Regarding the use of I-131, on p. 612 of the new Breastfeeding Answer
Book, it explains:
"...if radioactive iodine I-131 is chosen for treatment, permanent
weaning is recommended due to potentially harmful effects on both mother
and baby (Hale, p. 76). This is in the baby's best interest, because
iodine radiation could directly affect baby's thyroid gland and increase
his risk of developing thyroid cancer later in life. For the mother's
sake, it is recommended that she permanently wean at least several weeks
prior to the treatment, because if breast tissue is active, either from
nursing or pumping, research indicates that aobut 40% of the radiation
dose will be deposited in the breasts, increasing the mother's risk of
developing breast cancer (Robinson 1994).
"Waiting until several weeks after weaning to treat the mother gives her
breast tissue time to involute, or revert back to its pre-pregnancy
state, so that her breast tissue is no longer active when the treatment
is given. When radioactive iodine is used as a treatment rather than as
a diagnostic tool, it may take months for the radioactivity in a
mother's milk to decrease to safe levels."
Hope this helps,
Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC
Lactation Education Specialist, Hollister, Inc.
Automatic digest processor wrote:
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>>The rationale is that the iodine which is actively transported
>>into the remaining thyroid tissue will also be concentrated into the
>>milk and the actively producing breast tissue, creating an exposure that
>>could increase her chances for breast cancer.
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>>
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