{"id":12377,"date":"2016-03-16T12:29:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T12:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.accessrx.com\/blog\/?p=1432"},"modified":"2011-03-16T12:29:27","modified_gmt":"2011-03-16T12:29:27","slug":"iodine-pills-radiation-japan-l0316","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/iodine-pills-radiation-japan-l0316\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Iodine pills help those exposed to radiation in Japan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radiation \"\"levels near a nuclear power plant in Japan are rising.\u00a0 The Fukushima Daiichi power plant dealt with its third explosion since the 8.9 earthquake damaged the plant.\u00a0 Now health concerns are increasing as crews fight to keep the nuclear power plant from spewing out more radiation.<\/p>\n

People living within 20 miles of the nuclear power plant have been evacuated, but exposure to radiation can have serious health effects.\u00a0 Vomiting, headache, birth defects, and thyroid cancer have all been linked to varying levels of radiation exposure.<\/p>\n

Once radiation is in the atmosphere, it can be inhaled and get into the water stream.\u00a0 The effects of radiation can last for decades.<\/p>\n

Japan has distributed 230,000 units of potassium iodine pills, which can help prevent thyroid cancer.\u00a0 The pills prevent the thyroid from absorbing radiation if they are taken before or immediately after exposure.\u00a0 It will remain effective for 24 hours, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the pills aren’t a guarantee.\u00a0 The pills do not protect other organs in the body, and do not protect against any other chemical that could seep out of the power plant.<\/p>\n

Health officials say the iodine pills, while limited in protection, are still beneficial.\u00a0 Doctors \"\"say the pills should be a top priority for children and pregnant women because\u00a0 developing thyroids are most likely to absorb radiation.\u00a0 When it comes to adults the advantages of iodine pills seems to differ.\u00a0 There are conflicting medical reports that say iodine pills won\u2019t help older adults over 40.\u00a0 Other reports say the pills are useless for people over 20.\u00a0 Japan has yet to create a set of guidelines to clear up who should or shouldn’t take the pills.<\/p>\n

The confusion over radiation sickness seems to be causing panic thousands of miles away from the epicenter of the quake.\u00a0 There are reports of pharmacies selling out of iodine pills in California and Ontario, Canada.\u00a0 Officials say the radiation threat is only in Japan and only those told to take the pills by government health officials should do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Radiation levels near a nuclear power plant in Japan are rising.\u00a0 The Fukushima Daiichi power plant dealt with its third explosion since the 8.9 earthquake damaged the plant.\u00a0 Now health concerns are increasing as crews fight to keep the nuclear power plant from spewing out more radiation. People living within 20 miles of the nuclear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-health-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t