Human medical trials have begun on severely ill Covid-19 patients using low doses of radiation. Although a very small sample size, the results were quite extraordinary.
Researchers at Emory University Hospital, led by Dr. Mohammad Khan, treated five Covid-19 patients with severe pneumonia who were requiring supplemental oxygen and whose health was visibly deteriorating. Their median age was 90 with a range from 64 to 94, four were female, four were African-American, and one was Caucasian. 1
These patients were given a single dose of radiation (1.5 Gy, or 150 Rad) to both lungs, delivered front and back beam configuration. Patients were in and out of the Radiotherapy Department in 10 to 15 minutes. This was not a low dose of radiation, but it's only equivalent to 15 years of living in Ramsar, Iran, and 8 years on a Brazilian Monazite beach. Despite high natural background radiation fields the frequency of cancer and the lifespan of people living in the Ramsar area is not noticeably different when compared to other general populations around the world. 2
Radiation is not 'killing the virus' but is changing the immune response and may be able to stop the deadly cascade of the cytokine storm
Within 24 hours, four of the patients showed rapid improvement in oxygenation and mental status (more awake, alert and talkative) and were being discharged from the hospital 12 days later. Blood tests and repeated imaging of the lungs confirmed that the radiation was safe and effective, and did not cause adverse effects—no acute skin, pulmonary, gastrointestinal or genitourinary toxicities.
In theory, the shot of radiation is not 'killing the virus' but is changing the immune response and may be able to stop the deadly cascade of the cytokine storm. 3
As James Conca points out, the good thing about this is that apparently most hospitals already have this equipment, so they could start helping people right away. We are already completely set up for these radiation treatments at almost every hospital and cancer center. No new preparation, additional equipment, or training is needed. There is no supply chain issue with this treatment. 1
This is not something new to treat pneumonia. Research from the early 1900s demonstrated improved survival rate as high as 90 percent using low dose radiation to treat patients with pneumonia in the pre-antibiotic era. 4
Here's another example where radiation helped.
A handful of small towns have remarkable longevity. What is it about their lifestyle that can increase your chances of living to 100?
One is a town surrounded by tropical forest and beaches popular with surfers, two are craggy islands in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, the fourth is at the tail of the Japanese archipelago, while the last is a small city in California whose name means 'beautiful hill.' 5
At first glance, there might not seem much to link these five locations- Nicoya in Costa Rica, Sardinia in Italy, Ikaria in Greece, Okinawa in Japan and Loma Linda in California. They are scattered in different corners of the world and could not look more different.
The lifestyles of people across the Blue Zones share certain characteristics
But for anyone wanting to live a long and healthy life, these are perhaps the five best places to have been born. These are the so-called Blue Zones, where people's chances of living to 100 years old is nine times higher than the US average.
Let's first explore the general pattern. The lifestyles of people across the Blue Zones share certain characteristics. 5
The first is diet- People in the Blue Zones tend to eat in moderation, and this seems to slow aging. We don't yet understand the full mechanisms behind these effects, though calorie restriction seems to reduce the build-up of the toxic free radicals that are normally the result of our metabolism, and which can damage our cells.
In addition to eating habits, of equal importance are the social lives the centenarians enjoy: the people in the Blue Zones tend to live in highly integrated communities. It is now well accepted that a sense of social connection helps to reduce the effects of stress, while the responsibility of maintaining those friendships encourages greater overall mental and physical activity.
Then there are unique quirks that can also give some hints at the secrets of exceptional longevity.
A few cups of coffee or tea a day on the Greek Island of Ikaria.
On Okinawa, two of its most common ingredients: the sweet potato and the bitter melon, may have life-extending properties.
The steep slopes on one island in Sardinia increased the physical activity of daily lives.
However, here's one that ties into the discussion on radiation. One island in the Aegean, Ikaria, has low but significant levels of radioactivity. The island is essentially divided into two geologically distinct zones: the east, formed of sedimentary metamorphic rock, and the west, which lies on a bed of granite that leaks radioactive radon into its famous springs.
