RE: Unwarranted assumption

[enielsen@webspun.com (Erik C. Nielsen)]

At 15:24 10/21/96 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Very interesting.  It may well be an unwarranted assumption, but I've always 
>heard (I don't have direct evidence) there is a substantial amount iodine in 
>shellfish.  It may also be supportive of the fact that there are significant 
>differences among individuals.  I don't have an answer at this point, but I 
>suggest that a person who is allergic to one or the other (and bee or wasp 
>stings) should be very careful, and keep the Benadryl handy.
>
>The usual disclaimers apply, unfortunately.
>
>Bill
>bills@deq.state.la.us
>
> ----------
>From: radsafe
>To: Multiple recipients of list
>Subject: Unwarranted assumption
>Date: Monday, October 21, 1996 11:49AM
>
>In the ongoing thread on the risks of administering stable iodine to
>protect the thyroid from damage from radioiodine, several people seem to
>be equating an allergy to seafood with a reaction to iodine.  To me, this
>seems an amazing leap of logic, although it is by no means the first nor
>the worst that I have seen on Radsafe.  I have a physician friend who is
>severely allergic to shellfish and yet does not suffer from sensitivity to
>iodine.  Some reactions to seafood may be reactions to iodine, but some
>are certainly not.
>Ed Leidholdt
>Leidholdt.Edwin@FORUM.VA.GOV
>The above opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my
>employer.
>
I'm not sure how relavent to this tread this is. But working in an
environmental lab, part of our annual surveillence physicals includes urine
and blood work-ups for many contaminates that we analyze for including the
RCRA 8 metals. One of those is arsenic.

A co-worker had gone to a national seafood chain resturaunt two days before
her physical for a shrimp platter special - fried, broiled, stuffed, etc.
She ate quite a bit of shrimp and guess what RCRA metal got flagged?
ARSENIC!!  I've heard of arsenic susceptability as a genetic condition.

Her arsenic level was 5-10X normal.  Caused quite a stir in our lab since
she worked in metals prep. Retested many times since and all were normal.
Arsenic passes through the system quickly and is usually not a problem in
adults (except for poisoning cases...similar to lead and nitrates..adults
are resistant.. children are susceptable)

I hope this helps close out the shrimp-iodine-allergy thread.

Erik C. Nielsen
8-}
If it isn't in writing, it didn't happen