Epidemiology Without Biology: False Paradigms, Unfounded Assumptions, and Specious Statistics in Radiation Science (with Commentaries by Inge Schmitz-Feuerhake and Christopher Busby and a Reply by the Authors).
Epidemiology Without Biology: False Paradigms, Unfounded Assumptions, and Specious Statistics in Radiation Science (with Commentaries by Inge Schmitz-Feuerhake and Christopher Busby and a Reply by the Authors).
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DOI：
10.1007/s13752-016-0244-4
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Siegel JA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Sacks B;Meyerson G;Siegel JA
辐射科学是由一个没有经验基础的假设为基础的范式。线性无阈值假说（LNT）认为，无论剂量或剂量率有多低，所有电离辐射都是有害的。声称证实LNT的流行病学研究要么忽略了细胞、组织和生物体水平上的实验和/或观察发现，要么只是为了歪曲或驳回它们而提及它们。这些研究的有效性依赖于循环推理，樱桃采摘，错误的实验设计，和/或从弱统计证据误导性的推论。相反，基于生物学发现的研究证明了毒物兴奋效应的真实性：刺激生物反应，保护有机体免受环境因素的损害。正常的新陈代谢过程比所有的辐射都要有害得多，但最极端的辐射暴露除外。然而，进化已经为所有现存的植物和动物提供了修复这种损伤或去除受损细胞的防御能力，赋予生物体更大的防御能力来抵御随后的损伤。医学期刊的编辑们现在承认，也许有一半的科学文献是不真实的。辐射科学福尔斯就属于这一类。对LNT的信仰通过媒体告知了放射学的实践，辐射监管政策和流行文化。其结果是大规模的辐射恐惧症和有害的后果，包括核电站事故附近的人口被迫搬迁，不愿利用必要的医学成像研究，厌恶核能所有这些都是毫无根据的，对数百万人有害。
Radiation science is dominated by a paradigm based on an assumption without empirical foundation. Known as the linear no-threshold (LNT) hypothesis, it holds that all ionizing radiation is harmful no matter how low the dose or dose rate. Epidemiological studies that claim to confirm LNT either neglect experimental and/or observational discoveries at the cellular, tissue, and organismal levels, or mention them only to distort or dismiss them. The appearance of validity in these studies rests on circular reasoning, cherry picking, faulty experimental design, and/or misleading inferences from weak statistical evidence. In contrast, studies based on biological discoveries demonstrate the reality of hormesis: the stimulation of biological responses that defend the organism against damage from environmental agents. Normal metabolic processes are far more damaging than all but the most extreme exposures to radiation. However, evolution has provided all extant plants and animals with defenses that repair such damage or remove the damaged cells, conferring on the organism even greater ability to defend against subsequent damage. Editors of medical journals now admit that perhaps half of the scientific literature may be untrue. Radiation science falls into that category. Belief in LNT informs the practice of radiology, radiation regulatory policies, and popular culture through the media. The result is mass radiophobia and harmful outcomes, including forced relocations of populations near nuclear power plant accidents, reluctance to avail oneself of needed medical imaging studies, and aversion to nuclear energy—all unwarranted and all harmful to millions of people.