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Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

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Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#31
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a theory (theory! very theoretical) that the risk from radiation does not scale linearly and that low doses of radiation might actually be protective. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis

So we are going full circle now?

Radiation is good for you now, a little bit, as a treat.

Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#32
post #14
post #2

For centuries, in Bulgaria, since Roman times, people have been bathing in slightly radioactive water to treat osteoarthritis. I'm not sure how this is news or an invention when it's been around for centuries and has been the standard of care in Bulgaria for decades. There are sanatoriums and spa centers in Pavel Banya, Bulgaria [0], and I know many friends who go there once or twice a year for treatments and swear t…

There are also old radon baths in Jachymov in Czech republic working on same principle. Exactly for same primary purpose - problems with joints and bones. Then communists made local uranium mines/gulags for 'enemies of the state' which was basically a prolonged death sentence, many were just beaten to death or died from cold/starvation.

I'm not clear on what the second paragraph is adding to your example in the first.

Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#33
This should be a reminder that we have no evidence that the Linear no threshold model of radiation exposure is accurate. In fact, we have compelling evidence against it. But due to rather aggressive lobbying effort by anti-nuclear activists, we are stuck with this idea for the time being.

It's simply the default that was decided on as the most conservative option possible, but that's pretty much it.

Radioactive baths have a rather long pedigree. In Jachymov, Czech Republic, they are used for over century. Sometimes they are even covered by health insurance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_no-threshold_model https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9%C4%8Debn%C3%A9_l%C3%A1...

Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#34
post #32
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also old radon baths in Jachymov in Czech republic working on same principle. Exactly for same primary purpose - problems with joints and bones. Then communists made local uranium mines/gulags for 'enemies of the state' which was basically a prolonged death sentence, many were just beaten to death or died from cold/starvation.

I'm not clear on what the second paragraph is adding to your example in the first.

It's a related and important historical fact that is not well known outside of Czechia. Why not share it with wider audience when given a chance.

Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Science is a process, and from what you described above it is working. Everyone in science knows that all knowledge is provisional, and that goes 100-fold for things which haven't been replicated. Science is an algorithm for ratcheting understanding despite the fact that humans are fallible and some humans are outright frauds.

When we say "everyone in science", I think the part that people find scary is that it's hard to tell who is in science versus who is in 'science'.

Or in other words, it's hard to tell from the outside who really believes what you're stating and who believes it until it's inconvenient, or until it clashes with their personal ideology.

Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#36

This might be one of those cures that works like the old T-Gel shampoo (ie: carcinogenic coal tar that turned out to be immune-suppressing enough to prevent dandruff eventually caused cancer). Though, at the ages when Osteoarthritis shows up, it might be better to take on a smaller risk of monitor-able extremity cancer than the pretty large QoL reduction of severe arthritis.

Wow! I've actually used T-Gel because I used to get dandruff really bad as a teen and it was pretty effective. It's horrifying to know what it really was.

It says coal tar right on the bottle. And it smells awful. And it can be pretty effective.

Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#38

This might be one of those cures that works like the old T-Gel shampoo (ie: carcinogenic coal tar that turned out to be immune-suppressing enough to prevent dandruff eventually caused cancer). Though, at the ages when Osteoarthritis shows up, it might be better to take on a smaller risk of monitor-able extremity cancer than the pretty large QoL reduction of severe arthritis.

Wow! I've actually used T-Gel because I used to get dandruff really bad as a teen and it was pretty effective. It's horrifying to know what it really was.

I used it briefly and then researched it and it seemed like at the time (mid-2000s), nobody could say which of the menagerie of components of the coal tar was actually the effective one.

I stopped pretty much at that point.

Re: Low-dose radiation offers relief to people with knee osteoarthritis

#39
post #23

I'd much more prefer allogeneic stem cell treatment for osteoarthitis. It's a shame it's not available in all those countries where millions of dollars are made by companies making knee joint replacement prosthesis. What a coincidence.

https://physicians.dukehealth.org/articles/stem-cell-therapy...

Which countries is it a available/approved in?

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