What is Radioactive Iodine?

1 Answer

Radioactive Iodine is a radioactive substance that is used in diagnosis or treatment of certain diseases. Ordinary iodine is a type of nutrients that our body needs, the thyroid gland uses ordinary iodine to make a hormone that guides some of the body’s essential functions. Use in diagnosis When you get a dose of radioactive iodine in liquid capsule form, your thyroid gland absorbs practically all of it. Since it's radioactive, the scanner can pick it up. So it can help find out whether a lump in your neck is thyroid cancer. Parts of the thyroid that shows less redioactivity than others might be cancer. Use in treatment Radioactive iodine can kill the cells that make up the thyroid gland and thyroid cancer. If thyroid cancer has spread to other parts of the body, radioactive iodine can attack the disease there, too. There’s another advantage to using it. When you take it in liquid form, the radiation won’t affect the rest of your body, because the thyroid cells soak up practically all of it. Radioactive iodine can also be used in treating Grave's disease, prostate cancer, eye cancer, cervical or uterine cancer. Side Effect of Radiation After taking radioactive iodine your medical team will keep you in an isolated room in hospital for a few days because your body will give off radiation for a while. It may hurt others. People who had radioactive iodine should wait 6 - 12 months before pregnancy, both male and female.