I have heard that iodine can protect the body from radiation.
Has anyone had any experience with using iodine for this purpose, and if so, which brand is a decent one.
I am not an expert but if there is a slight chance of it helping, I would certainly not rule it out.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Vacationing in Chernobyl are you? Potassium Iodine is an acute treatment to protect the thyroid when you know you are going to be exposed to harmful levels of radiation. Its not a supplement to take every day.
It's also added to almost all table salt.
I thought iodine only blocks absorption of radioactive isotopes of iodine in thyroid? I am happy to be proven wrong, but wouldn't the only way to be protected from radiation (to a certain degree) be something like like HAZMAT suit that's designed for radiation along with other measures like iodine?
That's correct. Iodine tablets were given to Japanese residents after the Fukushima Daiichi incident.
The reason behind it is because there were radioactive isotopes in the air (particularly iodine-131). Iodine tends to accumulate in a person's thyroid gland, so if a person were to ingest radioactive iodine when living in a irradiated area (breathing and drinking irradiated moisture and water) the radioactive iodine isotopes would gradually accumulate and increase the risks of thyroid cancer.
Your body and most everything else can't tell it from any other isotope of Iodine, so your thyroid will absorb it just fine. This is bad, because this isotope is radioactive and will decay, releasing ionizing radiation and turning into a daughter element that is not iodine-131 (Xenon-131).
The idea behind administering iodine to the residents of Fukushima was that their bodies absorb the non-radioactive iodine first — and therefore prevent them from absorbing any iodine-131 from the environment that can cause cancer.
Thank you scrimshaw. I appreciate your informative response.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Here's an idea: talk to your GP about your concerns and follow their directions instead of self-medicating.
Yeah, their direction will be a follow up appointment with a psychologist.
Are you sure they won't just point you to some panadol?
In Asia iodine is used to clean blood wounds.
In Asia you can wound blood?
Stupid is what stupid says
You actually can. Hemolysis.
Not just in Asia …
Thank you for your comments.
I am not an expert on the subject, but I thought that it may assist with protecting the body from medical radiation treatment as well as all types of medical scans.
Herp - I have no problem discussing it with the doctor but I would like to do my own research first.
Medical X-ray dosage is very carefully controlled. Other types of scans such as ultrasound or MRI don't involve radiation. Don't read alarmist information.
Greenpossum - Thank you for your response. What about bone scans. They do inject you with a radioactive substance.
The amounts of tracer are controlled and kept to a minimum. Doctors are not out to poison you.
I would suggest you go to your GP and talk about it before thinking you're going to learn how to treat whatever issue it is online. There's a reason it takes 7 years or so to become a doctor. You might read about self-prescribed this or that online, but really, it's the internet. No matter how reliable the source, you never know if it is appropriate for you in your current context.
A lot of people are out there trying alternative or unnecessary medicines and having bad outcomes because they don't listen to their doctor, or read up too much on this "other" way of treating something that they get attached to it and ignore what the doctor says. I'm not saying it would happen to you, but it's far more common than you'd expect.
There are different types of radioactive isotopes used for medical imaging. Their half life (the time it takes for the isotope to reduce its radioactivity by 1/2) is very limited to only a few hours. After a day or two the readings are almost negligible.
You need to understand that radioactive rays are continuously bombarding you from many sources and you can do nothing about it. Even cosmic gamma rays which can penetrate though solid rock.
Something worth while watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtj9kwQCltQ
Even flying overseas will give you more gamma radiation than an x-ray.
In summary you have nothing to worry about that would effect you in the long run. Eventually the sun will run out of hydrogen and turn into a red giant and consume the earth in its own orbit.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I agree with you and do not intend to do anything without running it past a medical professional first.
First of all, I hope you are feeling ok with medical treatments and scans.
I am not an expert on radiation so I cannot comment much other than from my memories of physics classes at high school/brief mentioning of PET, MRI and CT during psychology courses.
In terms of x-rays, you are getting radiated with gamma radiation, its impact on the body is minute and dangers of radiation poisoning have been taken into account (thus, they only allow certain amount of x-ray scans to be done annually). I assume this is same for CT (which is pretty much just multiple x-ray scans to make a 3D image). So that wouldn't matter too much I assume.
I wouldn't assume that taking in iodine would do anything for those scans because iodine just stops body from absorbing radioactive isotopes of iodine which might be present in the environment. I think it wouldn't do much with PET scans as well, but then again, I am not an expert.
Also, from basic google search, I fonud that radioactive iodine can be used in some radiation treatment. Wouldn't taking iodine potentially mess up the treatment, if you are going to go through the said treatment?
I personally think you should just trust the doctors and not worry about it. They know what they are doing, it's better to trust someone who saves live for living other than some articles online with unknown sources or strangers on the net, on issues that are as sophisticated as this, in my opinion.
Anyways, good luck with your treatment/scans.
Thank you for taking the time to provide a genuine and caring response.
With X-rays, you are getting irradiate with X-ray's. Gamma rays have a different wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum (which include radio waves, microwaves, ultraviolet, infrared, etc)
My memories are slightly fuzzy :S It was from like 5 years ago.
