Disease/Healing (Diet)

Subject: Disease/Healing (Diet) Thu Jan 03, 2019 9:00 am

Radiation Sickness (Iodine)

Cass, M.D. wrote:: The nuclear catastrophe raging through Japan’s nuclear power complex is generating an intense fear of radioactive fallout potentially reaching North America.

Potassium Iodide (KI)
Potassium iodide tablets are commonly stockpiled near nuclear power plants to allow for rapid distribution in case of a radioactive accident. In the absence of tablets, potassium iodide may also be administered as a “saturated solution of potassium iodide“ (SSKI) which in the U.S.P. generic formulation contains 1000 mg of KI per ml of solution. Two drops of U.S.P. SSKI solution is equivalent to one 130 mg KI tablet (100 mg iodide).

Recommended Doses
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the following doses of potassium iodide should be taken as a single dose within three hours of exposure, or up to 10 hours after exposure, although this is less effective.

• Adults : 130 mg (see below as well for CDC addendum)  
• Adolescents: 12-18: WHO — adult dose; CDC — children’s dose; if adult size (150 pounds or over) they should take the full adult dose, regardless of their age.
• Children age 3-12 years: 65 mg 
• Infants : 1 mo. to 3 years, 32. 25 mg (ie half tablet)
• Newborns to 1 mo., 1/4 capsule.

Prophylaxis
It is best to take iodide prophylactically, prior to exposure. Every family should have a good supply in their homes. At this time we may recommend taking 10-40mg per day. A dose of 30-50mg is the range of dietary intake in Japan and relatively safe to take long term but under practitioner monitoring. Build up gradually: 10mg-20mg-30mg-40mg.

Then, in case there is an official announcement of significantly increased radiation, adults should go to the dose mentioned above: 130mg/day and children to lower doses per body weight, generally 65 mg, age 3-12 years. You can use a loading dose of two drops daily of Lugol’s Iodine, a commonly available pharmaceutical form of potassium iodide, or SSKI, and increase to 130 mg if needed. See the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommendations. Adults over 40 should not take KI unless public health officials say that contamination with a very large dose of radioactive iodine is expected, since have the lowest risk of developing thyroid cancer or thyroid injury after such contamination. They also have a greater chance of having allergic reactions to KI. Everyone should check with their doctor, in any case.

Other supplements that may be protective are: vitamin D and vitamin K as they support appropriate apoptosis, which is programmed death of cells that accumulate various DNA errors (due to radiation and other causes), and vitamin D also supports DNA repair.

Avoid exposure to rain that may be laden with radiation if we are exposed. You’ll be informed by authorities if that is the case.

Miller, Jr., MD wrote:: Fallout from a nuclear bomb explosion or a nuclear power plant meltdown is full of radioactive iodine-131 (I-131). Nuclear fission splits the nuclei of uranium-235 and plutonium-239, producing I-131. The stable, natural isotope of iodine is iodine-127. Iodine is the largest and heaviest element of the 25 elements that make up the human body.

Iodine plays a number of important roles in the body. The thyroid gland uses it to make thyroxine, with 4 iodine atoms, and triiodothyronine (T3), with three. The active form, T3, regulates metabolism, thermogenesis, and protein synthesis. Other tissues and glands require iodine to function normally, including stomach mucosa, mammary glands, ovaries, salivary glands, prostate, and the thymus gland. Iodine functions as an antioxidant, strengthens the immune system, and suppresses autoimmunity. And it triggers apoptosis, destroying cells that become cancerous and cells infected with viruses. Iodine also removes toxic chemicals from the body — fluoride, bromide, lead, aluminum, and mercury. Iodine is essential for health. (For more on iodine's health benefits see HERE.)

Radioactive I-131 emits Beta electrons and gamma rays, which destroy cells and cause cancer. People living downwind from a nuclear bomb explosion or power plant meltdown can inhale or ingest radioactive fallout, or have it come in contact with skin. The I-131 in fallout "dust" can damage the thyroid gland and cause it to become cancerous. Other tissues and glands in the body that concentrate iodine are also at risk, notably women's breasts. The most common sequel from exposure to radioactive fallout is thyroid cancer.

