Japanese Radiation Exposure: Treatments and Cancer Prevention

Japanese health authorities have confirmed that at least 22 people have been exposed to radiation following the hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power StationPower Station's No. 1 reactor building early Saturday morning.

Up to 160 more are thought to have been exposed while waiting for evacuation in the nearby town of Futabe, according to Ryo Miyake, a spokesman from Japan's nuclear agency.

Workers wearing masks and protective clothing are using handheld scanners to measure radiation after more than 300,000 were urged to flee the 450-square mile zone.

Officials have set up evacuation centers bordering the zone and are working to establish decontamination facilities.

Depending on the level of contamination, evacuees are being advised to dispose of clothing and shower.

"They're doing the same thing we would be doing," said ABC News chief medical editor Richard Besser, MD. "They'll be monitoring them to see if they have radiation on them. They can decontaminate them."

"You can't prevent all the consequences, but you can prevent thyroid cancer," Besser said.

Potassium Iodide

Potassium iodide is also being distributed to guard against thyroid cancer. Potassium iodine is considered the first line drug to protect against this type of cancer.

Prevention for people near nuclear power plants:

Fallout from an accident at a nuclear power plant could cause thyroid cancer in people living nearby. If you live within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant you are at risk. Potassium iodide blocks the effects of radiation on the thyroid that reduces the iodine levels.

Potassium iodide is known as the thyroid mineral. It helps in keeping iodine levels in the thyroid in proper balance. When iodine levels are not optimal, it can lead to both hyper or hypothyroidism, two conditions whereby the thyroid gland produces too much or too little iodine. For this reason, potassium iodide acts as a powerful treatment and preventative mechanism for both forms of thyroid disorder through a mechanism of counteracting any less-than-optimal iodine levels due to dietary deficiencies. Pottasium iodide also boosts colloid accumulation in the thyroid follicles, contributing to more healthy functioning in the important gland.

CNBC reports, stockpiling of potassium iodide is recommended by health officials worldwide to prevent thyroid cancer of those exposed to radioactive iodine in the event of a nuclear reactor accident or detonation of a nuclear bomb. FDA approved it in 1982, potassium iodide is available without a prescription. More information about FDA approved potassium iodide can be found online at http://www.nukepills.com.

Secondary Exposure Risks

"One of the things after Chernobyl, you saw massive numbers of cancers in children. The radioactive iodine got into the grass, the cows ate the grass, it got into the milk," Besser said. "If there is a big fallout, they'll tell people not to drink milk or eat food from that area."

Supplies of clean food and water could add to the distribution problems already in existence due to fuel shortages, as well as access to transportation systems such as roads and railways destroyed by the quake.

Children and pregnant women are most at risk, Besser said.

Radiation Exposure Treatment

A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release and authorities have been distributing iodine tablets to at least some of the 200,000 residents which have already been evacuated.

Stockpiling of potassium iodide is recommended by health officials worldwide to prevent thyroid cancer of those exposed to radioactive iodine in the event of a nuclear reactor accident or detonation of a nuclear bomb. FDA approved in 1982, potassium iodide is available without a prescription. More information about FDA approved potassium iodide can be found online at http://www.nukepills.com.

Drug To Protect Against Acute Radiation Stress

Seeking Alpha’s biotech opinion leader reports on their website that some media agencies have been erroneously reporting that there are currently no highly effective and non-toxic anti-radiation treatments available for any of those workers or residents who have already been exposed.

He claims they are wrong and as soon as they and the rest of the world begin to understand differently, they will also understand why shares of Cleveland BioLabs (Nasdaq:CBLI) experienced 5x the recent average daily call volume as the nuclear reactor story began to take on a life of its own last Friday afternoon.

Apparently, for some time now, Cleveland Biolabs has been developing a drug candidate to protect humans from acute stresses such as radiation, chemotherapy or nuclear bomb exposure with the help of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute and others. The company’s leading Protectan compounds CBLB502 and CBLB600 have significant activity as both radio-protectants (injected prior to radiation exposure) and mitigators of radiation damage (injected after radiation exposure).