Iodine and Potassium Iodide

Some clinical info on Iodine and Candida (there is some info on people using iodine for anti-candida treatment, but I can't find any more clinical info on that yet so will leave posting for the moment).

_http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102237881.html
Background: Candida species have become a major opportunistic pathogen causing recurrent oral thrush and oesophageal candidiasis in patients with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. This has resulted in repeatedly high use of expensive anti-fungal drugs(ie Contrimazole, Amphotericin B and Nyastatin) which most of these patients cannot afford full dose. This has resulted in the development of Candida strains resistant to common antifungals in the community. Due to this, Kibera Based Health Care(KCBHC), which cares for the sick at home decided to look for cheap and effective drugs to manage this problem. Methodology: Patients with recurrent oral thrush under the care of KCBHC were grouped in two. One group was managed with 2% Povidone Iodine mouth gurgle, the other was managed with Contrimazole or Nystatin which are routinely used. Healing effects, recurrence and development of oesophageal candidiasis and disappearance of mouth odour were monitored over two years. Results: The patients on Iodine healed within 10 days and mouth odour disappeared. Gurgling of Iodine whenever patients felt signs of recurrence prevented serious recurrence and development of oesophageal Candidiasis. Those on antifungals also healed within 10 days but continued having mouth odour. Some developed serious recurrent oral thrush which degenerated to oesophageal candidiasis. The medical cost of care using Iodine was very low compared with antifungal care. Conclusions: Povidone Iodine mouth gurgle is effective and cheap therapy for managing recurrent oral thrush and prevents it from degenerating to oesophageal candidiasis on HIV/AIDS patients.Through seminars this treatment has been passed to other CBHC groups who have also found it to be cheap and effective treatment. This is reducing the use of antifungal drugs in the community. The antifungal drugs are used for serious systemic infections. In the long run we might reduce the emergence of the antifungal resistant candida strains.

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10709489?dopt=Abstract
In vitro susceptibility of Candida albicans to four disinfectants and their combinations.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of seven strains of Candida albicans to four disinfectants: iodine potassium iodide, chlorhexidine acetate, sodium hypochlorite and calcium hydroxide. In addition, all possible pairs of the disinfectants were tested in order to compare the effect of the combination and its components. METHODOLOGY: Filter paper discs were immersed in standardized yeast suspensions and then transferred to disinfectant solutions of different concentrations and incubated at 37 degrees C for 30 s, 5 min, 1 h and 24 h. After incubation the filter paper discs were transferred to vials with PBS and glass beads that were then vigorously shaken for dispersal of the yeast cells. PBS with resuspended yeasts was serially diluted 10-fold. Droplets of 25 microL from each dilution were inoculated on TSB agar plates and incubated in air at 37 degrees C for 24 h. The number of colony-forming units was then calculated from appropriate dilutions. RESULTS: C. albicans cells were highly resistant to calcium hydroxide. Sodium hypochlorite (5% and 0.5%) and iodine (2%) potassium iodide (4%) killed all yeast cells within 30 s, whilst chlorhexidine acetate (0.5%) showed complete killing after 5 min. Combinations of disinfectants were equally or less effective than the more effective component. All C. albicans strains tested showed similar susceptibility to the medicaments tested. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that sodium hypochlorite, iodine potassium iodide and chlorhexidine acetate are more effective than calcium hydroxide against C. albicans in vitro. However, combining calcium hydroxide with sodium hypochlorite or chlorhexidine may provide a wide-spectrum antimicrobial preparation with a long-lasting effect.
 
Hello friends,
I decided to start this new thread because there are too many topics that iodine relates to. Mercury, lead,aluminum,bromide and fluoride de-tox (halogens), candida, fibromyalgia, hypo-active thyroid, proper endocrine function, fibrous breast formations, virus load, bacteria etc,etc.
The best form seems to be the nascent form. There is much information on the on the web. Prices vary as does the concentrate-1% or 2%.
iodine is utilized by every hormone receptor in the body. I would write more but I will give relay the following. Yes, I have been using nascent iodine with excellent results. I had the murcury fillings removed and used it as a mercury detox. The film on my tongue has cleared up very quickly after trying many anti candida formulas.

The absence of iodine causes a hormonal dysfunction that can be seen with practically every hormone inside the body.

Nascent Iodine is a scientific term for iodine where the iodine molecule has the diatomic bond broken and has a high amount of electromagnetic energy associated with it. During the 2 to 3 hour of activation time (within the human body, once diluted in water and consumed) the nascent iodine atom has the ability to be of assistance to the body. This form of iodine is produced by subjection of a 1 % tincture of iodine to a high electro magnetic field for a given time in order to produce the nascent iodine state. NutrioDine is unlike any other Nascent Iodine with Telsa field.

