Constant exposure to low levels of natural background radiation from different materials present in the environment is a matter of concern for human health. Four decades of genomic, cellular, animal and human data have shown that low-dose ionizing radiation stimulates positive genomic and cellular responses associated with effective disease prevention.
In 1936, NAS report and WWII. Data and research showed that low dose radiation is not, can not be, harmful, and even beneficial, demonstrating “radiation hormesis,” Shu-Zheng Liu, et al 2000, show that low-dose radiation in whole organisms enhances numerous biological responses that are highly significant to health. A. Richards in Science documented the consistent and opposite physiological effects between low and high doses radiation responses.
Biological effects of low dose radiation have been under investigation, and it has been demonstrated that living organisms have great capacity to respond against radiation. Radiation adaptive response, bystander effects, genomic instability and genetic susceptibility are the most well known examples. This adaptive response seems to be the manifestation of a protective effect by modulating the signaling pathways, by activating number of genes different from those activated by high radiation doses that may reduce risk at very low doses.
In our study we looked into the radiation neuroprotective and neuroregenerative responses in terms of levels of lipid peroxidative damage, detoxifying enzymes, EEGs and histological sections etc in the brain of this experimental post traumatic epileptic model of rat.
All my studies showed the protective effect of low dose gamma-ray irradiation in this model which mimics human epilepsy.
This post was submitted by Dr Varsha Sharma.
