Radiation Update April 10

It seems that the news coming from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and is being filtered. The situation is still very serious, with new radiation leakages coming out this week. Nothing has changed with my recommendations or point of view:

• We will have continued exposure to radiation from Fukushima for at least the next three months.
• I am not concerned with the amount of radiation that we will be exposed to. The background radiation will not increase to the levels that are naturally found in the Denver, Colorado area.
• I am concerned with the type of radiation: Radioactive iodine has been found in Cleveland and across the country.
• I am concerned with small amounts of radioactive iodine because 50-70% of my patients are low in iodine. Those of us that need iodine are more likely to absorb the radioactive kind.

Low Thyroid/iodine symptoms are:

• Body temperature below 98.6⁰ F
• Cold hands and feet
• Slow metablolism
• Difficulty with weight loss
• Hair loss on head or thinning of eyebrows
• Tenderness of the costal cartilage (where the ribs meet the sternum)

My recommendation for people with low thyroid symptoms, or who test low for iodine are 12-13mg of iodine/per day (This would be one Ioderol, Iodizyme-HP, or 7 drops Iosol). For children: .08mg of iodine per pound of body weight. (A child that weighs 50lbs would take 4mg of iodine).

For those without low thyroid symptoms or are not testing for iodine, I am recommending:

• 6-7 mg of iodine per day for adults (This would be 1/2 tablet of Ioderol or Iodizyme-HP or 3-4 drops of Iosol)
• or (for adults and children) continually painting USP Tincture of Iodine on a 2 inch square of the body, if it is still there after 7 hours reapply daily. If it disappears in under 7 hours,  reapply 2x/day until the stain stays after 7 hours then drop to once/day.

If you have any of these symptoms stop or significantly decrease the amount of iodine that you are taking (at least by half):

• a racing heart five minutes after taking iodine. This goes away quickly, but it is an indication of too much iodine.
• frontal headache
• metallic taste in the mouth
• increased salivation

Additionally, an increase in exhaustion after starting iodine usually means an iron deficiency. This can be corrected with diet ^[1] (bloody steak?), or with supplementation.

More details can be found in my previous post ^[2].

Finally, a great resource for clear and rational news about the Fukushima disaster is Fairewinds Associates ^[3]. Here is their latest update:

Closing Ranks: The NRC, the Nuclear Industry, and TEPCo. Are Limiting the Flow of Information ^[4] from Fairewinds Associates ^[5] on Vimeo ^[6].