This atomic state and electromagnetic charge is held by the atom until diluted in water and consumed. Once diluted and inside the body this atom is readily absorbed and utilized by the body. This charged atom of iodine starts a process where it gradually loses its energy over 2 to 3 hours. During this time the body recognizes this atom as the same nascent iodine it produces in the thyroid in order to make the T3 and T4 hormones.

The atomic iodine is perhaps the least toxic and least irritating of all the iodine formulas available.

The quality that separates nascent iodine from all other iodine products is that the diatomic bond is broken with each atom keeping one of the two electrons that had made up the covalent bond. This is known as homolytic cleavage and causes the iodine atom to be subject to magnetic charging. The iodine being in the atomic state was the reason it was called Atomidine, for Atomic Iodine (1926 to 1935). This atomic state and large electromagnetic charge is held by the atom until diluted in water where it then rapidly looses its charge.

Nascent Iodine is a complete atom no extra electrons none missing.

It is necessary to electrically charge the iodine to change it into its "atomic" form. This charging converts the iodine into a form that the body can most fully recognize and assimilate. (Iodine trichlorite claims to be atomic iodine, but it's not.) A true atomic iodine is the best kind to bring the thyroid to its optimal function because it supports and saturates the thyroid without any toxic buildup.

Iodine is a well known topical germicidal agent effective against a wide spectrum of organisms including bacteria, fungi and protozoa. Iodine is normally available as solutions, alcoholic tinctures and iodophors. Iodophors were developed because iodine tinctures caused skin irritation, severe hypersensitivity reactions and systemic absorption of iodine. Iodophors are compounds of iodine linked to carriers for iodine and only a small amount of iodine is released minimizing toxicity, which is not really a problem at all when iodine is administered in its pure atomic form. Iodine has bactericidal activity, e.g. a 1% tincture will kill 90% of bacteria in 90 seconds, a 5% tincture in 60 seconds and a 7% tincture in 15 seconds.

Gershenfeld, 1968

Iodide uptake by the thyroid is an active process. So much of the information on iodine insists that iodine should be taken in its two major forms, iodide and iodine. An iodide ion is an iodine atom with a −1 charge. Compounds with iodine in formal oxidation state −1 are called iodides. Dr. David Brownstein wrote that ?it is very difficult to get iodine into a solution that uses water as a solvent. Therefore as Dr. Lugol discovered, using the reduced form of iodine (iodide) increases the solubility of iodine.? Atomic or Nascent Iodine is not dissolved in water but in alcohol.

I have used various iodide preparations for years with mixed success.

Dr. David Brownstein

Iodized salt and the iodine supplements usually found in health food stores contain the iodide form of iodine but Dr. Brownstein, one of the world?s iodine experts has had little success treating patients with only iodide. The supplement Iodoral contains both the iodide (reduced) and iodine (oxidized) forms of iodine. The US RDA for iodine is 150 mcg. Iodoral contains 100 times (12.5 mgs) the RDAs requirement of iodine/iodide. One drop of Nascent iodine = RDA of 0.2 mg. If using for additional energy and general improved health take up to 5 drops daily. That would mean only one milligram.

We do in fact find that when taking a nascent form of iodine, therapeutic doses are much lower. If recommended by your healthcare professional for assistance with a chronic health concern take 5 drops three or four times a day or as instructed by your healthcare professional. Thirty drops per day is the equivalent of 6 mg. of iodine or 1 drop of Lugol's iodine. Frequent small doses are more effective than larger amounts at less frequent intervals. Always take on an empty stomach. Most will find that it is important to build up gradually in order to experience the least amount of detoxification reaction. (See chapter Iodine and Chelation) It is best when using strong chelators, which iodine is, to moderate the amount of detoxification symptoms or what is called the Herxemeirs reaction, which is the experience of poisons being dumped into the blood stream from the cells or from large scale yeast die offs. This is most readily controlled with iodine in the atomic form simply because it is so easy to control and regulate the dose.

Iodine is an easily oxidisable substance. Food that is present in the digestive tract will oxidize iodine to iodide which is not corrosive to the gastrointestinal tract. Oral iodine appears to be inactivated by combination with gastrointestinal contents. Absorption is poor due to rapid conversion of iodine to iodide [ii] and this might explain why one needs to take very high doses of Iodoral or Lugols compared to nascent iodine, which seems to bypass the digestive track altogether meaning its absorption starts right in the mouth and continues through direct penetration of the stomach tissues. The nascent appears to go into direct use by the body directly as soon as it is exposed to soft tissues. This is no stretch of the imagination since we know that iodide is completely and rapidly absorbed throughout all areas of the GI tract. Dr. Brownstein says that the downside of Lugol?s solution is the taste and the dosing of it. Lugol?s has a distinct metallic taste that many people find offensive. The atomic iodine on the other hand is like sipping on a heavenly gift, you can sense in a millisecond its positive nature.