By all means do your own research, but as others have mentioned, iodine is only useful as a treatment to stop bio-accumulation of radioactive isotopes in the thyroid. This is useful during a nuclear war, or some types of nuclear accident, not during medical treatment (and even then I suspect it isn't much more use than a band-aid on a chainsaw wound!).
Coming onto a bargain forum looking for a place to buy iodine exposes some flaws with your approach to research, which is why everyone is recommending you talk to your doctor.
Thank you for your comment. I am not looking for a place to buy iodine. Just asking if anyone has had any experience using it for the purposes described and if so, which brand may be a good one. I think that some posters have made some incorrect assumptions regarding self medication. This is not the case.
Yeah here's a tip: talking to your qualified GP is better listening to random nutcases on the internet.
Especially when it comes to health.
But if your the kind of person that thinks 12 year old children have the same intellectual value as people who have studied at educational institutions for 12 years - hello Wikipedia! - by all means do it, I can't think of what could go wrong there. I mean to start with pointlessly taking iodine is a great idea (except it harms you) right and I'm sure the internet knows better than your GP and radiologist, I mean those guys don't have a Tumblr so totes obvs they have nfi what theyre talking about! lel…
I have not asked for medical advice here.
I have just asked if anyone has had any experience using iodine for the purposes listed and if so, they could share their experience.
Why would you suggest that the people responding are random nutcases. Are you one?
I have found that most are genuine and helpful.
You are asking for advice as to the efficacy of taking a substance which you think can protect you from radiation you will receive during a routine medical procedure. That is asking for medical advice.
First of all these questions should be fielded to medical professionals instead of a bargain site. Secondly the entire purpose of the radioactive tracer in a bone scan (Tc-99m) is so that the detectors can see areas of increased uptake in the body, what is the point of trying to prevent your body from absorbing the radioactive material? You are defeating the entire point of the procedure.
Secondly to answer your question, no it won't work. Technetium =|= Iodine, iodine was only issued for the purposes you want to use it for during nuclear emergencies of which a bone scan is not.
Just go for the scan, and enjoy being radioactive (and giving the people around you a nice tan) for the next month.
Source: I had a bone scan last month.
Gave you an upvote because at least you asked somebody (or a large group of reasonably educated people, regardless how unqualified).
You can ask for a throat/thyroid guard if you are doing mamogram or any X ray procedure that might not be looking at the neck.
Thank you for the vote and for your comment. I believe that there is nothing wrong with asking. Some comments may be helpful and some may not. It is up to the reader to make that decision. I like your suggestion of a throat/thyroid guard. Thanks again.
No… just…. no.
You're more likely to wind up ruining your Thyroid than "protect yourself from medical radiation treatment".
Are you about to undergo radio-therapy? if so… talk to your oncologist.
The number of times you have to prevent people from unwittingly poisoning themselves is quite concerning really.
What do you mean Youtube is a poor choice as a source of health information?
Why are you self medicating? Just talk to your doctor.
Self medicating when you're already ill sounds like a great way to end worse off.
This is even better: they're self medicating when there's absolutely nothing wrong at all and to "beat" the dangers of X-rays (because we all know people are dropping like flies from those X-rays, might as well put a gun to your head and pull the trigger … o2 self-medicate beforehand! I'm sure the patient knows better than the doctors here, obviously!
You have absolutely no idea about what is going on. Your comments have nothing to do with the truth. There is no self medicating going on and who said that a medical profession is not going to be involved.
Why do you bother responding when you aim is just to offend.
Iodine won't do anything to help with radiation. Radiation can be ionising or non-ionising. Typically the dangerous radiation is considered to be the ionising radiation because the way in which it causes damage is by breaking chemical bonds within the cells and causing molecules to change. Sometimes if that molecule is DNA it will cause cancer by turning off the mechanisms for the cell to stop multiplying. Other than what aznmitch and scrimshaw mentioned, iodine will do nothing to stop other sources of radiation.
If you have serious concerns about radiation then I agree with Davo and think you should ignore everything said here and just talk to your doctor (or whichever health care professional).
If the radiation in question happens to be UV, use sunscreen.
Rolypoly - thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.
Poeple may be interested to know that liquid iodine is sought after by people manufacturing the drug commonly known as ice.
Or people may not be interested in knowing.
How would you know this???
I thought that was just the decoloured (clear) iodine. Which is why you can"t buy it here anymore.
Nature's Way Complete Daily Multivitamin contains "Iodine as Potassium Iodide 50mcg" and "Potassium (as Citrate & Iodide)5.5mg"
Discovered recently when asked immediately pre-procedure by radiologist if I had had any iodine recently. When I said I thought my daily multivitamin might contain some, she did the parathyroid test anyway…I checked labels when I got home.
Don't know if that compromises validity of test; will ask today!
Thank you for sharing this information.
Here is a natural iodine: Sun Ray Health - Ammodine Concentrate. Sunray Health Products 07 32054622
You need to order it from a Natropath. It is hard to get, and was very hard to get when Japan's nuclear crisis was happening.
