Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Iodine, Thyroid, Radiation, Japan, Nuclear Power Plant Danger: What you need to know to help stay healthy if exposed to radiation

I've been doing research on this and it's VERY difficult to get accurate information about how to safeguard yourself against particular dangers of exposure to radiation in Japan, due to the nuclear power plant disaster following the earthquake and tsunami last week.

First, if you can, get iodine solutions, get iodine tablets prepared and sold to keep the thyroid gland healthy, and get kelp, specifically, as it is highest in iodine of all the seaweeds. The less processed the kelp the better: meaning, consuming it in naturally occurring forms is preferable, not in "flakes" or in otherwise manufactured or processed forms. You are wanting "potassium iodide" ideally, but other forms of iodine, such as that found in Betadine solutions, can be used if applied to the skin. DETAILS FOR HOW TO DO THIS ARE BELOW.

DON'T DRINK IODINE SOLUTIONS, TINCTURES, OR OTHER IODINE LIQUIDS. 

I repeat:
DON'T DRINK IODINE SOLUTIONS, TINCTURES, OR OTHER IODINE LIQUIDS. 


The way to take iodine into your body is through proper potassium iodine pills, or by painting it onto the skin and letting the skin absorb it. Or to consume kept and other seaweeds--eating them.

Seven flat, dry sheets of sushi nori per day is one way to get iodine. Again, kelp is higher in iodine than nori.

Click on titles to link back to source websites:

Foods High in Iodine

Beware: Too much iodine can be bad for you. Over consumption of iodine can be toxic and just as damaging as a deficiency. As little as 1000 micrograms of Iodine in a day causes irritations like burning of the mouth and throat, nausea, vomiting, stomach ache, and even coma. Like under-consumption, too much iodine prevents proper production of thyroid hormones leading to goiter.
I don’t eat salt, meat, or seaweed, where can I get iodine? Your options are to consider supplements, buy foods enriched in iodine, or ensure that the plant foods you consume come from parts of the world where the soil is rich in iodine.

The bottom line is this: children, especially, need stable iodine (non-radioactive iodine) in their systems in an on-going way to prevent thyroid disease later. Adults are also at risk, but are at less risk than children because children's cells replicate more often and more quickly. How it works is this:

The thyroid gland, in the neck, is critical to overall health and well-being. It is basically a small "iodine sponge" and needs iodine to work properly. It will accept or soak up any form of iodine that passes into the body. If it has plenty of non-radioactive iodine in it, it will be "saturated" in that iodine and will not have room to accept any radioactive iodine. If deficient in non-radioactive iodine, it will soak up the radioactive element and that's where there's danger.

So, get stable iodine, preferably but not only potassium iodide, into your system, daily. Products like Betadine, and other topical (for skin application, typically for cuts and scrapes) solutions of iodine are not as effective BUT ARE BETTER THAN NOTHING, by far.

Tablets and tinctures are available. Take the recommended amounts and try not to overdose. Excessively large amounts of iodine are not recommended and may cause health problems. But for now the concern is to get stable iodine into the system of children, secondarily to adults, exposed to high levels of radiation in the air or in food.

Things to also do: DON'T DRINK MILK. Cows can absorb radioactive iodine by eating grass and it goes right into their milk.

GET STABLE IODINE INTO YOUR BODY, BY PILL OR PAINTING A PATCH ON YOUR SKIN, BEFORE EXPOSURE, if possible, but ALSO BE SURE to get it in after some exposure, and keep it in your system at recommended doses. Why? Because the half-life of unstable iodine is very short! It becomes "not too dangerous" VERY quickly. So what you want is to allows what's been absorbed to do what it will naturally do--become not-so-radioactive--and get stable iodine in your system to prevent MORE radioactive iodine getting into your thyroid gland.

