Iodine phobia

Saturday, October 15, 2011 by: Mark Sircus., AC, OMD, DM (P)
Tags: iodone, deficiency, health news

(NaturalNews) Iodine deficiency is thought to be the most common cause of hypothyroidism and the one true cause of goiters. Once researchers realized this many decades ago, health authorities around the world began adding iodine to table salt. But interestingly allopathic medical science is now saying that in countries where iodine has been added to highly processed table salt, the rates of autoimmune thyroid disease have risen.

Absurdities in Medical Science

Though there are several studies from around the world that support this conclusion, one of the principle studies was published in the European Journal of Endocrinology asserting this without any attention to or control of the toxicity of the salt itself, selenium status of the studies' participants, or the danger that water fluoridation potentiates for the thyroid. These factors and others are involved in thyroid and autoimmune diseases; mercury is an especially dangerous thyroid poison in this regard. So is bromide and they are putting it more than ever in bread.



Iodine deficiency we get is partly a result of toxicity from fluoride and bromine. Bread has ten times more bromine in it than it used to and the sources of fluorine are nearly ubiquitous today. So who does not need iodine? I find that nearly everyone needs more than they are getting.
- Dr. Garry F. Gordon

Contamination from chemicals and heavy metals has cumulative effects such as weakening the immune system. When heavy metals are found on the receptor sites of the thyroid they literally invite the immune system to strike out against thyroid cells. The immune system produces thyroid antibodies in seek-out-and-destroy missions against these foreign substances. Depending on the specific subtype, thyroid antibodies can destroy thyroid cells, cause thyroid inflammation, or cause thyroid cells to produce excess thyroid hormone.

Selenium is necessary for the conversion of T4 to T3. (Incomplete conversion results in high levels of reverse T3, an inactive hormone.) Selenium has also been shown to reduce autoimmunity against the thyroid (i.e. to treat the underlying cause of Hashimoto's thyroid disease.

When we add the total ignoring of magnesium deficiency as yet another uncontrolled factor we quickly realize how careful we need to be about interpreting scientific medical conclusions. Add the fact that the thyroid is affected by widespread mercury contamination and we can see how distorted medical studies can become in their lust to study one factor at a time while remaining blind to other crucial issues.

Studies have documented that mercury causes hypothyroidism, damage of thyroid RNA, autoimmune thyroiditis, and impairment of conversion of thyroid T4 hormone to the active T3 form. These studies along with clinical experience indicate that exposure to mercury and/or toxic metals appears to be the most common cause of hypothyroidism and the majority of patients treated with metal detoxification recover or significantly improve.

Manmade sources of mercury: dental amalgams, thimerosal in vaccines, mining of silver, coal-fired electrical plants, municipal incinerators, crematoriums, curing of plastics, fireworks (pharoah's serpents and bengal green lights), anatomical specimen preservatives, fungicides and pesticides (golf courses), laboratory tests in slide preparations and reagents, certain drugs, thermometers, fluorescent lights, certain button-sized batteries.

As far back as the early 1920s, Goldemberg showed that fluoride was displacing iodine, rendering the community hypothyroid from iodine deficiency. The thyroid-stimulating hormone output from the pituitary gland is inhibited by fluoride, thus reducing output of thyroid hormones. Fluoride competes for the receptor sites on the thyroid gland and so do mercury and bromide. This contamination might also invite an autoimmune response.

Byron Richards writes, "Adequate iodine is also needed to block various compounds from binding to and accumulating in the thyroid gland (fluoride, perchlorate, goitrogens in food). Problems with chemicals affecting the thyroid gland have been known about for decades. A recent Russian study showed that general environmental pollution (of which the U.S. has plenty in every metropolitan area) significantly aggravates iodine lack (meaning pollution displaces iodine in the human body)."

European doctors used fluoride as a thyroid-suppressing medication for patients with HYPER-thyroidism (over-active thyroid). Fluoride was utilized because it was found to be effective at reducing the activity of the thyroid gland - even at doses as low as 2 mg/day.