Thank you. I will check it out.
This chart might help you to better understand the effects of radiation - http://xkcd.com/radiation/
Thank you. This is great.
Science based evidence and rational evaluation of facts is unwelcome here. I'm off for my seaweed bath.
"thus a regular seaweed bath or rub helps ensure well balanced hormones and a more youthful physical appearance, in addition to offering its radiation protective benefits."
http://gailfaithedwards.com/2011/03/16/natural-substances-to…
Cluster - thank you for this fantastic information. It is exactly the sort of stuff I am looking for. Will be pulling out all the seaweed supplements to add to my baths in future.
It is commonly believe that iodine can be used to remove many toxins from your body including radiation and of course fluoride. With flouride is accumulates in the pineal gland and can effect your third eye.
Ive heard through my mums friend that people who take regular iodine have more vivid dreams and clearer thoughts.
I hope that helps ;-)
Thank you so much. I love your comments. You are clearly an alternative thinker.
Um….sorry I was being facetious. Probably not a good idea to believe in crazy conspiracies like iodine protecting you from radiation. Someone is just trying to take your money and as an OzBargainer I would expect you don't part ways with money easily.
The best advice you can take is to see a medical professional like a GP who can give you advice because they have experience and training or they can refer you to a specialist. Homeopaths, naturopaths, osteopaths, faith healers, colonic irrigationists, massage therapists, psychics and astrologers might make you feel good but they cannot and should not replace qualified medical professionals.
Thank you for updating and providing an opinion. I agree with you but I do believe that there is definitely a place for these practitioners. Unfortunately, as with any profession, (including doctors) there are good ones and there are bad ones.
can effect your third eye.
My third eye was once badly 'effected' by a dodgy curry.
Platinum.
too much iodine is bad for your liver. Iodine is used to purify water as well and preppers keep a stash.
Thanks. I didn't know that it was bad for the liver or that it was used to purify water. That is interesting.
If you're interested in radiation, I can highly recommend this particular episode of the Caustic Soda podcast - highly amusing and informative
OMG these guys are a scream. Thank you.
no worries! :)
Man OzBargain is full of all sorts of crazy smart people.
Financial advisors…scientists!
Careful, some can even tell you what you are thinking.
I love this place. Its OK they are all good people.
potassium Iodine makes the BEST bangers when mixed with the right chemicals (sorry wont tell which ones)
i used to place them around ants nests and wait for them to walk over them as they are so sensitive to touch.
dam those days where fun
Glad you enjoyed those days. Hope you are enjoying these days too.
yeah todays great too.
grown up since then but dam was that sh$t funny especially when you get a cricket or something bigger to walk over them lol
Nice link from RODO
In addition,
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/pdf/sfty_xray.pdf
This chart will help you in terms of background radiation + arbitrarily calculated cancer risk.
http://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/radiation.png
An interesting infographic for comparing the relative doses of ionizing radiation (such as those from x-rays, CT scans and nuclear accidents)
I'm a radiographer and work with ionizing radiation as part of my job. X-rays and CT scans. The human body is naturally exposed to ionizing radiation from a variety of sources everyday. As cosmic radiation through the atmosphere, from some elements found naturally on earth etc. The body gets over this radiation exposure by itself without issue. We only start worrying about exposure to ionizing radiation when someone will be receiving alot of it over a very short period of time. Eg having a multitude of CT scans within a day or so, or when having live fluorscopy xray screening of the one body part for hours on end.
As far as I know it only protects you from Caesium-137
It should also be pointed out that iodine intake only protects the thyroid against iodine-131 uptake. Iodine-131 has a half life of just over eight days, so if you're worried about fallout from Fukushima Daiichi in March 2011 you're doing it wrong.
Cluster -Thank you. No, this has nothing to do with Fukushima. This is all about xrays, ct scans, bone scans and any medical procedures which involve radiation of any kind.
I have had a number of ct scans for cancer (MIBG scans - http://www.insideradiology.com.au/pages/view.php?T_id=13#.VQ…) where I was required to be injected with a radioactive substance. In each case I was required to drink some iodine mixed with milk beforehand. This is of no value though in standard cts, xrays etc without actual exposure to radioactive isotopes.
Interestingly (and disturbingly) smoking two packets of cigarettes results in about the same level of radiation exposure as a standard chest x-ray due to polonium 210 in the tobacco leaves. A pack a day smoker is having the equivalent radiation exposure as a person having a chest x ray three or four times a week - say 190 per year.
Rayve - thank you for sharing. I did not know about the cigarettes. You are right. That is disturbing.
I genuinely wish you all the best with your health and hope you will not have to subject your body to any more of those scans.
Don't you find it unusual that alot of comments start with "i am not an expert on….but" yet it follows with an opinion.
When i am not an expert, i dont give an opinion or judge.
Iodine overdose can cause problems though.
I know people who have had eaten too much seaweed and now suffer thyroid problems. That's what the doctors say…
I remember the BonSoya drink was also destroying people's thyroids…
Lugol's iodine can be bought on ebay.