Radioiodine (RAI) is becoming the preferred treating option for benign thyroid diseases. Hyperthyroidism is defined as hypermetabolic state caused by high levels of circulating thyroid hormones of the thyroid gland. The most common hyperthyroidism causes are Graves' disease, toxic multinodular goitre, and solitary hyperfunctioning nodule, for which RAI can be preferred as a definitive treatment option. It is rapidly incorporated into the thyroid and with its beta emissions with a path length of 1-3 mm cause extensive local tissue damage and necrosis. The thyroid gland is effectively ablated over a period of 8-18 weeks and can no more produce normal amount of thyroid hormones. It is an individualized therapy that can either be a first-line therapy, or an alternative therapy to neck surgery or to use of antithyroidal drugs after 1 year. For the optimal efficiency, before the RAI treatment, the patients should be extensively assessed and they also should be given clear information about the treatment, as well as written instructions for precautions to avoid irradiation exposure to other people. Moreover, after RAI treatment patients should have their regular follow-up. This chapter summarizes all the points for a RAI treatment.

As a first study assessing the protective effect of lycopene on gastrointestinal tract organs in a rat model after RAI, these preliminary basic research findings suggest that lycopene appears to exert radioprotective effects against RAI-induced acute gastrointestinal tract damage.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the radioprotective effect of vitamin E in the prevention of radioiodine (RAI) induced gastrointestinal damage. METHOD: Twenty-four rats were randomly divided into three groups as follows: Group-1 was untreated control group, Group-2 was orally administered single dose of 111 MBq RAI, and Group-3 was orally administered 111 MBq RAI and 1 mL of oral vitamin E. Vitamin E was started two days before RAI administration and was continued for fi ve days once daily after RAI. Pathomorphological parameters of gastrointestinal tissues (stomach, small intestines and bowels) were measured using Hematoxylin-Eosin and Masson's trichrome staining. RESULTS: Varying degrees of infl ammation, edema, ulcer, mucosal degeneration, necrosis and fi brosis were seen in the stomach, small intestine and bowel tissues of the rats in both study groups and not in the control group. The differences were statistically signifi cant between these groups for all parameters (p < 0.05). The histopathological damage in the vitamin E treated group was signifi cantly less than the damage in the RAI only group (p < 0.05 for all pathomorphological parameters). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that vitamin E has a radioprotective property with antiinfl ammatory and antifi brotic effects protecting against gastrointestinal damage caused by radioiodine (Tab.

Studies of Helicobacter pylori show that it is the cause of duodenal ulcers, gastric ulcers, gastric adenocarcinoma, and primary gastric B cell lymphoma (MALT lymphoma). Helicobacter pylori is the first established carcinogenic bacterium. Thus, it is very important to diagnose and treat H. pylori infection and determine the effectiveness of eradication treatments. The C14-urea breath test (C14-UBT) is a rapid, well-tolerated, non-invasive method to detect H. pylori, with a sensitivity of 94.9% and specificity of 100% (1). We employed C14-UBT to investigate the prevalence of H. pylori infection and evaluate its association with epidemiological, demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors of patients.

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