(3 reviews) Author: ISBN : 9780932682987 New from $25.65 Format: PDFThese two discoveries (not previously published elsewhere) point to a safe and painless way to achieve big reductions in mortality from both diseases --- because the undeniable benefits of xray procedures can be obtained, demonstrably, at much lower levels of xray dosage. Exposure to xrays, including fluoroscopy and CT scans, is a well-established cause of structural chromosomal aberrations and other mutations, even at very low doses and dose-rates.
Because the author's two discoveries are so startling, he shares at the outset (Chapter 1) the eight reasons which combine to make him confident that the findings are scientifically sound.
The content of this book is important to everyone who has either a professional or a personal interest in understanding and preventing Cancer and Ischemic Heart Disease. These two diseases account for 45% of deaths in the USA. The book presents strong evidence that medical radiation is one of their important causes.
Like detectives, many readers ENJOY evaluating evidence of causation. They seek data-and-logic, and are not intimidated by it. Such readers will find this to be a reader-friendly book. It uses no complex statistical operations. It shows each step between the raw data and the conclusions. And, because readers will "arrive" from many different fields, it defines even basic terms and concepts.
The nature of the evidence in this book will be comprehensible not only to biomedical and public health scientists, physicians, and undergraduate students worldwide, but also to non-medical scientists, engineers, lawyers, and health activists. The book begins with a short Introduction, an Abstract, and an Executive Summary.
Nearly all physicians --- whether they be radiologists, surgeons, gynecologists, cardiovascular specialists, general practitioners, or other --- either administer or "order" medical xrays. They need to know the findings and implications of this book for the health of their patients, regarding two of the most serious diseases in the United States. One implication: The undeniable benefits of xrays need to be, and demonstrably can be, obtained at much lower dose-levels than the levels commonly in use.
Patients today, who diligently inform themselves about the causes and prevention of various ailments, may wish to talk over the discoveries in this book with their own physicians.
Scientific inquiry is often organized around the exploration of hypotheses. Evidence is presented to test the validity of the hypotheses in logical ways. While an untested hypothesis is a speculation, hypotheses which PASS appropriate tests are the very substance of scientific knowledge.
This book presents a mountain of evidence which supports the two hypotheses stated on the book's cover. The first is that medical radiation is a highly important cause (probably the principal cause) of cancer mortality in the United States during the Twentieth Century. The second is that medical radiation, received even at very low and moderate doses, is an important cause of death from Ischemic Heart Disease; the probable mechanism is radiation-induction of mutations in the coronary arteries, resulting in dysfunctional clones (mini-tumors) of smooth muscle cells.
- Paperback: 699 pages
- Publisher: Committee Nuclear Responsibility; 1 edition (November 17, 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0932682987
- ISBN-13: 978-0932682987
- Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 11 inches
- Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Radiation from Medical Procedures in the Pathogenesis of Cancer and Ischemic Heart Disease: Dose-Response Studies with Physicians per 100,000 Population PDF
Millions of cases of cancer, AND millions of cases of coronary heart disease, can be prevented by means of simple, systematic changes in the ways doctors use X-rays. This is the message in this monumental book by one of the world's most distinguished authorities on the effects of radiation on health.
In spite of its formidable title and length, Gofman's book is readable by the educated public. Its analysis is brilliantly simple. Although his actual journey was far more circuitous and demanding, in effect what Gofman did was to go to the library, copy some numbers out of standard references, and plot the results on easily understood graphs. Gofman found that the number of doctors per capita varied in different regions of the country, and that death rates from various causes did, too. When the death rate for everything-BUT-cancer-and-heart-disease was plotted against doctors-per-capita, the result was (as we would hope and expect), the more doctors, the lower the death rates.
But when a similar plot was done for overall cancer death rate, the result was, the more doctors, the MORE deaths from cancer, with the most "doctor-dense" region having a cancer death rate about DOUBLE that of the least doctor-dense region. The relationship is extremely strong, both statistically and by visual inspection of the graph. Gofman's explanation: It's well known radiation can cause cancer, and doctors, so to say, cause radiation through use of diagnostic X-rays, CT scans, etc.
Contrasting with the very high doses of radiation used to TREAT cancer, most medical uses involve low doses--ones so low, according to conventional wisdom, that they have negligible effects.
First of all, I want to preface my review with some disclosure. I was a relatively young man when I had a bio-chemical recurrence of cancer following radical surgery. Significant radiation treatments were one of my options. I chose not to avail myself of such treatments due to their toxic impact on my body and their costs as I was without insurance at the time. (I currently enjoy a VERY high degree of health.)
Years later, I found this book and purchased it hoping to get a sense of "how much is TOO much" radiation - with respect to medical radiation doses. The author does not handle this particular question, for the most part because cumulative doses of medical X rays, etc. have never been tracked for patients. Why? Well, is a different question and not covered in this book.
Still, regarding the question of medical radiation dosage and safety - the question is addressed in a much more unexpected way: namely, the data unequivocally indicates there is no such thing as a "safe" (as long as one means "harmless") dosage. Ionizing radiation is a cancer causing reality. This fact is incontrovertible and been proven many times. Of course, cancer (all cancers, actually) appear to have numerous co-factors. A singular cause appears to be elusive in most cases. Personal outcomes vary widely, but statistical correlations do exist - And none is stronger than the ones shown in this book.
The real plus was discovering a very plausible way to reduce heart disease and cancer in the US would be to reduce the exposure to medical radiation by a factor of 2. This should be doable, based upon the author's estimation. This would have a more dramatic affect (quite probably) than universal cessation of tobacco smoking in the general population.
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