There have been many concerns and questions about whether iodine-131 therapy is a safe treatment for thyroid disease.
Here are the answers to concerns and question about iodine-131.
Is iodine-131 therapy a safe treatment and what are the side effects?
* Yes iodine-131 therapy is a safe treatment, it is used to destroy part of the thyroid gland so the remainder of the thyroid can function normally. When going through the therapy for an overactive thyroid gland the patient will not feel any side effects, but following the theory after the removal of the thyroid due to cancer some might experience dry mouth and pain in salivary glands.
What type of decay is going on?
*The type of decay that's going on is beta decay.
What is the half-life, and how long will it take for 99% to disappear?
*The has a half life of 8 days, it will take 3 half life's for 99% of it to disappear.
How can we protect humans from this type of isotope when we don't want to be exposed to it?
* To protect humans form iodine-131, by being cautious of what how much of we consume, when taking medication with liquid iodine which is used to diagnose and treat cancers of the thyroid gland can cause burns to the eyes and skin if too much is taken.
Why is radioactivity all around us? Is it natural and what does that mean?
*Radioactivity is all around us because it comes most comes from natural sources around our everyday life's such as the ground, the air, building materials, food, and cosmic rays from space. It's natural to have radioactivity all around us, what it means is, though being around too much radiation can cause health effects and other problems, we can live life normally without being paranoid about radioactivity because its all around us.
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What is the half-life, and how long will it take for 99% to disappear?
*The has a half life of 8 days, it will take 3 half life's for 99% of it to disappear.
How can we protect humans from this type of isotope when we don't want to be exposed to it?
* To protect humans form iodine-131, by being cautious of what how much of we consume, when taking medication with liquid iodine which is used to diagnose and treat cancers of the thyroid gland can cause burns to the eyes and skin if too much is taken.
Why is radioactivity all around us? Is it natural and what does that mean?
*Radioactivity is all around us because it comes most comes from natural sources around our everyday life's such as the ground, the air, building materials, food, and cosmic rays from space. It's natural to have radioactivity all around us, what it means is, though being around too much radiation can cause health effects and other problems, we can live life normally without being paranoid about radioactivity because its all around us.
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