Below we will examine a Brazilian scientific study that is already being used by doctors as a reason to fly as far away from iodine supplementation as possible. If certain people had their way they would now take all iodine out of salt, which is the only way the masses of humanity have access to supplemental iodine even if the dosages provided are far too low to protect the thyroid from the onslaught of chemical and heavy metal contamination. This of course would be very dangerous to future generations of children whose parents and environment are already extremely iodine deficient (except along coastal areas). It is just because of the vast contamination affecting everyone that the thyroid needs to be protected with increased levels of iodine.

During this past decade iodine concentrations in table salt have been slightly modified to be within the new official limits: 20-60 mg/kg salt. Previously these concentrations were in the 40-100 mg/kg range though there have been reports that salt advertised as containing iodine actually had none.

In the study, in 45.6% of the 1085 randomly selected participants receiving iodine in their salt, iodine excretion was excessive. The prevalence of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT) (including atrophic thyroiditis) was 16.9% (183/1085); women were more affected than men (21.5% vs 9.1% respectively, P=0.02). Hypothyroidism was detected in 8.0% (87/1085) of the population with CAT. Hyperthyroidism was diagnosed in 3.3% of the individuals (36/1085), and goiter was identified in 3.1% (34/1085).

People thought to have certain immune system genes are seen to be more susceptible to developing thyroid disorders when they're exposed to certain environmental triggers. Up to 20 percent of the population has these genes although only about four percent of the population develops autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD).

Researchers concluded that five years of excessive iodine intake by the Brazilian population may have increased the prevalence of CAT and hypothyroidism in subjects genetically predisposed to thyroid autoimmune diseases. With this conclusion, easily-duped doctors have come out against iodine supplementation in any manner, shape, or form for men, women and children of all dispositions.

Please pay careful attention anytime the medical community throws out these key words genetically predisposed because it often demonstrates an area of medicine they know very little about. Usually when doctors and medical scientists throw up genetic considerations, which they do all the time about autism, it's a red flag telling us they either don't know what they are talking about or they don't want to admit the real causes of a disease.

Iodine is a natural chelator of mercury, but most people consume nowhere near the amount needed for proper thyroid function and protection from mercury, fluoride and other dangerous halogens.

Let's examine the amount of iodine they are calling excessive. At 60 mg per kilogram we would have to calculate that easily about half of that would be lost to evaporation because table salt sitting out on the table, with iodine in it, would leach that iodine into the air, leaving, at best, 30 mg in a kilo. How long does it take for an average person to go through a kilo of salt? One could probably calculate approximately 180 days but let's cut that down to 90 days. At that rate we are talking about daily dosages below 1 mg per day of iodine supplementation, and perhaps as low as 500 micrograms (0.5 mg) or even much less. This compares with the average dietary intake by the Japanese population of 12.5 mg a day or the amount recommended by the "iodine doctors" of as much as 50 to 100 mg a day when they use it to treat cancer.

I have had Hashimoto's for 10 years and started taking nascent iodine about six weeks ago. I also have started using Transdermal Magnesium. For some time now I have been using barley greens, and vitamins B, D, C and omegas. Since taking the nascent iodine and magnesium I have improved. My muscle aches and pains and anxiety, etc. are so much better.

There are now doctors who feel that patients with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's and Graves') should not be taking iodine supplements. The real truth though is that this population should not be taking just any iodine supplement and they should never be taking iodine without appropriate selenium and magnesium supplementation as well. As is usual with most minerals, organic (safe) iodine is found in much higher amounts in organic foods. The form in which we take minerals is mission critical. Most tinctures of iodine are toxic and not appropriate for oral consumption.



Thyroid hormone is composed of three or four atoms of iodine and one molecule of the amino acid tyrosine.

There are three forms or chemical structures of iodine. There is iodine in its atomic I1 form and then molecular I2 and I3 forms. One of the principle reasons why I recommend Nascent Iodine for oral consumption and the use of Lugol's only for transdermal use is that the nascent iodine is in the I1 form plus it is much gentler to the taste buds and the stomach than the Lugol's when used orally. The I1 form is the form the body transforms most easily into thyroid hormone. There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet regarding the application of iodine in those with Hashimoto's. Dosage and form of iodine and a full supporting protocol as well as close medical supervision are especially important in these cases.



