Talk:Hormesis
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"According to the theory, a little arsenic, dioxin or radiation peppered on the spaghetti sauce may be just what we require to live long and healthy lives...
"The idea is that poisons such as arsenic are, of course, poisonous – that is, if one ingests too much they will produce sickness or death. But arsenic and other toxins in very low doses, below an amount deemed harmful, repeatedly have been shown to benefit the functions of organs, the optimal growth of the organism or longevity.
"According to scientists who favor this theory, when the human body, or cell, becomes stressed or damaged by a small amount of poison, it not only repairs the damage but overcompensates and becomes stronger than it was."
Source: Yale Diva blog (http://www.yalediva.com/archives/000619.html)
medical
Can someone provide evidence for hormesis being used now medically?
- If hormeosis is "high dose bad, low dose good" - I find this article unclear - consider AZT and Fluoridation. ("A high dose of anything is bad for you" is the usual argument of proponents.) Or consider anaesthetics. Or red wine.
- If hormeosis is a general nonlinear outcome, then Petkau effect ought to be crossref'd somewhere, like after "ionising radiation". Kwantus 23:39, 2004 Dec 16 (UTC)
- I don't think advocates claim hormesis works for all substances, just in certain notable cases. Also, it's very important to distinguish between hormesis, which has some scientific basis, and homeopathy which is a pseudoscience.