Benefits of Iodine-131 for Hyperthyroidism

Information shows that the incidence of hyperthyroidism is increasing year by year, it is a systemic disease characterized by panic, fear of heat, excessive sweating, trembling of hands and feet, easy to eat and hunger, menstrual disorders, heartburn, fatigue, impatience and irritability, loss of weight, poor sleep, increased frequency of bowel movements or diarrhea, enlarged thyroid (commonly known as a big neck), and protruding eyes, etc. The treatment of hyperthyroidism is currently recognized by the world in three ways: internal, surgical and iodine 131 treatment. Currently, there are three world-recognized treatments for hyperthyroidism: internal medicine, surgery and iodine 131 treatment. To date, no method has been found to prevent its onset. Internal treatments have a high recurrence rate and side effects, with leukopenia, skin rashes and liver toxicity being the most common. Granulocyte deficiency is a life-threatening condition that occurs in about one out of every 200-500 patients treated with medical therapy. The disadvantage of surgical treatment is that there are many surgical complications, which can be fatal, and the number of patients undergoing surgical treatment has declined over the past 20 years. To treat hyperthyroidism with iodine 131, the patient only needs to take a cup of colorless and tasteless iodine 131-containing water orally. The treatment of hyperthyroidism utilizes the thyroid gland’s highly selective ability to take up and concentrate iodine and the beta rays emitted by iodine 131 to kill some of the thyroid cells. One-time oral iodine 131 treatment of hyperthyroidism is known as a surgery without surgery, the maximum range of the beta ray emitted by radioactive iodine is only 2mm and will not damage the surrounding tissues. In Europe and the United States developed countries, more than 80% of hyperthyroidism patients using 131I treatment has been used as the first choice for the treatment of hyperthyroidism. Iodine 131 treatment has a history of 60 years, after a large number of long-term clinical research, proved that the method has the advantages of simplicity and safety, high cure rate and low recurrence rate. In China, more and more hyperthyroidism patients receive iodine 131 treatment, radioactive iodine treatment, do not have to worry too much about the safety of radioactivity, will not cause male and female infertility and teratology, and will not cause cancer. Mainly applicable to: 1, patients over 20 years old. 2, patients with poor results of internal medicine. 2.Patients with poor effect of internal medicine treatment, drug allergy, leukopenia or recurrence. 3, recurrence after surgery or the existence of surgical contraindications, as well as those who do not want to surgery 4, hyperthyroidism with hyperthyroidism heart disease Iodine-131 treatment of hyperthyroidism advantages: Iodine-131 treatment of hyperthyroidism has a history of 60 years, after a large number of long-term clinical research studies have proved that the method of simplicity, safety, high cure rate, recurrence rate of the advantages of the low rate of recurrence, the following are elaborated separately. Simplicity: Oral iodine-131 is absorbed into the bloodstream through the gastrointestinal tract and is rapidly taken up by the thyroid tissues along with the blood circulation, and the β-rays emitted by iodine-131 can kill a part of the thyroid cells, shrinking the thyroid gland and leading to the reduction of thyroid hormones synthesized by the thyroid gland, so that the hyperthyroidism performance disappears. Safety: Because iodine-131 can be highly selectively ingested (iodine-131 is almost exclusively ingested by the thyroid gland) and concentrated in the thyroid tissue, the amount of iodine-131 ingested by the thyroid gland per unit weight is hundreds to thousands of times the amount of iodine-131 contained in the blood of the normal tissues and the maximum range of the β-rays emitted by iodine-131 is only 3.63mm, with the average range of 0.48mm, so β-rays have strong therapeutic effects on the thyroid gland. Therefore, beta rays have a strong therapeutic effect on the thyroid gland, and the effect on the surrounding tissues of the thyroid gland and other organs is extremely small. Therefore, iodine-131 treatment of hyperthyroidism is a very effective and exceptionally safe method (also commonly known as “surgical treatment without incision”). High cure rate: through the thyroid iodine uptake function examination, accurate determination of thyroid size and according to the condition of hyperthyroidism patients, the treatment dosage can be individualized and optimized, which improves the one-time cure rate up to more than 80%, and a small number of patients need to undergo two treatments (a very small number of patients need to undergo 3-4 treatments). Low recurrence rate: The beta rays emitted by iodine-131 can kill part of the thyroid cells, resulting in a decrease in the thyroid hormone synthesized by the thyroid gland and the disappearance of hyperthyroidism. Since the proliferating thyroid cells have been destroyed, it is not easy to relapse. Therefore, both theoretically and practically, iodine-131 treatment of hyperthyroidism is a simple, effective, safe and reliable method.