Most individuals with amalgam fillings or other exposures to mercury toxicity are not consuming natural chelators such as zinc, selenium, iodine, sulfur, and silica that would bind to the free mercury to help excrete it. Mercury (usually with a +2 charge) can grab the biological spaces that should be filled by another essential mineral. As a result, there may be plenty of the mineral found in the blood, urine, hair, etc., but due to the displacement at the active sites, mercury interferes with the activity of and depletes these essential minerals.

Doctors who are recoiling against decades of iodine supplementation and would rather leave the population exposed to worsening iodine deficiencies are playing a cruel game. Iodine is a mineral found in trace amounts throughout the body. Iodine is extremely important since the cells need it to regulate their metabolism. Without it, people are known to suffer from swollen glands in the throat, thyroid diseases, increased fluoride toxicity, decreased fertility rates, increased infant mortality rates, and (with severe deficiency) mental retardation. It has been theorized that iodine deficiency is a causal factor of ADHD in babies of iodine-deficient mothers.

A typical reading from an encyclopedia suggests that iodine deficiency slows all the systems of the body: The digestive system becomes sluggish, nails grow more slowly, skin and hair become dry and dull, tendon reflexes stiffen, sensitivity to cold increases, and the pulse slows. Iodine helps form who we are to such an extent that a deficiency can lead to a dulling of the personality, deterioration of attention and memory, and an increase in irritability due to fatigue and extreme apathy.

"The group we are most concerned about is pregnant women, who need more iodine anyway," says Dr. Robert Utiger, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "There is the possibility of irreversible damage to the fetus if the mother is deficient," Utiger adds.

Yet many are still confused as to whether they should supplement if they have a low or underactive thyroid, or some type of thyroid condition such as hypothyroid, hyperthyroid, elevated thyroid autoantibodies, or Hashimoto's thyroiditis. No matter what the condition, a healthy thyroid system is crucial. A lack of iodine for the thyroid is a huge metabolic problem. How can anyone's body make energy if it is lacking the iodine to make thyroid hormone? Dr. David Brownstein, Dr. Jorge Flechas, Dr. Guy Abraham, Dr. Mark Starr, Dr. Garry Gordon and Dr Michael Schachter are among the doctors who all recommend substantially higher amounts of iodine than the RDA.

About the author:
About the author:
Mark A. Sircus, Ac., OMD, is director of the International Medical Veritas Association (IMVA) http://www.imva.info/.

Dr. Sircus was trained in acupuncture and oriental medicine at the Institute of Traditional Medicine in Sante Fe, N.M., and at the School of Traditional Medicine of New England in Boston. He served at the Central Public Hospital of Pochutla in Mexico, and was awarded the title of doctor of oriental medicine for his work. He was one of the first nationally certified acupuncturists in the United States. Dr. Sircus's IMVA is dedicated to unifying the various disciplines in medicine with the goal of creating a new dawn in healthcare.

He is particularly concerned about the effect vaccinations have on vulnerable infants and is identifying the common thread of many toxic agents that are dramatically threatening present and future generations of children. His book, The Terror of Pediatric Medicine, is a free e-book offered on his web site. Humane Pediatrics will be an e-book available early in 2011 and then quickly as possible put into print.

Dr. Sircus is a most prolific and courageous writer and one can read through hundreds of pages on his various web sites.

He has recently released a number of e-books including Winning the War Against Cancer, Survival Medicine for the 21st Century, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rich Man’s Poor Man’s Cancer Treatment, New Paradigms in Diabetic Care and Bringing Back the Universal Medicine: IODINE.

Dr. Sircus is a pioneer in the area of natural detoxification and chelation of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. He is also a champion of the medicinal value of minerals and seawater.

Transdermal Magnesium Therapy, his first published work, offers a stunning breakthrough in medicine, an entirely new way to supplement magnesium that naturally increases DHEA levels, brings cellular magnesium levels up quickly, relieves pain, brings down blood pressure and pushes cell physiology in a positive direction. Magnesium chloride delivered transdermally brings a quick release from a broad range of conditions. His second edition of Transdermal Magnesium Therapy will be out shortly. In addition he writes critically about the political and financial crises occurring around us.

International Medical Veritas Association: http://www.imva.info/
http://publications.imva.info/