Hormesis takes the notion “too much of a good thing can be bad” and turns it on its head by suggesting that, sometimes, a little of a bad thing can be good.6981 Hormesis comes from the Greek term hormáein, meaning “to excite.”6982 Rather than a linear model in which there are small effects at small doses and the same but larger effects at larger doses, hormesis describes a biphasic response characterized by one effect at a low dose and the opposite effect at a higher dose. For example, herbicides kill plants, but in tiny doses they can actually boost plant growth, presumably by stressing the
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