Articles by Donna DiMarco

By Donna DiMarco

Remember when we all used IODINE? Every family had a bottle in the medicine cabinet. I remember always being afraid of the burning sensation it caused so when given the choice, I opted for mercurochrome. (We didn’t know about mercury toxicity then.) What we did know was that iodine was the best to kill germs but mercurochrome didn’t hurt. What happened? How did iodine, a historically safe substance, become a bad guy while mercury, a known toxin, is still being used in dental amalgams and certain vaccines?

Back in 1948, Wolff and Chaikoff published a paper based on a study they did on rats. Basically, they stated that after injecting a certain threshold amount (20 to 35 ug percent) of potassium iodide into the rat’s peritoneum, the iodine would no longer be bound to the thyroid, causing hypothyroidism and goiter (Wolff-Chaikoff Effect). They erroneously concluded that the inorganic iodine was stopping the thyroid from working properly. This was totally untrue. The truth is that the thyroid iodine level reached its maximum. No more was needed. Wolff and Chaikoff went on to conclude that if it happened in rats, it should happen in humans as well. And so began the bad rap for iodine. Dr. Guy Abraham, M.D. calls it “Medical Iodophobia …the unwarranted fear of using and recommending inorganic, non-radioactive iodine/iodide within the range known from collective experience of three generations of clinicians to be the safest and most effective amounts for treating symptoms and signs of iodine/iodide deficiency (12.5-50 mg./day)”

But history and experience tells a different story. Way back in the early 1900’s, the mid-western states noticed an increased incidence of goiter in their population. But some determined scientists came across the research of both Coindet and Boussingault who each identified the correlation between iodine and goiter. As a result, in 1924 the state of Michigan, decided to add iodine to salt so the population would have a minimal source in their daily diet. The results were amazing. The incidence of goiter was reduced by 75% by 1928 and by 1951, less than .5% of school-aged children had goiter. Shortly after, the rest of the United States and Switzerland followed suit and the incidence of goiter reduced significantly, along with cretinism and myxedema. What a great solution! Or was it?

This minute amount of iodine prevented goiter but what about all the other cells and organs that need iodine? The rest of the body was never considered. If a small amount eliminated goiter, that was all the body needed. Not true! This marvelous body of ours will do what it can to survive. Like a wilted flower that perks up after a little watering, the thyroid stops complaining (goiter symptoms) with a little iodine, but that small amount is insufficient for growth and wellness. In fact, we later learned that iodine is needed all over the body. The organs with the greatest demand quickly light up when radioactive iodine 131 is injected into the body.

As a result, the RDA was set at the amount needed to prevent goiter without concern for other body tissue requirements. Those levels still stand at 150 mcg/day for adult men and women, 220 mcg/day during pregnancy and 290 mcg/day during lactation. Still believing that goiter prevention was the gold standard for determining sufficient intake, little was done to insure sufficient iodine for the masses until the1960’s when iodine was added to baked goods as an anti-caking agent.

This provided a great iodine supply since 1 slice of bread supplied up to 150 ug of iodine (the RDA‘s magic number!). Since so many people ate bread even if they didn’t eat salt, all was well.

Not so fast! In 1980’s some brilliant minds felt that the amount of iodine in baked goods might be dangerous so they took all the iodine out and replaced it with bromide. Bromide is a halogen (from bromos, the Greek word for “stench” due to its strong odor). According to the PDR for Nutritional Supplements, it has no known actions for dietary supplements and no known supplemental use. It use to be sold in an effervescent granule form for upset stomachs but is no longer available. As I stated, bromide is a halide, which means that it is in the class of elements with fluoride, chloride and iodide. The similarity of these four elements presents us with a problem; they are able to fill the iodine receptor sites (dressed up as iodine if you will), but do not offer the benefits that iodine offers. In fact, some people have so much of the halides that the iodine is rendered helpless. With iodine being taken out of bakery products and the increased consumption/exposure to halides, it’s no wonder that the National Health & Nutrition Survey (NHANES) showed that iodine levels in the United States declined 50% while thyroid illness, thyroid cancer and other autoimmune thyroid disorders, breast, prostate, endometrial and ovarian cancers increased.

Iodized salt wasn’t enough. Salt is sodium chloride. Yes, chloride is a halide that blocks the iodine receptors so only 10 % of the iodine is bio-available. Total body iodine deficiency was eminent, but not as visible since goiters disappeared.

The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that an iodine deficiency is the world’s greatest single cause of preventable mental retardation. We know that iodine is essential for normal growth and development. Deficiency can result in cretinism, mental deficiency, delayed physical and intellectual development and ADHD, but what are we doing to insure every pregnant mother, every child gets an adequate iodine intake?

Our schools are filled with increasing numbers of students with hyperactivity disorders. A recent Italian study demonstrated that if a woman is iodine deficient during pregnancy she has a greater chance of having a child who will suffer from ADHD. High incidence of ADHD was unheard of years ago! Maybe removing the iodine from bread provoked the deficiency that lead to ADHD. A strange coincidence indeed.

