The I-131 isotope is most commonly used to treat thyroid conditions, including but not limited to thyroid cancer. It is used to either reduce thyroid function by partly destroying the thyroid, or to obliterate remaining thyroid tissue (including cancerous cells). It can damage the developing thyroid of a fetus, and should never be given to pregnant women. It has similar effects on newborns, and thus women who are breastfeeding should stop before treatment, although they should be able to nurse future children without consequence. Because the ovaries can be effected by radioactive iodine, women are encouraged to wait at least six months (some resources suggest waiting a year) before attempting to conceive. Studies have not shown any immediate risk to pregnancies or to babies conceived four to six months after the dose was given, but further follow-up is required to be certain that the children born of these pregnancies will not experience complications later in life.
No: Iodine is not a metal at all, but a nonmetal. It is not necessarily radioactive, but has some radioactive isotopes.
Iodine-131 is a radioactive isotope of the element iodine.
Iodine (regardless of whether it is radioactive or not) tends to concentrate in the thyroid gland. Radioactive iodine can thus lead to thyroid cancer if left unchecked. Fortunately you can generally flush out the radioactive iodine with normal "cold" iodine. We tend to get much of our iodine from salt which is "iodised". Interestingly in some cases when a patient has an overactive thyroid, or indeed in thryoid cancer patients, the thyroid can be chemically ablated by the use of radioactive iodine since it concentrates there naturally.
Iodine tablets are taken by individuals who have just been or are being exposed to radioactive materials that include radioactive iodine. In nuclear fission reactors, uranium (or sometimes plutonium) fission to create energy. When these fuel atoms split (fission), there are a number of fission products that can result, including a radioactive isotope of iodine. In a reactor accident that includes a meltdown and the release of radioactive fission products into the environment, radioactive iodine can be present. By taking iodine tablets, an individual who is exposed to radioactive iodine that was released in a nuclear reactor accident can avoid having his body absorb this radioactive material. Taking iodine tablets keeps iodine levels in the body high, and the thyroid gland, which absorbs iodine, high. This effectively prevents radioactive iodine from being absorbed and taken up by the thyroid. As absorbing radioactive iodine can lead to thyroid cancer, taking iodine tablets is a good shield against uptake of the radioactive isotope.
Iodine is a non-metallic solid.There are both radioactive and non-radioactive isotopes of iodine. please be more specific.
Iodine tablets are used in a nuclear accident to saturate the thyroid with non radioactive iodine. During a nuclear accident, radioactive iodine is released and the critical organ in the human body is the thyroid gland. Therefore if the thyroid is already full of non radioactive iodine the radioactive iodine can not be absorbed.
no
because its radioactive
because its radioactive
Other tissues aren't affected by radioactive iodine because it is a targeted substance.
Basically, radioactive iodine is used to kill cancer cells, and thyroid tissue.
no