Radiation Exposure - Who Gets Thyroid Disease: Thyroid Disease Understanding Hypothyroidism And Hyperthyroidism

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Radiation exposure

Exposure to large amounts of radiation during childhood can harm your thyroid. If you received x-ray treatments to the head or neck for enlarged tonsils or adenoids, an enlarged thymus gland, acne, or ringworm as a child during the 1940s or 1950s, you may be at an increased risk for thyroid problems, particularly the development of nodules that might be cancerous. The level of risk depends on how much radiation you were exposed to and how often.

Exposure to radiation from nuclear fallout during childhood also increases the risk of thyroid cancer later in life. Studies conducted by the National Cancer Institute have found increased thyroid cancer rates in populations affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine in 1986 and atomic bomb testing in the United States during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

If you believe you were exposed to either harmful x-rays or fallout, talk to your doctor about a thyroid evaluation. The level of radiation used in routine x-rays for dental or other diagnostic purposes is not high enough to affect your thyroid gland.

Last updated:	September 07, 2007