The relationship between breast cancer and thyroid problems dates back over 100 years, but even with breast cancer in high numbers today, thyroid function and/or iodine levels are rarely mention, if ever checked. Yet the countries where iodine consumption is the highest has the fewest incidence of breast cancer. This was always attributed to their increased consumption of soy, the lack of hormone-rich beef and dairy, and/or the greater consumption of vegetables, but these may not be the only reasons. Maybe it is the increased consumption of fish and seaweeds, both high in iodine.

When iodine is ingested, approximately 6 mg. of iodine is taken up by the thyroid; the rest of the entire body takes up 8 mg. approximately. Research has shown that of that remaining 8 mg. approximately 5 mg will go to the breast leaving 3 mg. for all other organs. They also found that the larger the breasts, the greater amount of iodine is needed. Well, if there is a correlation between iodine deficiency and thyroid function, and a correlation between thyroid function and breast cancer, and the breast is the second largest storer of iodine it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that women with iodine deficiency may have a greater incidence of breast cancer.

Some doctors believe that iodine is stored in the prostate, like the breasts store it in women. If that is true, then the rampant iodine deficiency would explain the increases in prostate cancer.

Even if doctors ignore this information and never test for iodine levels, surely some check the thyroid at least! The problem is that too many doctors think that testing T4 and TSH levels correlate to sufficient iodine levels. This is incorrect. A recent study conducted in Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC stated it this way “…TSH and T4 are not appropriate markers of UI (urine iodine) concentrations in this population. Monitoring the status of iodine nutrition of individuals in the United States may be important because serum TSH and T4 concentrations do not indicate low iodine status.” In fact, just the opposite may be true. Dr. Guy Abraham, M.D., the man who brought iodine supplementation into the forefront, brought to my attention that by suppressing TSH we are decreasing the amount of iodine that can get into the cell. There is a feedback mechanism that works this way: If the thyroid isn’t producing enough hormones, TSH levels will increase to stimulate more production, but that same TSH also allows more iodide to get inside the cells since a deficiency was sensed. When the thyroid hormones increase, the pituitary reduces the amount of TSH released and the amount of iodide allowed into the cells diminishes. So by giving thyroid hormones supplementally may actually be depleting the cells of iodine.

72% of the world’s population is affected by iodine deficiency, but why?

There are many reasons why iodine deficiency still occurs. Less than 50% of households in United States use iodized salt. Many people with hypertension are afraid to use salt so on medical advice they avoid it. Dr. David Brownstein, M.D., the author of the book Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, (and whose lectures and conversations contributed greatly to this article) recommends Celtic Sea Salt for those who use salt. Be sure to look for his latest book on the benefits of salt entitled Salt Your Way to Health. In it he states that most of the nutrients are processed out of regular table salt but Celtic Sea Salt maintains a good mineral supply. It is also free of sugar and not processed (color is not as white as table salt). If you look carefully at your own brand, you might find that the second ingredient is dextrose-a sugar!

A goitrogen is a substance that decreases iodine uptake as well as inhibits iodine from binding where it is needed. Goitrogens have become commonplace in our lives and are major causes of iodine deficiency.

Goitrogens include:

• Chlorine derivatives in pools, cleaning products, water supply, steam from dishwasher, sucrolose (Splenda).

• Fluoride in water supply, toothpaste, dental treatments, mouthwash.

• Bromide in some soft drinks (Mountain Dew & some Gatorades), baked goods, pesticides, hot tubs, fumigants used on produce, and some medications.

It takes large amounts of iodine/iodide to displace these imposters. This must be done with a careful eye. In some cases detoxification symptoms can occur once iodine intake begins mobilizing them.

Other reasons for iodine deficiency include:

• Declining mineral levels due to soil erosion and poor farming techniques.

• Failure to eat sufficient iodine-containing foods.

• Exposures to chemicals and toxins.

• The use of radioactive iodine used in diagnostic testing, which exacerbated an iodine-deficient state.

• A combination of any or all of these.

•  Whatever the cause, iodine deficiency must be identified and corrected.

How Can We Test Iodine Levels?

In the past we would paint a spot of iodine on the stomach in the evening, wait until morning to see if it disappeared. If it was all gone we needed iodine. If it remained, we would interpret that to mean that the body had enough so the iodine wasn’t absorbed. We now realize that iodine can be stored in the skin so residual staining may only mean that the skin has a supply while the body is lacking.

Here’s a better way. Iodine deficiency can be detected by an iodine overload test developed by Dr. Guy Abraham M.D. of California and is offered by FFP Laboratory in North Carolina. It is very user friendly so compliance is high. Simply, urine is collected first thing in the morning and saved for a spot test. (Dr. Jorge Flechas, M.D. just shared at a lecture that this spot test showed that women with breast cancer retain more iodine than women without breast cancer). Then 50 mg. of potassium iodide and iodine in combination is ingested. Urine is then collected throughout the day until the first urine of the next morning. A small sample, plus the first sample (spot test) is shipped to the lab.

