Know a little about “medicine” | Do you need to be isolated from your family after radiotherapy for thyroid cancer?

Xiao He is currently receiving radiotherapy for thyroid cancer. He has heard that radiotherapy drugs may have adverse effects on the health of people around him. Thinking of his parents, wife and children living with him, he is very worried. Do I need to be isolated from my family after radiotherapy?

Radioactive iodine is generally used in radiotherapy for thyroid cancer because it can selectively remove residual foci and metastatic foci of thyroid cancer, prevent recurrence of thyroid cancer, and treat hyperthyroidism. This drug is radioactive, that is, it has strong penetrating ability, and can cause radiation damage to people around it, so isolation is required. However, most of the radioactive iodine can be excreted from the body one week after the patient takes the medicine, so there is no need to worry too much. The patient uses different doses of radioactive iodine and the people he or she comes into contact with are different, so the corresponding isolation time is also different. Please follow the doctor's advice for the specific isolation time. Generally speaking, it is best to isolate the patient for two weeks if he or she is in contact with the general population at home; if there are pregnant women or infants at home, it is best to isolate for a month to be relatively safe.