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Amazingly, the longevity of the population appears to be highest in those slightly radioactive regions
Amazingly, the longevity of the population appears to be highest in those slightly radioactive regions, while the people in the east have slightly lower lifespans. This is a direct tie-in with the radiation hormesis model which posits that exposure of the human body to low levels of ionizing radiation is beneficial and protects the human body against deleterious effects of high levels of radiation. 6
For comparison, the Rocky Mountain States have a lower prevalence of cancer death compared to the Gulf States, yet the background radiation in Idaho, Colorado and New Mexico is around three times as high as the natural background in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
A linear-no-threshold (LNT) assumption exists with 'assumption' as the all-important word that needs to be taken literally. While no one disputes that high doses of radiation cause harm, no one has proof that low levels cause harm. Surprisingly, the scientists and government bodies that adhere to the LNT assumption will tell you that no proof of harm at low levels is even possible because the risk is too low to measure statistically. In the absence of proof, they say, the only prudent course is to play it safe by assuming that low levels or radiation cause harm, reports Lawrence Solomon. 7
Yet, here are some examples:
T. D. Luckey estimates that there are more than 2,000 published research papers showing enhanced health in animals and humans from low dose ionizing radiation. 8
A book by Charles L. Sanders titled Radiation Hormesis and the Linear-No-Threshold Assumption reports on a case of 'an almost perfect study in a human population that demonstrates the highly significant protective effects of near-continuous exposure to gamma radiation.' This case involved more than 180 apartment buildings that had been constructed in Taiwan in the early 1980s using recycled steel that was subsequently discovered to have been contaminated with radioactive cobalt-60. The 10,000 people who were housed there received large doses of radiation over a period of 9 to 20 years that, according to LNT theory, should have led to a total of 302 cancer deaths over the 1983-2003 period studied, 232 of which would have been ordinarily expected had no radiation exposure occurred, with the additional 70 stemming from the exposure. To the researchers' surprise, however, only seven cancer deaths were found, 225 fewer than would have occurred had the buildings been free of radiation. Instead of radiation increasing the death toll by 30%, it may have reduced the death toll by a staggering 97%. The number of birth defects among children born in this radioactive environment also confounded LNT theory. Instead of 48 defects expected, just three occurred.
Researchers Maurice Tubiana and colleagues report that the LNT has resulted in medical, economic and other societal harm.. Advances in radiation biology in the last two decades, and the discovery of defenses against carcinogenesis render the LNT obsolete. 9
In industrialized countries, we now treat more than one million patients with radiotherapy, including 50 percent of all US cancer patients, with obvious positive results. Literally hundred of thousands of medical workers exposed to frequent low-level radiation have experienced similar positive health benefits. 10
In spite of the science, governments continue to use the LNT model. Misuse of this model has produced spending in excess of $1 trillion in the United States alone for negligible health benefits just for governmental environmental cleanup programs, while truly significant measures that would protect public health remain unfunded. It's long overdue that serious reconsideration be given to the LNT model.
Concluding Remarks
So besides all the Blue Zone items mentioned above: diet, active social connections, coffee or tea on Greek Islands, sweet potatoes and bitter melons on Okinawa, steep slopes on Sardinia requiring high physical activity, a little extra radiation might also help.
Could radiation help Covid-19 patients? It's too early to tell but worth more investigation.
References
James Conca, “Preliminary data suggests low-does radiation may be successful treatment for severe Covid-19,” forbes.com, June 12, 2020
Mehdi Sohrabi, “International Conference on High Levels of Natural Radiation Held at Ramsar, Islamic Republic of Iran,” Nucl. Tracks Radiation Meas., 18, 357 (1991)
Joanne Nova, “Low dose radiation may save people from coronavirus,” joannenova.com.au, June 14, 2020
Edward J. Calabrese,, “How radiotherapy was historically used to treatpneumonia: could it be useful today?”, Yale Journal of Biology, 86(4), 555, December 2013
David Robson, “The ingredients for a longer life,” bbc.com, May 12, 2020
Janet Lathrop, “Environmental toxicologist hopes hormesis hypothesis may be acknowledged by US regulatory action,” umass.edu, July 21, 2015
Lawrence Solomon, “Radiation's benefits,” Financial Post, September 2010
Arthur B. Robinson, Access to Energy, February 2011
Maurice Tubiana et al., “The linear-no-threshold relationship is inconsistent with radiation biologic and experimental data,” Radiology, 251, 6, 2009
Jay Lehr, “Low-level radiation benefits health,” Environment & Climate News, August 2011
Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology. He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.
Human medical trials have begun on severely ill Covid-19 patients using low doses of radiation. Although a very small sample size, the results were quite extraordinary.
Researchers at Emory University Hospital, led by Dr. Mohammad Khan, treated five Covid-19 patients with severe pneumonia who were requiring supplemental oxygen and whose health was visibly deteriorating. Their median age was 90 with a range from 64 to 94, four were female, four were African-American, and one was Caucasian. 1
These patients were given a single dose of radiation (1.5 Gy, or 150 Rad) to both lungs, delivered front and back beam configuration. Patients were in and out of the Radiotherapy Department in 10 to 15 minutes. This was not a low dose of radiation, but it's only equivalent to 15 years of living in Ramsar, Iran, and 8 years on a Brazilian Monazite beach. Despite high natural background radiation fields the frequency of cancer and the lifespan of people living in the Ramsar area is not noticeably different when compared to other general populations around the world. 2
