HORMESIS

is an expression used in physiology, derived from Greek hormo, to excite, which refers to a phenomenon stated by the so-called Arndt-Schulz law: Small doses of poisons are stimulatory. The law has been recognized for chemical and biological toxins; for example, minute doses of germicides will increase fermentation of bacteria, and small doses of antibiotics will stimulate the growth of relatively dormant bacteria that they were supposed to kill.

One of the internationally recognized experts on hormesis is Dr T.D. Luckey, professor of biochemistry at the U. of Missouri at Columbia, who in 1945 discovered hormesis in dietary antibiotics. In 1%9, he was intrigued by data suggesting that Japanese who received 11 to 120 roentgen in the 1945 atomic bomb explosions appeared to live longer than those who were exposed to larger doses or to no dose at all. This, he knew, would place man in conformity with ample, but widely scattered evidence observed in other living organisms; as early as 1898 a scientific paper reported that algae exposed to X-rays grew faster than non-irradiated controls. Luckey then set out to investigate whether the Arndt-Schulz law could be generalized from chemical and biological toxins to ionizing radiation.

What he found was a tremendous amount of uncollected literature supporting his hypothesis; the book that he published 11 years later is a scholarly work likely to remain the standard reference for many years to come. Hormesis With Ionizing Radiation (CRC Publ. Co., Boca Raton, Fla., 1980, 222pp.; for a price-gouging $59.95) lists some twelve hundred references, and meticulously systemizes their results. A table listing merely results on gamma ray hormesis stretches for more than 20 pages, from 1957 to 1975, and lists experiments performed on organisms from viruses, bacteria and fungi through the plant and animal kingdoms all the way to vertebrates.

An interesting section of the book deals with "nine reasons why radiation hormesis has not been pursued diligently, nor exploited practically;" one of them is "disbelief in the results due to small numbers, poor or no statistical evaluations, and emotional inability to believe the differences are real."

Luckey seriously raises the question whether ionizing radiation is essential for life and states "Experiments by students in my laboratory indicate that radiation is essential for optimum reproduction." Moreover, based not merely on empirical statistics, but on well reasoned physiological arguments, he finds "Ionizing radiation levels somewhat above ambient should be beneficial for many physiological functions."

His conclusions are carefully worded, supported by overwhelming evidence, and unambiguous. For example, "Radiation hormesis denies the validity of straight-fine extrapolation from known harmful doses to zero. The argument that low doses give harmful effects in proportion to the dosage is invalid...

"Radiation hormesis can provide more efficient use of resources, maximum production of grains, vegetables, and meat, and increased health and longevity."