See this for more information, see below. Click on titles to link back to source websites:


FACTBOX-Potassium iodide use after radiation exposure

Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:39am GMT
 
March 15 (Reuters) - Explosions at nuclear reactors in Japan damaged by last week's earthquake and tsunami have released radiation into the atmosphere.
Wind direction determines where any released radiation will travel. If high levels get into the atmosphere, those exposed are usually given potassium iodide to help prevent thyroid cancer.
Following are some facts about potassium iodide:
* Potassium iodide is a common form of salt, similar to table salt. It can protect the thyroid gland from radiation and cancer caused by radioactive iodine. Known chemically as KI, the substance saturates the thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine, reducing how much dangerous radioiodine the gland can absorb.
* Potassium iodide is most effective if administered before exposure and can provide protection for 24 hours. It will have beneficial effects if taken up to three to four hours after exposure, as well.
* Children are considered most at risk from radiation exposure, whether through the air or in contaminated food or milk. After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster significantly increased rates of thyroid cancer were detected in children in countries such as Belarus and Ukraine.
* Pharmacies in the United States do not typically stock potassium iodide, but it is readily available through many of outlets on the Internet.
* The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommends states with people living within a 10-mile (16 km) radius of commercial nuclear power plants stockpile potassium iodide as a protective measure for the general public. Individual states decide their own policies.
(Reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York and Susan Kelly in Chicago; Editing by Frank McGurty)

HOW IODINE WORKS AS A PREVENTATIVE TO RADIATION SICKNESS

http://www.iodine-resource.com

Hi through my own research this is how iodine works - if you are at present deficient in iodine and it is said that most people are, then if there was radiation poisoning in the air you body would take in more iodine from the radiation and this would be stored in your thyroid.  if you are now boosting your levels of iodine so that you are not deficient then you have a better chance that your thyroid will not take in the iodine from the radiation and therefore poison you!  It is better to begin now to boost your system so that you are not dificient now. Linda Joslin - this is my input not part of this article, but check for yourselves on google for other documents.

IODINE PATCH TEST

If you've ever wondered if you are low in iodine, try the iodine patch test.
It's a simple and easy way to find out. You will use tincture of iodine which is 2% orange colored solution available in the first aid section of your pharmacy. It comes in a small one ounce bottle.

If you can't find it on the shelf in the first aid section, the pharmacist may be holding it in the prescription portion of the pharmacy.
If it is not there, ask your pharmacist to order it for you. My pharmacy only had one bottle left on the shelf.

Procedure for Test

Before you go to bed, paint a half dollar size of iodine onto clean dry skin. This should be either on your stomach, under your forearm or inner thigh where material won't rub on it.
When you wake up, you will notice the color has changed. Make a mental note about how much it has changed.
Wait for 24 hours. If the color has completely disappeared, you are iodine deficient.
The body's deficiency is proportionate - the faster the iodine is absorbed by your body, the more deficient you are.

When I used the iodine patch test, the circle disappeared in less than four hours. This is considered a severe iodine deficiency.

Treatment

If the color disappears, you may begin using the iodine painting as a supplement for your iodine deficiency.
This should be done on a daily basis until the body no longer absorbs the iodine.
After that, you may then test at intervals to see if you have become deficient again and treat accordingly.

Testimonials

My favorite place to find testimonials is from Earth Clinic where you can read comments from people who have shared their experiences in treating hypothroidism (lack of iodine).
Beth from Chicago, Il, wrote about using iodine painting on her body.
She mentioned her sugar cravings disappeared after she started using iodine this way as a supplementation.

Janya from Fountain Valley, CA wrote she has been painting with iodine in the morning and evening for five years.
She stopped all doctor prescribed medications for Hashimotos disease because she found out the medications would destroy her bones and her mind.
She takes liquid kelp drops during the day and continues with the painting for less than $3.00 a bottle.

You may also supplement your iodine deficiency with Lugols iodine.
SEE ALSO THIS POST: *HERE*. I'll post more information as it comes in. Blessings and prayers for health and healing for humanity.