subject.
Scientific Research Documents for Downloading (.pdf files)
100 years of Radon Therapy
History of Radon and Gas Therapy
Cancer and Low level Radation Therapy by Jerry Cuttler.
Hormesis, Historical Investigations. by Edward Calabrese
Radiation Hormesis Overview
Application of Low Doses of Radiation for Curing Cancer by Jerry M. Cuttler DSc.-Myron Pollycove MD-James S. Welsh MD
Bathtub Experiments with Pitchblende to Replicate Healing Spring 1913
Becker, Health Effects of Radon in Europe
Diabetes and low level hormesis by Hattori
Hattori, Radiation Hormesis and Cancer
Hormesis 2011 by T D Luckey
Hormesis 641 by T D Luckey
Hormesis using Internal and External Sources by T D Luckey
Hormesis Examples including cancer
Hormesis of Radon by Hattori
Radiation Treatment of Gangrene from Early 20th Century
DNA Repair Center Mechanism Understanding 2011
Low Dose Radiation in Medicine by Cuttler.
Radiobiological basis of hormesis
Misasa Cancer Mortality (japanese village with high radon water)
Treatment using Radon for Arthritis type diseases
High levels of natural radioactivity in Iran ... harmlessness shown
Jerry Cuttler Receives award for research
Radiation Hormesis, Demise of a Legitimate Hypothesis by Calabrese
Muller Nobel Prize Speech misinformation about low doses
Muller Nobel Prize Speech misinformation - expanded version
This page provides background research for the Idea Wave Conference talk in 2012 in Victoria BC Canada where Ian Soutar presented a talk on Radiation Hormesis on Feb 25 2011.
Making Your Own Radiation Hormesis Tools
How to Find the Ideal Dose of Radiation for Disease Prevention
The ideal dose of nuclear radiation to produce a maximum bio-positive effect can be found from the following dose diagram, originally from T. D. Luckey and modified by Jerry Cuttler for clarity in a paper published in April 2012.
ALARA = as low as reasonably achievable
It should be noted that there is almost a 3 orders of magnitude difference!
ALARA is the currently used standard resulting in the evacuation from Fukushima area towns.
The following article by Dr. Jerry Cuttler questions the evacuation as unnecessary in the Dose Response website ...
http://dose-response.metapress.com/link.asp?id=35766131k01w4103
Calculating Your Yearly Dose from Your Source
In the discussion below the units shift from microsievert to millisieverts.
To make this clear, we have shown the units as either Micro-Sievert or Milli-Sievert in the discussion.
You can see from the above diagram Figure 3 that bio--positive effects can be seen to peak at 100 mGy =100 Milli-Sievert per year. A sievert is equal to a gray for calculation purposes.
As an example: If you are continuously exposed to 11 Micro-Sievert/hour source that you wear 24/7 the dose
will be ...
0.000011 * 24 * 365 = 97 Milli-Sievert/year which is close to optimal.
For general use I would recommend 5 beads source shown below in order to try it out. 5 beads put out 4 Micro-Sievert/hour or 35 Milli-Sievert/year. The above Figure 3 diagram suggests an almost equal degree of bio-protection as 8 beads provide.
In the picture of myself below I am wearing 8 uranium glass beads that together produce 7 Micro-Sievert/hour. This results in a yearly dose of 61 Milli-Sievert/year. This will reduce cancers by about 40% as well as reducing infectious diseases (almost as well as 100 Milli-Sievert/year.) Wearing the beads below I have experienced the first winter of my life with no colds and no flus. My immunity is usually poor and for the last 40 years I have been sick for 1 to 2 weeks every winter with multiple colds and I almost always get the flu. Time will tell if this trend continues ... but I am unlikely to give up using the beads.
Wide Range of Safe and Effective Hormetic Dosages
You can see from the diagram Figure 3 that doses from 10 Milli-Sievert per year to 1000 Milli-Sievert per year score at least a 35% reduction of cancers.
This is a range of two orders of magnitude that is bio-positive! There is therefore a very wide range of dosages that produce the identical degree of protection within 5%. This means that by choosing a lower but effective dosage for protection of a population you will mitigate the problems for someone whose immune system is weakened. So when data becomes available it is expected that minimal levels would be adjusted according to the finding of the research in this area of health study.
Here is Ian Soutar, me, wearing some beads. Being an old hippie I like them.
These beads are approved for jewellery use and are completely safe. You can purchase these beads in many bead stores. Ask for uranium glass beads ... any glass (not plastic) beads that glow under UV light are the right kind. If they glow optimally then they are 2% uranium.
Making Radiation Hormesis Tools Using Uranium Glass Beads.
One medium sized bead (1 cm across) produces 1 Micro-Sievert/hour. These are my standard beads which I can sell if you cannot find them in your area. We would prefer that you find a local source of Uranium Glass Beads, but we can send some out on special request or suggest suppliers. Ours are also calibrated but with the wide range of strengths shown by the above chart that are biopositive you can see this is generally not needed. 5 beads in the 1 centimeter diameter size will do the job.
