title: Low-dose environmental radiation, DNA damage, and cancer: the possible contribution of psychological factors.
abstract: Radiation causes DNA damage, increases risk of cancer, and is associated with psychological stress responses. This article proposes an evidence-based integrative model in which psychological factors could interact with radiation by either augmenting or moderating the adverse effects of radiation on DNA integrity and eventual tumorigenesis. Based on a review of the literature, we demonstrate the following: (1) the effects of low-dose radiation exposures on DNA integrity and on tumorigenesis; (2) the effects of low-dose radiation exposure on psychological distress; (3) the relationship between psychological factors and DNA damage; and (4) the possibility that psychological stress augments and that psychological resource variables moderate radiation-induced DNA damage and risk of cancer. The additional contribution of psychological processes to radiation-DNA damage-cancer relationships needs further study, and if verified, has clinical implications.
authors.affiliation: Center for Women's Health Studies and Promotion and the Spitzer Department of Social Work, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. jcwikel@bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Julie G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Cwikel
authors.forename: Yori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gidron
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quastel
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004249:DNA Damage; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000523:psychology*; D011598:Psychoneuroimmunology; D013315:Stress, Psychological
chemical_list: D004247:DNA