Evening star., 1948-08-20
Stors, Men and Atoms
Ninth OF series OF articles on
rddioisotope research.J


half billion years ago life arose out OF the
sea and however far 1t has wandered from the
shore it still carries with it traces of its
beginnings in warm oceans
Among the most notable of these is the
dependence of man and all the higher animals
on the purplish-gray element iodine, one of
the essentials of life. The greater part of the
bodys normal supply. which constantly must
be renewed. is stored in the thyroid gland
regulator of the pace of living, and used In
the synthesis of the energy-releasng hormone,
thyroxin.
One hundred per cent OF all the Iodine IN
nature is I 1877 stable, heavy element with
So protons and "A neutrons packed together
in the nucleus of its atom. 1t can exist, how
ever, in more forms than are known for any
other element. Altogether there are eleven
isotopes. OF these / 1871, produced In the
atomic piles OF the Atomic Energy Commits
sion, is the only one of any known significance.
1t dsintegrates by electron radiation and has
half-life of eight days. 1t is one of the two
or three most important isotopes for medical
research in existence.
I l31 is one of the two types of exploding
atoms which have found definite place in
medicine, quite aside from its probably much
greater value as a tracer of physiological
processes. Its value in the treatment of various
diseased conditions Of the thyroid remains
somewhat confused and debatable. Perhaps
the still questionable value deserves to be
further emphasized because one still hears at
lay meetings on atomic energy control such
wild statements as that radioactive isotopes
already have saved thousands of lives" 1t Is
highly doubtful whether all Of them put to-
gether, rs medicines per Sc, have yet saved q
single life, or ever will.
Iodine and Thyroid Gland.
49, like any other form Of iodine taken into
the body, is concentrated In the thyroid gland
almost to the exclusion of other organs.
Thyroid tissue has a special affinity for it. 1t
emits. an ionizing radiation. This killing
radiation, it was argued, could be brought
into direct contact with any cancer of the
thyroid, not infrequent malady, or with any
cancerous thyroid tissue that had migrated
through the blood stream to some other part
of the body. Thus it would act essentially
like an implanted needle of radum That
these high hopes have been sustained seems
quite doubtful from the reports Another
value foreseen was that radioactive iodine
picked up by thyroid tissue cells anywhere,
would make possible an accurate diagnosis
metastasized. The characteristic radiations
could be picked up wherever the 131 came to
rest.
The difficulty seems to be that thyroid cells
are so affected by the cancerous process what
ever it may be, that there no longer is any
assurance that they will have their same Sc
lective affinity for iodine. Sometimes they
do, sometimes they do not. Some expert
menters report good results to the Atomic
Energy Commission and some almost complete
failures.
Much more hopeful is the picture with re-
spect to noncancerous over-activity of the
thyroid gland which hitherto usually has been
treated by surgery. A few Of the clinical re-
ports:
The Lakeside Hospital of Cleveland reported
that toxic eoiter could be gotten under con-
troll with one or two doses of this isotope. The
only danger, the doctors there found, was In
the possible destruction of too much thyroid
tissue.
The Mayo Clinic reports 80 per cent good"