In:
Nutrition and Health, SAGE Publications
Abstract:
Background: I 131 therapy is regarded as an “internal surgery” (i.e., a non-invasive approach involving no incision or bleeding) that supports “external surgery” (i.e., using a scalpel) in completely eradicating the root cause of thyroid cancer. Limiting iodine intake is of paramount importance in I 131 therapy. I 131 therapy protocols recommend that patients follow a low-iodine diet, ideally with a maximum iodine intake of 50 μg/day for two weeks before the I 131 therapy. Methods: A pre–post compassion uncontrolled clinic intervention study was conducted on a group of over 70 post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients with indications for I 131 therapy at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital from December 2020 to December 2022. Aim: It aimed to assess the effects of a low-iodine diet on post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients with indications for I 131 therapy. Results: The study found that following the intervention, the percentage of participants at risk of mild to moderate malnutrition, as assessed by the PG-SGA tool, decreased to 4.3% from 40.0% before the intervention, with a statistically significant difference of p 〈 0.001. There was a considerable improvement in the low calcemia level among the study participants, with 35.7% of patients experiencing hypocalcemia prior to the intervention, which reduced to 17.1% after the intervention. This difference was statistically significant ( p = 0.01). The study also revealed a urinary iodine level improvement among the study participants. Before the intervention, patients’ average urinary iodine level was 14.9 ± 11.3 µg/dl. Following the intervention, it reduced to 12.7 ± 3.9 µg/dl, although this difference was not statistically significant ( p = 0.29). Patients’ quality of life after adhering to the low-iodine diet tended to decline; however, the change in scores before and after the intervention did not show a significant difference. Conclusion: Despite its negative impact on patients’ quality of life, active nutrition counseling and intervention during the low-iodine diet contributed to the substantial improvement in the hypocalcemia level and the reduced urinary iodine level among patients, which in turn could enhance the efficacy of the subsequent I 131 therapy.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0260-1060
,
2047-945X
DOI:
10.1177/02601060231197558
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2647106-1
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