Chernobyl Exposure in Children and Teens Increases Thyroid Disease Risk
Tuesday February 26, 2008
We know radiation exposure is a thyroid risk factor. But now, new research confirms previous findings that childhood or adolescent exposure to radiation after the 1986 Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear accident caused an increased risk of follicular adenoma (benign thyroid tumor), and the risk was greater in women than men. The research, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that while there was increased risk of a benign tumor it is, however, less than the risk of developing a malignant tumor (thyroid cancer).
Zablotska, Lydia, et. al. "A Cohort Study of Thyroid Cancer and Other Thyroid Diseases after the Chornobyl Accident: Dose-Response Analysis of Thyroid Follicular Adenomas Detected during First Screening in Ukraine (1998–2000)," Am. J. Epidemiol. 2008 167: 305-312; Online
Comments
Could there be a connection between mine and my husband’s hypothyroidism. We were stationed in W. Germany during the year of the accident at Chernobly.Just a thought. Does anyone out there know if being that far away could have had affected our thyroid’s????????
Hi, I think the possibility definitely exists that your thyroids experienced an uptake of the radiation, thus rendering them ineffective. I had mine removed due to cancer in 2002- my dad was the only one who didn’t have thyroid issues–he travelled a great deal-go figure? Mom, brother, myself-cancer; my sister has hypothroidism. Depending on your ages, it could also be that any beef you ingested in years passed could have played a part. It is a known fact that farmers (starting in the late 40’s) used antithyroid suppliments to fatten their cattle, not knowing the outcome of consumers ingesting the meat later. My parents are in their 80’s and are both taking suppliments due to the high content of fluoride in the water that they drank while living near a well in the country. Hope this helps..
Hello to all concerned,
I am of the opion (Í was a scientist: Molecular Geneticist, Untill I was made 100% ‘work-disabled’ in 2002, due to Hashi’s Hypo: so now on state-benefit..)..
…That it can not be ONE thing (reason/cause..), that could make someone an Auto-Immuun-patient (such as Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism)..
..The combination of
1) ‘Genetic Make-up’ , and
2) circumstances/medical historical events of the patient..
..combined,..could probably cause the Auto-Immune-Disease, ..we are talking about
I have always (early-childhood) reacted EXTREME to outer-influences:
a) Others would get a cold,..I would get a FEVER (over-reacting immune-systeme)
b) I got a lot of ’strange/extreme’ viral infections (presumably attacking my immune-systeme):..Pfeiffer-like diseases etc.
c) I was exposed to MORE than average exposure of radiation during the Chernobyl-disaster…
I can explain the last in more detail:
I had in fact been cycling through the heavy rain (coinciding with the Chernobyl-disaster) for quite some hours,…The next day, I got on the ‘radiation-counter’ at my work ( I used to be a scientist at the Free University of Amsterdam, working a lot with radio-active materials for the purpose of my research..)..
and my CLEAN/basic counts (radiotions per minute, rpm) were OFF the scale..
All these things together, I believe,..have made it possible, for my body to develop an Auto-Immune-Disease, such as Hashimoto’s..
Sincerely,
I. Verwoert
I was also living in Germany in April 1986 when the Chernobyl accident occured. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer ten years later. There is no history of any kind of thyroid disorder or thyroid cancer in my family.
hey im a 13 year old kid and i think i might have a thyroid problem because my mom told me that some people have problems running due to there thyroid and i have trouble breathing when running, but mostly at school in gym.
i would like to know if i have a proplem
I have read articles on here about the effects of the Chernobyl incident on children who were under two living in Belarus at the time of the incident, I was under two when the Chernobyl incident occurred and I am now wondering if there is a connection with the incident and my Hypothyroidism, I live in London so I am a good distance away, But I know that the fallout reached the UK and affected livestock at the time so couldn’t it have an affect on humans in the UK who were under two at the time of the incident?
And why isn’t there a study confirming this?
I was posted in W. Germany with the US Army. I have since been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. This condition has been steadily deteriorating. I have been trying to convince the VA that this is a situation that deserves looking into.
The wind/Fallout patterns show that we were exposed to Iodine 131 during it’s eight day half life. The VA keeps denying my claim. I would suggest that an information clearing house would be a good start toward convincing the VA. Also publicising a call to all veterans and their families to report thyroid conditions to the VA and the clearing house.
I was just diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, and I was living in Duesseldorf West Germany and was 6 weeks pregnant in April 1986. I wasn’t allowed to drink milk, unless it was the type that came vacumm packed in box, eat fresh vegetables or go to parks.
Shortly after the birth of my daughter in 11/86, I began losing weight, having anxiety, and this terrible feeling of someone pressing on my adam’s apple. That’s where it all began 23 years ago … and now I have finally been diagnosed. The last 8 years, I knew there was something wrong and my TSH was all over the place.
Anyway my daughter shows some sign of thyroid issues at 22. We’ve been back in US since she was 2. Do you think the radiation could have affected her in utero. I am getting her to the fine Dutch Physian, who had the brains and then the guts to treat me and test for antibodies. I immediately thought of this incident and wondered if there was any info on the effects of the radiation on the children of pregnant women at the time. I’d be interested to hear. Good luck to all!
I was in Augsburg, Germany during the Chernobyl incident and now have several thyroid nodules….2 over 3 cm. No one in my family has ever had thyroid nodules. Is there really a link?