If the body has sufficient iodine at least 90% will pass out of the body in the urine. If the body is deficient, some of the iodine will remain in the body to compensate for the deficiency. The more that remains, the greater the need for iodine/iodide. I have had several people have a level of 10% and one person even lower. After iodine/iodide supplementation, their health status was significantly improved. Without an initial baseline test and follow-up tests to monitor progress I would have no idea how great the need for iodine was, how long to give it and how much to give. So first establish baseline levels. Then supplement with liquid, capsules or tablets of iodine/iodide combination.

Be sure to monitor levels every 3-4 months to adjust the dose. Be aware of some possible side effects like runny nose, increased salivation, sinus headaches and metallic taste. These symptoms are temporary and due to the fact that iodine is mucolytic (breaks down of mucous), and they typically disappear after 2 weeks. Drinking lots of water can help. There are some people who are truly allergic to iodine, but Dr. Brownstein states that of the 3000 or so people he treated with iodine, he only had a few with a true iodine allergy; most people who react to shellfish or iodine in contrast solutions used in x-ray procedures react to the organic forms of iodine, not the inorganic form. Use care here.

Here’s what iodine can do:

• Elevate pH- a typical American diet tends to leave us in a more acid state. Oxidative stress, bacteria, and other opportunistic infections tend to thrive in an acid environment. Iodine can help bring the serum pH up to 7.4 so the body can maintain optimum function.

• Is needed to produce thyroid hormones- T3 is called triiodothyronine.

• Prevents goiter, autoimmune thyroid conditions, thyroid and other cancers, hypothyroidism

• Is antibacterial, antiviral and antiparasitic

• Is a mucolytic agent (breaks up mucous)

• May effect the pituitary-adrenal axis recovery in response to stress

Therapeutic Actions:
• Antibacterial
• Anticancer
• Anti parasitic
• Antiviral
• Mucolytic Agent
Conditions treated with Iodine
• Breast disease
• Dupruyten’s contraction
• Excess mucous production
• Fatigue
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Hemorrhoids
• Heachahes and migraine headaches
• Keloids
• Ovarian Cysts
• Parotid Duct stones
• Peyronie’s
• Sebaceous cysts
• Thyroid disorders
Taken from Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, Medical Alternative Press, 2004, Pages 20, 38-39
As you can see, iodine has a history of beneficial use and physiologic need. Some old information cast a shadow on this important mineral. Fear drove the exclusion of iodine from the standard diet. The addition of goitrogens in the food supply and the environment, along with depleted soil, fear of salt, goitrogenic medications and medical imaging methods added to the problem. People like Dr. Guy Abraham, Dr. David Brownstein, and Dr. Jorge Flechas have paved the way to put an end to all the misinformation in the medical community, to make public the more aware of the importance of iodine for vibrant health, and to prevent medical problems that might affect future generations. I choose to join the cause as well. It is important to know that if you have auto-immune thyroiditis iodine could make it worse. Have your doctor run a TPO (Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies) blood test. DO NOT TAKE IODINE IF IT IS POSITIVE. Talk to your doctor about how to deal with that issue. I hope that this article will open some eyes, stimulate some questions, but ultimately result in better health for you and your patients
1. Abraham, Guy, The Safe and Effective Implementation of Orthoiodosupplementation in Medical Practice. The Original Internist, 11:17-36, 2004. Also, conversations and fax.
2. Abraham, Guy, The Wolff-Chaikoff Effect: Crying Wolf? www.optimox.com
3. Brownstein, David, Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, Medical Alternative Press, Pages 20, 38-39, 80-81, 2004. Also conversations and lecture notes.
4. Flechas, Jorge, Iodine Seminar, given at Bio-energetic Conference in Orlando Florida, May 22, 2005.
5. Oketlund M.D., The Clinical Utility of Fluorescent Scanning of the Thyroid. In Medical Applications of Fluorescent Excitation Analysis. Editors Kaufman and Price, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL pg 149-160.
6. PDR for Nutritional Supplements; First edition, Medical Economics, 2001, p 73
7. Soldin OP, Tractenberg RE, Pezzullo JC. Do Thyroxine and Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Levels Reflect Urinary Iodine Concentrations? Ther Drug Monit. 2005 Apr;27(2):178-185.
8. Vermiglio F, et al, Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders in the offspring of mothers exposed to mild-moderate iodine deficiency: a possible novel iodine deficiency disorder in developed countries.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Dec;89(12):6054-60.
9. Wolff, J. and Chaikoff, I.L., Plasma Inorganic Iodide as a Homeostatic Regulator of thyroid Function. J. Biol. Chem, 174:555-564, 1948.