Covid Renews Interest in Radon Health Mines

By Katheryn Houghton, Kaiser Health News

Twice a year, Brian Tichenor makes the 1,200-mile drive each way from his home in Kansas to a defunct uranium mine in Montana, where he takes an elevator 85 feet below the surface to sit amid radioactive radon gas to ease the pain from his chronic eye condition.

“I found it like I think a lot of people do,” said Tichenor, 67. “It’s a point of desperation with conventional treatment.”

While radon is commonly known as a hazardous gas removed from basements, people in pain travel to Montana and pay to breathe, drink and bathe in its radioactive particles. The travelers view the radon exposure as low-dose radiation therapy for a long list of health issues.

But the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization, among others, blame the gas as the second-leading cause of lung cancer.

Although cancer doctors use radiation as a front-line treatment to destroy dangerous cells, its role in the U.S. in low doses for other ailments is disputed. The pandemic has recharged that debate as clinical trials across the world test whether low doses of radiation can help treat covid-19 patients.

Katheryn Houghton (KHN)

Katheryn Houghton (KHN)

But radon gas isn’t the same radiation U.S. doctors use, radiation experts caution. Radon is just one of the radioactive chemical elements and, because it’s a gas, it can be inhaled, making it particularly dangerous. Sitting in a radon-filled room and targeted radiation treatment in a medical facility are as different as “chalk and cheese,” said Brian Marples, a professor of radiation oncology at the University of Rochester.

“In clinical therapy, we know exactly what the dose is, we know exactly where it’s going,” he said.

Marples said much of the argument for radon’s therapeutic use relies on historical reports, unlike evidence-based research on clinical radiation. Still, some radiation experts are split on what level of radon should be deemed dangerous and whether it could have positive health effects.

Another concern: The radon treatment in the mines is largely unregulated. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services doesn’t have the authority to permit or license the mines, though department spokesperson Jon Ebelt said the adverse health risk from exposure is well known. The EPA also doesn’t have the power to mandate limits on radon.

‘Fountain of Youth’

Nonetheless, each year travelers head to western Montana, where four inactive mines flush with radon are within 11 miles of one another near the rural communities of Basin and Boulder. Day passes range from $7 to $15. The gas naturally forms when radioactive elements in the mountains’ bedrock decay.

Outside the Merry Widow Health Mine, a billboard-like banner announces “Fountain of Youth. FEEL YOUNG AGAIN!” Inside its tunnels, water seeps from the rock walls.

Those who want full immersion can slip into a clawfoot tub filled with radon-tainted water. People soak their feet and hands in water or simply sit and work on a puzzle. On a bench sits a printout of a Forbes article on clinical trials that show low-dose radiation could be a treatment for covid-19.

To owner Chang Kim, 69, his business is a mission, especially for those with chronic medical conditions such as arthritis or diabetes. Those who swear by radon therapy say that, in low doses, a little stress on the body triggers the immune system to readapt and reduces inflammation.

“The people coming to the mines, they’re not stupid,” Kim said. “People’s lives are made better by them.”

He learned about the mines 14 years ago when he and his wife, Veronica Kim, lived in Seattle and a connective tissue disease crumpled Veronica’s hands and feet. Traditional medicine wasn’t working. After two sessions a year in the mines ever since, Veronica smiles when she shows her hands.

Katheryn Houghton (KHN)

Katheryn Houghton (KHN)

“They’re not deformed anymore,” she said, adding she’s been able to cut down on her use of meloxicam, a medication to reduce pain and swelling.

Tichenor said going to a mine with radon over six years has been one of the few things to calm his scleritis, a disorder that causes pain he describes as ice picks stabbing his eyes. As for its potential danger, he said radon treatment is just like any medication: Too much can cause harm. He and other radon users point to European countries such as Germany, where the therapy may be controversial but doctors still can prescribe radon treatments for various conditions that insurance may even cover.

(For another look inside the Merry Widow Health Mine, see this 2016 PNN story)

How Much Radiation Is Safe?

In the U.S., the EPA maintains that no level of radon exposure is risk-free even though everyone encounters the element in their lives. The agency notes radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year. It recommends that homeowners with radon levels of 4 picocuries per liter or more should add a radon-reduction system. By contrast, the owners of Montana’s oldest radon therapy mine, Free Enterprise Radon Health Mine, said their mine averages around 1,700.

Monique Mandali said the federal guidelines are “a bunch of baloney.” Mandali lives in Helena, about 40 minutes from the mines, and tries to fit in three sessions at Free Enterprise a year — 25 hours of exposure spread out over 10 days for arthritis in her back.

“People say, ‘Well, you know, but you could get lung cancer.’ And I respond, ‘I’m 74. Who cares at this point?’” she said. “I’d rather take my chances with radon in terms of living with arthritis than with other Western medication.”

Antone Brooks, formerly a U.S. Department of Energy scientist who studied low-dose radiation, is among those who believe the federal government’s no-level-of-radon-exposure stance goes too far. He pointed to research that indicates low doses of radiation potentially turn on pathways within bodies that could be protective. Though what’s considered a “low dose” depends on who’s talking.

“If you want to go into a radon mine twice a year, I’d say, OK, that’s not too much,” he said. “If you want to live down there, I’d say that’s too much.”

In the early 1900s, before antibiotics were popularized, small doses of radiation were used to treat pneumonia with reports it relieved respiratory symptoms. Since then, fear has largely kept the therapeutic potential of low-dose radiation untapped, said Dr. Mohammad Khan, an associate professor with the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University. But amid the pandemic, health care providers struggling to find treatments as hospital patients lie dying have been giving clinical radiation another look.

