Linda's Thyca-Blog

...in which I rattle on about anything I feel like...

June 23, 2002
Quote for the day:
"The bioassay technique of the TSH (for which a female scientist won a Nobel Prize) is said to be able to measure the precise concentration of a shot of vodka diluted in the Atlantic Ocean: .00000000000000000000000000000000007 ppm, which should give any sober environmentalist pause before he chucks his martini overboard, the male norwhal being particularly sensitive to small amounts of alcohol. (Starts whistling at passing gray, blue and humpback females.)"
-- Dr. Oscar London, Could It Be My Thyroid?

May 8, 2002
Some day I'll have to make an iodine page just to record all the neat stuff about this element. For now let me just share with you something that caught my eye recently - we thycans aren't the only ones who get to ingest I-131 theraputically! Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies generated in the lab which are programmed specifically to attach to certain kinds of cells. One such monoclonal antibody under investigation is tositumomab (brand name Bexxar) which is programmed to attach itself to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cells. Its deadly payload is ... you guessed it ... I-131! Although patients need to be isolated after taking the dose, just like we do for our treatments, thyroid damage is apparently not one of the side effects. Amazing! Welcome, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma sisters and brothers, to the I-131 club.