Radiation & the Thyroid Gland

A few days ago I received an e-mail from my Mom that one of her friends was kind enough to forward on to her about the possibility of a relationship between radiation and thyroid cancer. 


For a short description on what the thyroid gland is and what it's responsible for.. 


The thyroid gland is a gland located at the base of the neck and is part of the endocrine system (our endocrine system consists of a team of glands that are responsible for secreting hormones into our bloodstream).  It's main functions 

The Rh Factor

This topic came up in one of my classes, and I found it very very interesting!  I hope some of you do as well.  

The Rh Condition – an antigen antibody reaction

Every human being is classified into one of the eight blood groups:

A Rh +                        A Rh –

B Rh +                        B Rh –

AB Rh +                     AB Rh –

O Rh +                       O Rh –

The Rh (+) positive and Rh (-) negative meaning that you either have the Rh antigen or you don’t in your blood. 

The Rh antigen can be traced back to the Rhesus Monkey (hence the name Rh), where the antigen was found.  Estimated, about 85% of people are Rh (+) positive. 

If an Rh - woman and an Rh + man conceive an embryo that is Rh +, it can cause serious complications.  If it is the woman’s FIRST TIME delivering, miscarrying, or aborting, Rh + blood can transfer through to her blood causing an antigen-antibody reaction.  Basically, the mother’s body builds up antibodies for the Rh + antigen, that to her is a foreign substance.  The first delivery in this case, is not an issue, however future pregnancies can be.  If the second pregnancy is also an Rh + embryo, the mother’s antibodies built up against the Rh + antigen enter the embryo’s blood stream attacking and destroying the embryo’s Rh + red blood cells.  During pregnancy, this can cause anemia, further causing the baby to be stillborn.  After delivery, the baby can be born with a disease known as hemolytic disease of the newborn.  This disease can cause many different complications but most seriously can result in kernicterus (severe hyperbilirubinemia) causing seizures, brain damage, deafness and death.  FORTUNATELY, this disease is preventable with a simple injection containing Rh + antiserum after the first delivery, miscarriage or abortion.  This serum doesn’t allow the mother’s body to create antibodies against the Rh + antigen, so the following Rh + delivery won’t have any issues.

Officially a Blogger

Hi all!

I'm very new to this whole blog thing..  but thought I could give it a try!  I'm a 20 year old MOA student, very interested in ANYTHING involved in the World of Health & Medicine.  I'm very excited to share my thoughts with whoever is interested in reading!  I'm definitely NO Doctor, just a simple girl sharing her own insight & thoughts!