[The probable causes of thyroid diseases in the victims of the Chernobyl accident]

Ideas about the thyroid gland diseases development in people suffering from the Chernobyl accident explaining the absence of straight dose dependence of pathologies raise from the irradiation were elaborated. It is supposed that the probable reason for a number of these pathologies can be the inadequate and inopportune preventive iodine administration. It is known that significant amount of iodine being incorporated in children or persons with compromised thyroid gland could lead to a number of pathological changes, primarily to autoimmune thyroiditis which is a reason of other consequent pathologies of this organ. The principal mechanism of the process can be presented as following: iodine transformation (oxidation) in the thyroid gland accompanies with the generation of considerable quantities of various radicals imitating the radiation damage. This hypothesis allows to consider the children suffered from the Chernobyl accident with autoimmune thyroiditis as belonging to the group of risk as the literary data testify that the presence of autoimmune thyroiditis rises 75 time the risk of malignant lympho-proliferated diseases appearance. A simple immunological method of autoimmune thyroiditis diagnostics was developed which informativity is comparable with the method of ultrasound diagnostics. Serial production (the antibodies to microsomal fraction of thyroid gland) was organized. This method can be used in screening investigations.