Iodide has to be converted back to the nascent form in order to produce T3 and T4. Would the body not recognize nascent iodine as what is needed in the thyroid and take it there to avoid the steps of active transport to produce nascent iodine when it already has it available? This could explain why some people report that they feel the atomic form of iodine in their thyroid within 10 minutes. Is there really time for the iodine to get into the intestines and be converted into an iodide to be shipped to the thyroid?

There is a difference between Nascent Iodine and Detoxified Iodine, which itself is a high quality form of iodine. Detoxified Iodine is produced at 10 amps of resistance for five minutes. Nascent Iodine is more difficult to produce. The time required to get iodine into the nascent state is 15 to 20 minutes at 30 amps with a very limited quantity of iodine. The result is that heat is generated and that must be dissipated in order to have the process continue. Historians who have speculated as to why this process was never used in the 1930's by Sunkar A. Bisey to improve his product was that it is just to time consuming and costly to make the nascent iodine through this method. For those who notice the results of nascent iodine it may seem costly to make but well worth it for the results. (I have had several people who have used different iodine products of these types conclusively claim they can feel the difference immediately when taking a true Nascent iodine.)

The toxicity of modern life is impacting iodine levels. It is well known that the toxic halides, fluoride and bromide, having structure similar to iodine, can competitively inhibit iodine absorption and binding in the body. Americans, who are more exposed to fluoride than other populations have a desperate need for more iodine and taking iodine in its nascent form would be the best way of increasing iodine levels in the safest and most effective way possible. In treating over 4,000 patients, Dr. Brownstein has found only three patients with ?allergy? to non-radioactive inorganic iodine/ iodide. The nascent form is even less provoking meaning the chances of side effects besides a normal detoxification and chelation response would be near zero. The use of nascent iodine is simple, safe and has proven itself effective through more than a century of medical use. One should turn a deaf ear to all those cynics who would recommend pharmaceutical poisons in its place. They are not unlike the child molester using sweet words to draw an innocent into a deadly web of pain and deceit. From its position at the base of the brain, the pituitary gland monitors the levels of hormones in the blood. If a low level of thyroid hormones is detected, the pituitary gland sends out its own hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone or TSH, which stimulates the thyroid gland to step up production of thyroid hormones. The thyroid gland can't do this since it's missing one essential ingredient - iodine - but the pituitary gland does not know this. It keeps secreting TSH which after a time will cause the tissue of the thyroid gland to change and the entire gland will enlarge. Iodine levels have fallen 50% over the last 30 years in the United States. We have also seen at the same time a dramatic drop off of magnesium cellular levels and the same can be said for other minerals like zinc and selenium. During this same time, there have been dramatic increases in illnesses of the breast (including breast cancer), prostate, thyroid and the immune system (i.e., autoimmune disorders). All of these conditions can be caused (in part or wholly) from iodine deficiency as well as magnesium, selenium and zinc deficiencies. Mineral levels should be evaluated in all suffering from illness and those trying to achieve their optimal health. In reality we do not need to expand fortunes in sophisticated testing because unless one is eating a perfect organic whole food diet the chances of being ill and not being mineral deficient is about zero.

Iodine for Health

by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD

There is growing evidence that Americans would have better health and a lower incidence of cancer and fibrocystic disease of the breast if they consumed more iodine. A decrease in iodine intake coupled with an increased consumption of competing halogens, fluoride and bromide, has created an epidemic of iodine deficiency in America.

People in the U.S. consume an average 240 micrograms (?g) of iodine a day. In contrast, people in Japan consume more than 12 milligrams (mg) of iodine a day (12,000 ?g), a 50-fold greater amount. They eat seaweed, which include brown algae (kelp), red algae (nori sheets, with sushi), and green algae (chlorella). Compared to terrestrial plants, which contain only trace amounts of iodine (0.001 mg/gm), these marine plants have high concentrations of this nutrient (0.5?8.0 mg/gm). When studied in 1964, Japanese seaweed consumption was found to be 4.5 grams (gm) a day and that eaten had a measured iodine concentration of 3.1 mg/gm of seaweed (= 13.8 mg of iodine). According to public health officials, mainland Japanese now consume 14.5 gm of seaweed a day (= 45 mg of iodine, if its iodine content, not measured, remains unchanged). Researchers have determined that residents on the coast of Hokkaido eat a quantity of seaweed sufficient to provide a daily iodine intake of 200 mg a day. Saltwater fish and shellfish contain iodine, but one would have to eat 15 to 25 pounds of fish to get 12 mg of iodine.

