How does radioactive iodine therapy work?

How does radioactive iodine therapy work?

Hossein Jadvar (Doctor) gives expert video advice on: How is radioactive iodine therapy used in treatment of thyroid cancer?; What are the benefits and risks of radioactive iodine therapy?; Are there limitations to radioactive iodine therapy? and more...

The thyroid gland uses iodine, as it's an important constituent for making thyroid hormone, which is it's product. By giving radioiodine, we are replacing what iodine the thyroid gland would have taken up with this radioactive iodine. The radioactive iodine kills the thyroid cells, and by doing that we diminish the number of the active thyroid cells. In that way, we diminish the amount of product that is produced by the thyroid gland. Therefore, that's how we treat the hyper functioning thyroid - by declining the amount of thyroid hormone that is being produced.