Taken in a sufficient amount, natural iodine can block uptake of radioactive I-131 in fallout and prevent thyroid cancer. The U.S. government's Department of Health and Human Services has approved potassium iodide (KI), in a dose of 130 milligrams (mg), as a thyroid blocking agent in radiation emergencies. This dose contains 100 mg of iodine, as iodide, in its salt form. But it doesn't have to be KI. Lugol's solution, Iodoral, SSKI (super saturated potassium iodide), and Nascent iodine work just as well.

Lugol's solution and Iodoral tablets are one-third elemental iodine (I2) and two-thirds potassium iodide. One drop of full-strength, 5% Lugol's solution has 6.3 mg of iodine. But now, by FDA edict, Lugol's solution sold in quantities greater than 1 oz. can be no more than a 2% strength, where one drop has 2.5 mg of iodine. For a 100 mg-dose of iodine, one has to take 15 drops of the 5% solution or 40 drops of the 2% solution. Iodoral tablets are also one-third elemental iodine (I2) and two-thirds potassium iodide. There is 12.5 mg of iodine in each tablet, so 8 of them constitute a 100 mg dose. Iodoral containing 50 mg of iodine per tablet is now available (see HERE). Lugol's/Iodoral is better than KI for blocking uptake of I-131 because the mammary glands in the breast like elemental iodine best and thus can better protect the breast against the harmful effects of radioactive iodine than can potassium iodide, which does not have any elemental iodine.

SSKI also works. Depending on the saturation (which varies), 3 to 5 drops of SSKI contain 100 mg of iodine. With Nascent iodine, 10 drops have 4 mg of iodine so one would have to measure out 250 drops to get 100 mg of iodine.

In order to be effective in blocking I-131 uptake, the 100 mg dose of iodine needs to be taken in a window of 24 hours before and 2 hours after exposure to fallout (Health Physics 2000;78:660–667).

Consuming an average of 240 micrograms (mcg) of iodine a day, most Americans have an insufficient amount of iodine stored in their bodies. The conventional view is that the body contains 25–50 mg of iodine, and 70–80 percent of that amount resides in the thyroid gland. But as doctors in "The Iodine Project" have shown (see HERE), whole body sufficiency of iodine is 30 times greater than that — 1,500 mg — with only 3 percent of that amount residing in the thyroid gland. A person needs to take 50 mg of iodine a day for 3 months, or 12.5 mg a day for 1 year, and continue that dose, in order to achieve whole body sufficiency of iodine. Once achieved, people who take 12.5 mg or more of iodine a day are already well protected against radioactive iodine in fallout. The thyroid glands in such people will retain less than 2 percent of absorbed I-131, similar to that after consuming a 130 mg KI tablet (in the appropriate time window).

Fortunately, this is the case with the Japanese. People in Japan eat a lot of seaweed, which protects them against the deleterious effects of I-131 in radioactive fallout from the meltdown of their Fukushima Dalichi nuclear plants. Compared to terrestrial plants, which contain only trace amounts of iodine (0.001 mg/gm), the seaweed that the Japanese consume — brown algai (kelp), red algae (nori sheets, with sushi), and green algae (chlorella) — have a high concentration of this nutrient (0.5–8.0 mg/gm). According to public health officials there, people in Japan consume 14.5 gm of seaweed a day. They don't need to take potassium iodide tablets for fallout. They consume enough iodine in the seaweed they eat.

Cass, M.D. wrote:: Other Radiation Dangers
Besides I-131, there are other toxic radio-isotopes, including cerium 137 and plutonium. Dr. Gabriel Cousens has provided some excellent advice in his book “Conscious Eating.” To protect yourself from cesium poisoning, consume plenty of high potassium foods, as potassium competitively inhibits cesium uptake. Foods high in potassium include avocados, sea vegetables, and leafy green vegetables, and are more effective than taking a potassium supplement.

To protect yourself from plutonium poisoning, eat lots of dulse and consume iron from plant sources, namely sea algaes such as spirulina and chlorella, which provide more iron than red meat. Miso soup has also been shown to have a protective effect. See also Michio Kushi’s well-referenced book, “The Cancer Prevention Diet.“ The mineral, zeolite, is being investigated for taking most radioactive materials out of the body.

Additionally, foods and supplements high in antioxidants, will also help the body cope with these higher toxic levels as radioactive materials cause antioxidant depletion and ill health.

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