Nearly 25 years after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, children and teenagers who drank contaminated milk or ate affected cheese in the days and weeks after the explosion still suffer from an increased risk of thyroid cancer, according to a study released Thursday by the National Cancer Institute.
The study confirms earlier research about the risks of radioactive iodine, which can accumulate in the thyroid gland and lead to cancer later. Potassium iodide is often given as a supplement to prevent the accumulation of the radioactive type in thyroid glands, but Russian authorities failed to provide the supplement to all those at risk.
The study confirms earlier research about the risks of radioactive iodine, which can accumulate in the thyroid gland and lead to cancer later. Potassium iodide is often given as a supplement to prevent the accumulation of the radioactive type in thyroid glands, but Russian authorities failed to provide the supplement to all those at risk.
Radioactive iodine has a half-life of just eight days, and it was not thought to be present outside the power plant in concentrations high enough to cause immediate health problems. But the isotope was concentrated by cows in milk, and children who drank contaminated milk or ate affected dairy products are particularly at risk.
An international team of researchers led by the National Cancer Institute, a federal agency based in Bethesda, Md., has been monitoring the health effects of the Chernobyl accident for years. In the study released Thursday, the team screened 12,500 people who were under 18-years-old at the time of the 1986 accident and lived in one of three provinces near the accident site. The subjects’ thyroid glands were measured for radioactivity within two months of the accident.
Those with the greatest exposures were at highest risk for developing thyroid cancer in later years, the researchers found. Sixty-five of the study’s subjects developed thyroid cancer during the study’s 10 years of screening.
Indeed, the increased risks associated with exposures to radioactive iodine have yet to show any sign of declining. Studies done in Japan after World War II suggested that the increased risks of thyroid cancer began to decline 30 years after the atomic explosions but remained above normal even 40 years later.
Some of the participants in the Chernobyl study lived as far as 90 miles from the accident site, demonstrating the risks of eating or drinking contaminated foods among people who were exposed to little or no radioactive iodine from the immediate fallout.
“This study confirms the risk of thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine,” Dr. Alina V. Brenner, a radiation epidemiologist at the cancer institute and a co-author of the study, said in an interview. “But thyroid cancer is largely a nonlethal cancer. If detected and treated in a timely manner, they have a good prognosis.”
That this study was released in the midst of the crisis at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan was a coincidence. Indeed, government officials scheduled the release for Thursday because they feared weeks ago that the government might shut down on Friday as a result of a budget impasse on Capitol Hill.
Comments:
This study confirms earlier research about the risks of "ionizing radiation," which can accumulate in the thyroid gland cancer and lead to cancer other cancers later.
Potassium iodide is the main supplement given to prevent the accumulation of "ionizing radiation" in the thyroid gland. The Russian authorities failed to provide this supplement to all those at risk or exposed to "ionizing radiation."
I have suggested for adequate protection an adult should be taking 130 mg a day of Potassium iodide and a child should take 65 mg per day with an infant taking 5 to 10 mg per day. If you check your health food stores you will find that there is NO Potassium iodide to be found. It has been sold out across the country.
Your best protection against "environmental acid," or "ionizing radiation," or "acid rain," is to keep your alkaline buffers high with our pH Miracle pHour salts which contains, sodium, magnesium, potassium and calcium bicarbonate salts.
I would suggest getting some pH ion paper to test your urine. I recommend you keep your urine pH over 7.2 for protection against dietary, environmental or metabolic ionizing acids. Idealy you would like your urine pH to be over 8.0 for ultimate protection. Take 1 to 2 scoops 3 times a day.
In addition, I would recommend daily supplementation of Potassium iodide. We have a shipment of 3000 bottles of Potassium Iodide coming in the first part of next week. Each bottle contains 150 capsules at 65mg per capsule. The cost per bottle is $19.95. I expect this supply to be gone by tomorrow. You cannot purchase this product on line. You have to call our office at 760-751-8321 to order the Potassium Iodide product. We are taking pre-orders to be shipped out the middle of next week.
To purchase the pHour salts go to: www.phmiracle.com