Iodine...One more time.

[Guest guest]

Roni,

You wrote:

>

> I have been advised not to take Iodine because of my thyroid condition

> many times....

In response to what AI wrote:

>> I was planning on trying Iodine. I have read a few people's post's of

>> their bad experiences with it.

>> Anyone else have a bad experience? Anyone OTHER THAT GRACIA have

a >> good experience?...

Caveat emptor.

The very short version is that a few people have severe reactions to it,

while many do not. The problem is that you won't know which group you

are in until you try it. You may end up posting testimonials here, but

you should make sure your health insurance is paid up before trying it,

just in case. Here are a few recent papers we have discussed before, all

of which say that iodine either triggers Hashimoto's or aggravates the

autoimmune attack:

Effect of Iodine Restriction on Thyroid Function in Patients With

Primary Hypothyroidism. Kanji Kasagi, Masahiro Iwata, Takashi Misaki,

Junji Konishi Thyroid 13(6):561-567, 2003.

Control of efficiency and results, and adverse effects of excess iodine

administration on thyroid function. Koutras A. , Ann Endocrinol (Paris)

57: 463-469, 1996.

Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis. Dayan CM, s GH., N Engl J Med 335:

99-107, 1996.

Rink, T., Schroth, H.J., Holle, L.H. and Garth, H. (1999). Effect of

Iodine and Thyroid Hormones in the Induction and Therapy of Hashimoto’s

Thyroiditis. Nuklearmedizin. 1999.; 38(5):144-9. in PubMed online.

" Iodine: an environmental trigger of thyroiditis, " Authors: Rose N.R.

Bonita R.; Burek C.L., Autoimmunity Reviews, Volume 1, Number 1,

February 2002 , pp. 97-103(7).

Take-home messages (from the last paper):

• Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) is a multifactorial autoimmune

disease with genetic and environmental factors contributing to its

development.

• The best-defined environmental factor is dietary iodine.

• Poorly-iodinated thyroglobulin is not well recognized by peripheral

blood lymphocytes (PBL) from patients with CLT.

• Iodination of thyroglobulin promotes recognition and proliferation by

patients’ PBL.

Canada's federal health agency issued a warning in 2003 for people with

Hashimoto's to stay away from kelp, because you might get as much as 4

mg per day by following the directions. Gracia is telling you to take

more than ten times that!

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2003/2003_27_e.html

More general observations of iodine toxicity:

Shilo, S, Hirsch, HJ, " Iodine-induced hyperthyroidism in a patient with

a normal thyroid gland, Postgrad Med J. 62:661–2 (1986)

Hartman, AA. Hyperthyroidism during administration of kelp tablets.

Ned Tijdschr Geneesk 134:1373 (1990).

de Smet, PA, Stricker, BH, Wilderink, F, Wiersinga, WM, " Hyperthyroidism

during treatment with kelp tablets, " Ned Tijdschr Geneesk 134:1373 (1990).

Eliason, BC, " Transient hyperthyroidism in a patient taking dietary

supplements containing kelp, " J Am Board Fam Pract 11:478–80 (1998)

Henzen C, Buess M, Brander L., " Iodine-induced hyperthyroidism

(iodine-induced Basedow’s disease): a current disease picture, " Schweiz

Med Wochenschr 129:658–64 (1999)

Ishizuki Y, Yamauchi K, Miura Y, " Transient thyrotoxicosis induced by

Japanese kombu, " Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi 65:91–8 (1989).

" Iodine-Induced Thyrotoxicosis After Ingestion of Kelp-Containing Tea, "

Karsten Mussig, Claus Thamer, Roland Bares, Hans- Lipp, Hans-Ulrich

Haring, Baptist Gallwitz, J. Gen. Internal Med. 416, 1525 (2006).

You mentioned the discredited claim of 13.8 mg per day of iodine

consumption among healthy Japanese. This came from a misinterpretation

of the following paper from 1967, which overestimates the iodine content

of kelp by confusing wet with dehydrated forms:

Nagataki S, et al. Thyroid function in chronic excess iodide ingestion:

comparison of thyroidal absolute iodine uptake and degradation of

thyroxine in euthyroid Japanese subjects. J Clin Endocrinol Metab

1967;27:638–647.

The mistaken comment on Japanese consumption of iodine was pointed out

in Dr. Alan Gaby's highly critical editorial on the claims of the iodine

docs, Abraham and Brownstein. Both sides of the argument with responses

are available at the Townsend Letter from last year:

http://www.townsendletter.com/April2006/iodine0406.htm

Here is the relevant excerpt:

" ... The idea that Japanese people consume 13.8 mg of iodine per day

appears to have arisen from a misinterpretation of a 1967 paper.6 In

that paper, the average intake of seaweed in Japan was listed as 4.6 g

(4,600 mg) per day, and seaweed was said to contain 0.3% iodine. The

figure of 13.8 mg comes from multiplying 4,600 mg by 0.003. However, the

4.6 g of seaweed consumed per day was expressed as wet weight, whereas

the 0.3%-iodine figure was based on dry weight. Since many vegetables

contain at least 90% water, 13.8 mg per day is a significant

overestimate of iodine intake. In studies that have specifically looked

at iodine intake among Japanese people, the mean dietary intake

(estimated from urinary iodine excretion) was in the range of 330 to 500

mcg per day,7,8 which is at least 25-fold lower than 13.8 mg per day.

The other argument being proposed to support a high iodine requirement

is that it takes somewhere between 6 and 14 mg of oral iodine per day to

keep the thyroid gland fully saturated with iodine. Whether or not that

is true, it is not clear that loading the thyroid gland or other tissues

with all the iodine they can hold is necessarily a good thing. Since

emerging from the iodine-rich oceans to become mammals, we have evolved

in an iodine-poor environment. Our thyroid glands have developed a

powerful mechanism to concentrate iodine, and some thyroid glands (or

other tissues) might not function as well after a sudden 90-fold

increase in the intake of this mineral. As I will explain later,

relatively small increases in dietary iodine intake have been reported

to cause hypothyroidism or other thyroid abnormalities in some people.

It has also been observed that iodine supplementation promotes the

urinary excretion of potentially toxic halogens such as bromide and

fluoride. While that effect might be beneficial for some people, it is

not clear to what extent it would shift the risk-benefit ratio of

megadose iodine therapy for the general population..... "

7. Ishizuki Y, et al. [The variation of Japanese urinary excretion of

iodine in different decades of age]. [Article in Japanese]. Nippon

Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi 1994;70:1093–1100.

8. Ishizuki Y, et al. [urinary iodide excretion in Japanese people and

thyroid dysfunction]. [Article in Japanese]. Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai

Zasshi 1992;68:550–556.

Chuck