Iodine 131 as a Treatment for Thyroid Cancer

Iodine-131’s atomic structure has 5 energy levels in total. The first energy level has 2 electrons, second energy level has 8 electrons, third energy level has 18 electrons, fourth energy level has 18 electrons and finally the fifth energy level has 7 electrons. The radioisotope has a half-life of 8.0 days and every half-life in the radioactive Iodine is reduced by 50%, however, the other 50% does not become part of Iodine-131 because it becomes stable. The radioisotope has 53 protons and 78 neutrons in total. It has a blackish colour to it. Its chemical form is a water-soluble salt. The nuclear decay equation is 131/53I → 131/54Xe + 0/-1E. The radioisotope’s mass number is 131 and its atomic symbol is I131. The radioisotope is a gamma and beta emitting isotope. Furthermore, the beta emission is the destructive component of the radioisotope. This is supported by the fact that Beta emission is an electron that is ejected from the nucleus which is very ionizing. The aspect also makes beta electrons very destructive to thyroid tissue as it concentrates the iodine 200x more than any tissue in order to make thyroxine which is an endocrine hormone to regulate at the rate of metabolic processes.

Seaborg began working with one of the pioneers of nuclear medicine, Joe Hamilton, while attending Berkley. Hamilton needed a radioisotope that had a half-life long enough to be useful in dealing with in the human body; a half-life that was about a week. Seaborg and his long-time friend and partner, Jack Livingwood, used targets of tellurium and bombarded it with deuterons and some with neutrons to reveal iodine-131, which had a half-life of eight days. This element held major sentimental value to Seaborg due to its aid in his mother’s cure of hyperthyroidism. Iodine-131 is a major component still today in cancer treatment, particularly thyroid cancer. Seaborg and Livingwood also discovered cobalt-60, which is also a critical medical isotope. Cobalt-60 emits gamma radiation which in turn focuses directly on cancer cells to destroy it. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans have had their cancers treated by cobalt-60 irradiation, and it is also used to sterilize medical products and equipment” (36). Shortly

Healthcare today is a very important issue. Lack of health insurance can affect the health and productivity of workers. Many people today do not have health insurance. Employment-based health insurance is in high demand to retain employees. The high healthcare costs make it hard for employers to offer employees quality health plans. The premiums for employers are increasing so they are forced to opt for cost-saving health insurance plans. Consumer-driven health plans are on the rise and have become an option for many employers.

From the healthcare providers view, the quality of healthcare treatment is also very important. The healthcare ogranizations make their revenue from this very treatments that they provide to their patients. Because of that, the

The spread of the radioactivity hospitalized 203 people from Ukraine of whom 31 died just from the radioactivity itself. (Strauss)thyroid

In figure 1.1, a patient in her 20s is being seen for a sensation of fullness in her neck. The patient had further thyroid testing through ultrasound and other diagnostic tests. Even though she felt normal and her nodules were smaller than the recommended 1.5cm or above, she was told she might have an overactive thyroid by the physician and the patient was given radioactive iodine. The radioactive iodine does the same job as chemotherapy where it wipes out healthy cells along with cancerous cells leading to low or no thyroid function. When the patient came back for a follow up she complained of not feeling the same before she

One of the many deadly radioisotopes released includes Iodine-131. Iodine-131 has a half life of 8 days (the radioisotope functions for 8 days). Iodine-131 contaminates the water supply and the air (that we breathe). If one were to ingest this radioisotope, it would incorporate into the thyroid and damage the tissue with beta and gamma radiation. This will lead to the full decay of the thyroid gland and surrounding tissue. This causes thyroid cancer (increases chance of cancerous cells forming by more than 70 percent), especially in children (those who are still growing). Strontium-90 is also released during a nuclear meltdown. Strontium-90 is released into the atmosphere, water supply, and surrounding plants and animals. Strontium-90 has a half life of 28 years but has a biological

At this time, it is not clear how much diagnostic radiation is contributing to the increase in thyroid cancer cases. It is possible that the increase in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer can be attributed to a greater rate of detection by use of ultrasonography and fine needle aspiration3. The thyroid tissue itself is among the tissues that are less sensitive to radiation, however, thyroid cancer is still such a concern because the thyroid is so superficial in the body1 (77). “Even doses as small as 50–100 mGy have been associated with an increased risk of thyroid malignancy in children, with a

I'd like to help anyone not to have to go through the things that my

and foreign pricing where U.S. drug prices are among the highest in the world. A key factor that prevents the insurance companies from covering the upfront cost of the expensive treatments is the high rate of policyholders switching from one plan to another due to job changes, relocation, retirement etc. Despite having the methods and financial means to provide care, each day patients fail to receive optimal care due to the current political atmosphere. Lack of health education and engagement in risk behaviors significantly increase the rate of infectious diseases that require expensive curative therapies. On the other hand, if they are left uncured it can pose a significant threat to the public health.

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction, it uses fuel made from mined and processed uranium to generate heat and electricity. It is the world’s largest emission free energy source. Nuclear energy also has the lowest impact on the environment than other energy sources. But it can still be very harmful because of the radiation is causes and the radioactive waste it produces. Radioactive wastes are the ruins of nuclear materials that are used in providing nuclear energy. These wastes contain high levels of radiation that can be very hazardous to humans and the environment. Some people accept and support the idea of using nuclear energy and others don’t. In the following paragraphs, some major nuclear accidents and the public acceptance of nuclear energy will be discussed.

A health issue includes is making sure that workers are without illness when attending their jobs. If workers are sick with anything contagious to those spreading their illness around the workplace will cause mayhem. An illness can be spread through any source of contact so even if someone is working

There are many advantages and disadvantages to the use of radioactive elements in medicines. Some advantages include the fact that

Iodine is one of the most critical elements necessary for normal functioning of the human physiology. The significance of iodine to the thyroid gland is already well established but its role as a potential anti-carcinogenic agent has been realized only in the recent past. At the molecular level iodine can be a potential anti-inflammatory agent as well as an antioxidant and is known to facilitate apoptosis1. These properties make iodine an ideal candidate to serve as a viable anti-cancer agent. A correlation between iodine and cancer was first reported by a study carried out by Stocks in 1924. The study highlighted that there is a high incidence of cancer in the geographical regions with high rates of goiter2. This observation

‘The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel’ (‘Chernobyl Accident’ 2010). But this is not a reason why we should stop using nuclear energy. The Chernobyl disaster was an accident due to a faulty reactor and poorly trained workers. The nuclear energy process produces isotopes that are useful in medicine for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. ‘The energy given off by radioisotopes is very effective at zapping diseased cells. When they are delivered straight to the cancer cells, healthy tissues are spared while cancer cells are eliminated. Medical isotopes are delivered to the cancer cells in several different ways’ (‘Frequently Asked Questions’ 2008). In addition nuclear medicine helps provide diagnostic information about specific organs. ‘Diagnostic techniques in nuclear medicine use radioactive tracers which emit gamma rays from within the body. These tracers are generally short-lived isotopes linked to chemical compounds which permit specific physiological processes to be scrutinised’ (‘Radioisotopes in Medicine’ 2010). Pursuing this further, nuclear energy can also be used to sterilize medical supplies to ensure it is safe to in a process called radiation sterilization. There are different methods of radiation sterilization such as gamma rays, electron beams, x-rays, or subatomic particles with all having different properties.