title: The marginalization of hormesis.
abstract: Despite the substantial development and publication of highly reproducible toxicological data, the concept of hormetic dose-response relationships was never integrated into the mainstream of toxicological thought. Review of the historical foundations of the interpretation of the bioassay and assessment of competitive theories of dose-response relationships lead to the conclusion that multiple factors contributed to the marginalization of hormesis during the middle and subsequent decades of the 20th century. These factors include: (a) the close-association of hormesis with homeopathy lead to the hostility of modern medicine toward homeopathy thereby creating a guilt by association framework, and the carry-over influence of that hostility in the judgements of medically-based pharmacologists/ toxicologists toward hormesis; (b) the emphasis of high dose effects linked with a lack of appreciation of the significance of the implications of low dose stimulatory effects; (c) the lack of an evolutionary-based mechanism(s) to account for hormetic effects; and (d) the lack of appropriate scientific advocates to counter aggressive and intellectually powerful critics of the hormetic perspective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Baldwin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006705:Homeopathy; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014116:Toxicology / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants