Potassium Iodide can be used as a dietary supplement, medication, or chemical compound. It is used to treat hyperthyroidism and protect the thyroid gland from certain radiopharmaceuticals. It is also used in the third world to treat skin sporotrichosis or phycomycosis. This supplement is for people who have low dietary intakes of iodine. It can be taken orally.
Side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, rash, swelling of the salivary glands, and abdominal pain. Side effects include headaches, goiter, depression, allergic reactions, and goiter.
While use during pregnancy may harm the baby, its use is still recommended in radiation emergencies. Potassium iodide has the chemical formula KI. It is commercially made by mixing potassium hydroxide and iodine.
Potassium is used in medicine since at least 1820. Potassium is available over-the-counter and as a generic medication. Potassium is also used to iodize salt.
Uses For Medical Purposes
Supplement For The Diet
Potassium iodide is a nutritional supplement in animal feeds and also in the human diet. It is used most often in humans to “iodize” table salt. This is a public health measure that prevents iodine deficiencies in people who eat little seafood.
Exposed to excessive air, the oxidation of Iodide results in a gradual loss of iodine. Over time, the alkali metal salt iodide salt slowly oxidizes into metal carbonate and elemental iron, which then evaporates.
To prevent the iodization of some salts, potassium iodate (KIO3) can be used. To stabilize potassium iodide, sodium thiosulfate and dextrose are often added to iodized salt to reduce the loss.
Thyroid Protection
Pheochromocytoma is seen as a dark sphere at the center of the body. The image was taken by MIBG scintigraphy using radiation from radioiodine at the MIBG. In both images (front and rear), you can see the unwelcome uptake of radioiodine by the thyroid gland. The bladder is also affected by radioactivity.
Thyroid iodine-uptake blockade using potassium iodide can be used in nuclear medicine scintigraphy. It is also used in therapy with radioiodinated substances that are not targeted at the thyroid.
For example, iobenguane, which is used to treat or image neural tissue tumors, and iodinated fibrinogen which is used for fibrinogen scans to examine clotting. These compounds contain iodine but not in its iodide form. These radiopharmaceuticals may eventually be metabolized to radioactive radioiodide. Therefore, it is common to give non-radioactive potassium Iodide to ensure that radiopharmaceuticals do not have a normal thyroid affinity for iodide.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved dosing of potassium iodide for this purpose with iobenguane is as follows (per 24 hours): infants less than 1 month old, 16 mg; children 1 month to 3 years, 32 mg; children 3 years to 18 years, 65 mg; adults 130 mg. Some sources suggest alternative dosing strategies.
Although not all sources agree on the duration of thyroid blockade. However, it appears that there has been agreement about the necessity of blocking thyroids for both therapeutic and scintigraphic purposes of iobenguane. Iobenguane which is commercially available is labeled as iodine123.
Product labeling suggests that potassium iodide be administered one hour before radiopharmaceutical administration for all age groups. The European Association of Nuclear Medicine recommends that potassium iodide be administered one day before radiopharmaceutical administration. This is except for newborns who don’t require potassium iodide doses after radiopharmaceutical injection.
In order to avoid thyroid damage and prolong the half-life of diagnostic iodine131 iobenguane, potassium iodide should be administered one day prior to injection. Iodine-131-iobenguane for therapeutic purposes needs a different pre-medication period. It should be administered at least 24 hours before injection and continued for 10-15 days after injection.