So far, the trials Khan has led show that patients who received targeted low-dose radiation to their lungs got off oxygen and out of the hospital sooner than those without the treatment. Khan said more research is necessary, but it could eventually expand clinical radiation’s role for other illnesses.

“Some people think all radiation is the same thing, that all radiation is like the Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombs, but that’s clearly not the case,” Khan said. “If you put radiation in the hands of the experts and the right people — we use it wisely, we use it carefully — that balances risk and benefits.”

The logo for Free Enterprise Radon Health Mine is a miner skipping with crutches in the air. Roughly 70 years ago, a woman said her bursitis disappeared after visiting the mine several times. Thousands of others followed suit.

“We believe in it,” said Leah Lewis, who co-owns the mine with her husband, Ryan Lewis, and has relied on it to help treat her Crohn’s disease.

The couple live on-site and grew up in Boulder, going into the tunnels just as their 5-year-old daughter does now. Her husband’s great-grandfather owned the mine, and the business has been in the family ever since.

“Not one person has come back and said they’ve gotten lung cancer here,” Ryan Lewis said. “If they did, they would shut us down so fast.”

Aside from a billboard outside Helena, the family doesn’t really advertise the business. Clients tend to find them. Like many companies, Ryan Lewis said, Free Enterprise took a hit last year as people canceled plans because of the pandemic. Before that, he said, the business broke about even, adding that radon can be “a hard sell.”

But he said the family of cattle ranchers plans to keep it running as long as it doesn’t cost them money.

“The land is an investment, and we want to keep it in the family,” he said. “And there are a lot of people who use this, and there’s some responsibility there.”

Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Chronic Pain Patients Go Underground for Relief

By Pat Anson, Editor

The stories seem a little hard to believe. Miraculous cures. Migraines that fade away.  Cataracts that disappear.  People crippled by arthritis suddenly able to walk again.

“I’ve seen people come in with crutches and throw the crutches way. I’ve seen some stuff that’s just crazy,” says Clint Feehan.

“We’ve seen a lot of miracles,” adds Irene Kohut.

We’re not talking about Lourdes or some other religious shrine, but an abandoned gold and silver mine in southwest Montana that’s been resurrected as a radon health mine.

For over 60 years, tens of thousands of people hobbled by arthritis, diabetes, fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions have visited the Merry Widow Health Mine. Many heard stories – often passed down by relatives and friends – that low levels of radon gas inside the Merry Widow will cure whatever ails them.

Radon is a colorless and odorless gas that is a natural byproduct of decomposing uranium. At high levels, radon gas can be dangerous and has been linked to cancer, but at low levels advocates say it helps reduce inflammation and has other healing properties.

Located near the hardscrabble mining town of Basin, the Merry Widow doesn’t look like much from the outside. Just a dark tunnel cut into the side of a mountain. Walk inside though and you’ll see people playing cards, reading and cheerfully chatting away in a friendly, social environment.

Many soak their hands and feet in cold spring water that seeps from the mine shaft. Others drink the water, convinced it will restore them.

“I drink it all the time. The water’s good for you. And I take water home with me. I take 20 gallons home,” says Feehan, a 64-year old Wyoming man who started visiting the Merry Widow three years ago to help with his arthritis pain.

“I could hardly get out of bed. My back, hands and ankles all hurt. So we just came up here and tried it, just for the heck of it. I had nothing to lose,” he said.

Like many, Feehan learned that it usually takes multiple trips inside the Merry Widow – for an hour or so at a time -- before he started to benefit from the experience.

“When you first came in, after a day or two, you’ll feel like you’re getting the flu. You’ll feel like you’re getting sick and you don’t understand why. And you think it’s not doing you any good. But it’s the toxins leaving your body is why you don’t feel good. And if you just keep coming, you’ll come out of it.”

That flu-like feeling is what Veronica Kim experienced when she first visited the Merry Widow in 2004. Veronica suffers from an inherited connective tissue disorder that left her unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair.  

“At first I didn’t have any result. Three days later my symptoms got worse,” Veronica says. “And my husband came to the office and said someone said this would be good for my wife but my wife’s symptoms got worse than ever. And everyone’s laughing and they said congratulations. That means its working!”

The treatments did eventually work for Veronica and she no longer needs a wheelchair.

“I can walk. I can jump. I can kick you even!” jokes Veronica, who started visiting the mine twice a year from her home in Seattle. “Seven days in spring and seven days in fall. I have to do it regularly. My body tells me I need a treatment.”

Veronica and her husband Chang -- who says the mine helped ease his back pain -- were so impressed they bought the Merry Widow in 2008.

The Kims recommend 32 one-hour visits to the mine spread out over 10 to 11 days – an obvious commitment of time and energy for anyone who wants the “full treatment.” Visitors pay $15 for an all-day pass.

“We have really nutritious water, which is mineral water, spring water. I’ve seen so many people, the water cleanses out their kidney stones,” says Chang Kim. “After two days you will see the changes in the complexions. Your face complexion starts changing. Your face shines. You detoxify.”

veronica and chang kim

Exactly how the radon gas helps people is not clear and Kim is careful not to make scientific claims about radon's benefits. He and others who’ve tried the treatment say a certain amount of faith is necessary to make it work.

“Human bodies are affected by emotional things. They got to be ready to get a treatment. You have to be in a phase believing that this mine will work,” he said.

Is it nothing more than wishful thinking? Does spending an hour or so in a cool damp mine have some kind of restorative effect? Does the social, communal atmosphere of being around other true believers play a role in making people feel better?

Irene Kohut first visited the Merry Widow 18 years ago, after a stroke left her partially paralyzed. All she knows is that the mine worked for her.

“I couldn’t brush my hair and had no feeling on one side,” she said.  “I think it helped. It always helps, but you have learn to believe in it. That’s what we come here for. And for the people.”