There has been an ongoing debate about whether RAI aggravates the eyes, and questions about “in what percentage” of the patient population, for a long time. Some studies show there is no link. A newer study, published about two years ago, however has been the latest contribution to the dialogue, and it showed that the eye condition was temporarily worsened after RAI, in 15% of patients. This was a higher percentage that what occurred with patients doing other treatments. But please notice that the worsening they observed was temporary. The researchers apparently looked at antibody numbers, and believe that the antibodies were temporarily stimulated by the RAI. This study, however, also found that if the patient took a concurrent course of prednisone with the RAI that NO patient had temporary worsening. If you would like to read an article about that study, you can go to the web site of the New England Journal of Medicine (http://www.nejm.org), and run a search on their old issues. I believe the article I mentioned was published in January of 1998.
Bobbi — NGDF Asst. Online Facilitator