Someone will need a geiger counter and they can help many people in your town to find true uranium glass beads. A UV or Black Light is another option to identify uranium glass beads because they glow green under UV light. The key fact is that GLASS beads can only be made to fluoresce with the addition of uranium. Plastic beads are useless! Uranium glass is widely available, having been popular worldwide since the 1830s. Some sources suggest that uranium glass was used in ancient Roman villa tilework in 70 AD.
Uranium glass is still produced today for specialized markets such as beads, marbles, stained glass sheets for church windows. as well as for cups and plates, bowls etc. Boyd Art Glass of Ohio is just one example. There is an abundance of this kind of items in antique stores and it is fun to track them down, either with a geiger counter or a portable black (UV) light. I prefer the light because it is quicker. There is no shortage of ideal strength glass materials. They are very safe to handle and approved for jewellery.
Uranium glass beads glowing in UV Uranium glass marbles glowing in UV
Find Your Own Beads
Why not find your own with a geiger counter or UV light. The beads are commonly available, particularly from the Czech republic where they are traditional. Check your local bead shop. Each bead is always in the range of 0.5 to 2.0 micro-sievert/hour output. If you use 5 of any design of jewellery grade uranium glass beads you will be receiving a radiation dose in the biopositive range.
Here I am wearing some uranium glass beads.
Being an old hippie, I like wearing beads.
My Own Experience with Radiation Hormesis
I am an electronic product developer who uses microcontrollers and analog electronics to create industrial and medical tools. My business in Victoria BC Canada is called Microsec R&D Inc. The Microsec webpage is at http://microsec.net. We began making geiger counters after the Fukushima accident in March of 2011. After designing them I wondered if I could find a source to mail out with each unit. I discovered uranium glass was available from the local bead shops. It worked as a mail out source for geiger counters. Then I started to look at the safety ... and found that they were 100% safe. Then with a little more research I stumbled across T. D. Luckey's writing and emailed him for more information. He introduced me to Jerry Cuttler, who lives in Ontario where I met him in 2011. These people introduced me to others in the hormesis field and I started collecting science papers. That is the origin of this library.
I personally found it very hard to discard the propaganda of the 1960s. As a kid we had atomic bomb practices at school etc. People were building bomb shelters. I saw the regulations coming as a kid. I played in the Ranwick Uranium mine near Sault Ste Marie as a kid collecting radioactive samples using a friend's dad's geiger counter. There were no regulations to speak of in 1959. This was a major hobby between the ages of 9 and 12.I slept with my radioactive rocks under my pillow and on the night table. On my pillow was the toy spinthariscope that you could look at in the night and see the sparkling scintillation with your own eye that represented nuclear energy activity.
Suddenly the new regulations came into play by 1961 and my parents threw away my rock collection. All the cool Atomic Experimenters Kits for Kids disappeared from the hobby shops. In 2011 I called all my childhood friends that played in the Ranwick Uranium Mine. We had all been told to expect problems later in life from our radiation exposure. But when I called them, all were healthy, none had had cancer.
In 2011, after emailing T. Don Luckey I started ordering samples of radioactive minerals on ebay. Since I had a geiger counter to select the strength of stone I could start scientifically irradiating myself to improve health. I bought some minerals from Thailand (pure thorite crystals) and some radiation hormesis tools from Nighthawk Minerals. The effects were immediately evident. The first day of self irradiation an allergy that had developed to my favourite cat completely disappeared never to return. Later my arthritis pain mostly disappeared. The mudpack is to be recommended for pain control. My wife and I both use it and it provides for non pharmaceutical pain relief.
As of Feb 2012 I started to use radon using a Revigator to generate 3 gallons of radon water that I add to the bathtub every few days. This is just like a hot spring bath. My arthritis cleared up to the point that I am now off dancing most weekend. I would never recommend drinking the Revigator water ... it is high in several toxic minerals that should not be ingested.
I also wear uranium glass beads and have several strong pieces of ore (150 uSv/hour) for local healing. If I hold the strong ore over a recent injury it heals more quickly but I only hold it there for 1 hour.
Most of the time (24/7) I wear pendant sources between 4 micro-sievert/hour to 11 micro-sievert/hour resulting in a yearly exposure between 35 and 97 millisievert. Starting in March or April I have been accepted into a university scientific study at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario to look at my blood using a dose-response method. They can detect changes in my immune reactions. I have become my own guinea pig!
Looking at the 5000 year history of radiation hormesis based healing through natural hot springs it has been and remains of great benefit. Population studies worldwide show that in areas of high natural radiation there are 30% fewer cancers and also 20% fewer genetic mutations. Europe and Asia have gotten over the Cold War propaganda about the dangers of low level naturally occurring radiation.
Here in North America however the fear of natural nuclear radiation has not lifted and as we establish more and more rules to lower the background radiation level people's health will decline. It is very important that this basic mode of healing that has been with us for 5000 years or more be embraced just as it was in Ancient Greece and also in 2012 throughout much of Europe and Asia.
The purpose of this website is to overcome the nuclear propaganda of the Cold War that still haunts North America.
If you have comments or wish to add material or have corrections ... please do not hesitate to email me ...
Ian Soutar April 25 2012
isoutar@microsec.net