help button home button Endocrine Society JCEM JCEM Call for Nominations for EIC
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
This version published online on May 10, 2005
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, doi:10.1210/jc.2005-0286
A more recent version of this article appeared on August 1, 2005
This Article
Right arrow Author Manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
90/8/4587    most recent
Author Manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a related Letter to the Editor
Right arrow View responses
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Völzke, H.
Right arrow Articles by Hoffmann, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Völzke, H.
Right arrow Articles by Hoffmann, W.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Occupational Health

Submitted on February 9, 2005
Accepted on May 3, 2005

Occupational Exposure to Ionizing Radiation is Associated With Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

Henry Völzke*, André Werner, Henri Wallaschofski, Nele Friedrich, Daniel M. Robinson, Stefan Kindler, Matthias Kraft, Ulrich John, and Wolfgang Hoffmann

Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Medical Department, Institute for Community Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: voelzke{at}uni-greifswald.de.

Context: The thyroid gland is a potential target organ for radiation-related damage.

Objective: The aim of the analysis was to investigate the association between occupational exposure to ionizing radiation and autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD).

Design: The cross-sectional Study of Health in Pomerania.

Setting: General community.

Subjects: Analyses were performed in a population-based sample of 4299 subjects. Among them, 160 persons reported a history of occupational exposure to ionizing radiation.

Main outcome measure: AITD was defined as the combined presence of hypoechogenicity in thyroid ultrasound and antithyroxiperoxidase antibodies >200 IU/mL.

Results: Females with occupational exposure to ionizing radiation had more often AITD than non-exposed females (10.0% vs. 3.4%, P < 0.05). This association persisted after adjustment for relevant confounders (odds ratio [OR] 3.46, 95%-confidence interval [95%-CI] 1.16; 10.31, P < 0.05). In males, there were too few subjects who fulfilled the criteria of AITD, but the association between the exposure to radiation and hypoechogenicity of the thyroid gland barely missed statistical significance (OR 2.20, 95%-CI 0.92; 5.26, P = 0.08). In both females and males, subjects who reported a length of exposure of >5 yr exhibited the highest risk of the endpoints.

Conclusions: We conclude that occupational exposure to ionizing radiation is related to the risk of AITD. The usage of thyroid protection shields by radiation workers is strongly recommended.
Key words: Autoimmune Thyroid Disease • Risk Factors • Radiation • Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP)




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab.Home page
M. D. Tronko, A. V. Brenner, V. A. Olijnyk, J. Robbins, O. V. Epstein, R. J. McConnell, T. I. Bogdanova, D. J. Fink, I. A. Likhtarev, J. H. Lubin, et al.
Autoimmune Thyroiditis and Exposure to Iodine 131 in the Ukrainian Cohort Study of Thyroid Cancer and Other Thyroid Diseases after the Chornobyl Accident: Results from the First Screening Cycle (1998-2000)
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., November 1, 2006; 91(11): 4344 - 4351.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JAMAHome page
H. Volzke and W. Hoffmann
Radiation exposure and thyroid disease in Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors.
JAMA, August 2, 2006; 296(5): 512 - 512.
[Full Text] [PDF]

eLetters:

Read all eLetters

Letter to the Editor
Luca Coppeta, et al.
JCEM Online, 14 Sep 2005 [Full text]
Re: Letter to the Editor
Henry Volzke, et al.
JCEM Online, 5 Oct 2005 [Full text]

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Endocrinology Endocrine Reviews J. Clin. End. & Metab.
Molecular Endocrinology Recent Prog. Horm. Res. All Endocrine Journals
Copyright © 2005 by The Endocrine Society