Medication: Rising demand for potassium iodide sparks concerns about incorrect use
NOTE: AS YOU READ THIS ARTICLE PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT POTASSIUM IODIDE PILLS PROTECT YOU FROM Iodine 131 ONLY. IODINE 131 HAS A HALF LIFE OF EIGHT DAYS AND COMES INTO EXISTENCE DURING FISSION. IT IS NOT GENERALLY PRESENT IN SPENT FUEL POOLS. IT TAKES TEN HALF LIFES FOR A RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCE TO BECOME BENIGN. IN THE CASE OF IODINE 131 THAT IS LESS THAN THREE MONTHS. IT HAS BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE THE FUKUSHIMA MELTDOWNS. THE IODINE IS LONG GONE FROM THE ENVIRONMENT FROM THIS DISASTER.. THESE IODIDE PILLS ARE A HARSH EMERGENCY MEASURE WITH SOME NASTY SIDE EFFECTS. OTHER FORMS OF IODINE SUCH AS NASCENT OR LUGOLS CAN BE TAKEN SAFELY, WHEN USED CORRECTLY, AND WILL KEEP A PROPER BALANCE OF NATURAL IODINE IN YOUR SYSTEM. KEEP THE PILLS ON HAND, I SUPPOSE, IN THE EVENT OF ANOTHER NUCLEAR ACCIDENT BUT IF ONE KEEPS THE NATURAL IODINE UP IN THEIR SYSTEM THIS MEASURE WILL NOT EVEN BE NECESSARY. DO THE RESEARCH ON NATURAL FORMS OF IODINE REPLENISHMENT. THESE PILLS ARE NOT THE WAY TO GO. CESIUM AND STRONTIUM 90 ARE THE REAL NEMESIS AND THERE ARE NO MAGIC PILLS FOR THESE ELEMENTS.
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Pam Magee, a pharmacist at the Medicine Shoppe on the Sunshine Coast, has seen customers come in frightened - and then storm out angry and flustered.
The customers, afraid of radiation from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan, have read on the Internet that they are at risk and should protect themselves with large doses of potassium iodide.
B.C. saw a rush of people looking to load up on potassium iodide in 2011, after the initial Japanese earthquake, tsunami and meltdown.
And again in recent months, pharmacies have reported seeing a second surge of interest in the product, available as pills or drops.
These customers, pharmacists said, are all citing recent stories and rumours they've heard about Fukushima, mostly online, and many of dubious scientific legitimacy.
But federal and provincial health experts are advising against the use of potassium iodide for this purpose, saying it is not only unnecessary, but potentially harmful.
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