Health comparisons between the two countries are disturbing. The incidence of breast cancer in the U.S. is the highest in the world, and in Japan, until recently, the lowest. Japanese women who emigrate from Japan or adopt a Western style diet have a higher rate of breast cancer compared with those that consume seaweed. Life expectancy in the U.S. is 77.85 years, 48th in 226 countries surveyed. It is 81.25 years in Japan, the highest of all industrialized countries and only slightly behind the five leaders ? Andorra, Macau, San Marino, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The infant mortality rate in Japan is the lowest in the world, 3.5 deaths under age one per 1,000 live births, half the infant mortality rate in the United States.

Today 1 in 7 American women (almost 15 percent) will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Thirty years ago, when iodine consumption was twice as high as it is now (480 ?g a day) 1 in 20 women developed breast cancer. Iodine was used as a dough conditioner in making bread, and each slice of bread contained 0.14 mg of iodine. In 1980, bread makers started using bromide as a conditioner instead, which competes with iodine for absorption into the thyroid gland and other tissues in the body. Iodine was also more widely used in the dairy industry 30 years ago than it is now.

Now iodized table salt is the chief source of iodine in a Western diet. But 45 percent of American households buy salt without iodine, which grocery stores also sell. And over the last three decades people who do use iodized table salt have decreased their consumption of it by 65 percent. Furthermore, the much higher concentrations of chloride in salt (NaCl) inhibits absorption of its sister halogen iodine (the intestines absorb only 10 percent of the iodine present in iodized table salt). As a result, 15 percent of the U.S. adult female population suffers from moderate to severe iodine deficiency, which health authorities define as a urinary iodine concentration less than 50 g /L. Women with goiters (a visible, noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland) owing to iodine deficiency have been found to have a three times greater incidence of breast cancer. A high intake of iodine is associated with a low incidence breast cancer, and a low intake with a high incidence of breast cancer.

Animal studies show that iodine prevents breast cancer, arguing for a causal association in these epidemiological findings. The carcinogens nitrosmethylurea and DMBA cause breast cancer in more than 70 percent of female rats. Those given iodine, especially in its molecular form as I2, have a statistically significant decrease in incidence of cancer. Other evidence adding biologic plausibility to the hypothesis that iodine prevents breast cancer includes the finding that the ductal cells in the breast, the ones most likely to become cancerous, are equipped with an iodine pump (the sodium iodine symporter, the same one that the thyroid gland has) to soak up this element.

Similar findings apply to fibrocystic disease of the breast. The incidence of fibrocystic breast disease in American women was 3 percent in the 1920s. Today, 90 percent of women have this disorder, manifested by epithelial hyperplasia, apocrine gland metaplasia, fluid-filled cysts, and fibrosis. Six million American women with fibrocystic disease have moderate to severe breast pain and tenderness that lasts more than 6 days during the menstrual cycle.

In animal studies, female rats fed an iodine-free diet develop fibrocystic changes in their breasts, and iodine in its elemental form (I2) cures it.

Russian researchers first showed, in 1966, that iodine effectively relieves signs and symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease. Vishniakova and Muraveva treated 167 women suffering from fibrocystic disease with 50 mg KI during the intermenstrual period and obtained a beneficial healing effect in 71 percent (it is reference 49 here).

Then Ghent and coworkers, in a study published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery in 1993, likewise found that iodine relieves signs and symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease in 70 percent of their patients. This report is a composite of three clinical studies, two case series done in Canada in 696 women treated with various types of iodine, and one in Seattle. The Seattle study, done at the Virginia Mason Clinic, is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 56 women designed to compare 3.5 mg of elemental iodine (I2) to a placebo (an aqueous mixture of brown vegetable dye with quinine). Investigators followed the women for six months and tracked subjective and objective changes in their fibrocystic disease.

A statistical analysis of the Seattle study (enlarged to include 92 women) was done, which shows that iodine has a highly statistically significant beneficial effect on fibrocystic disease (P < 0.001). Iodine reduced breast tenderness, nodularity, fibrosis, turgidity, and number of macroscysts, the five parameters in a total breast examination score that a physician blinded to what treatment the woman was taking, iodine or placebo, measured. This 36-page report, now available online, was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1995 seeking its approval to carry out a larger randomized controlled clinical trial on iodine for treating fibrocystic breast disease. It declined to approve the study, telling its lead investigator, Dr. Donald Low, "iodine is a natural substance, not a drug." But the FDA has now decided to approve a similar trial sponsored by Symbollon Pharmaceuticals. This company is enrolling 175 women in a phase III trial, registered on clinicaltrials.gov. (Any women with fibrocystic disease reading this who might be interested in participating in this study should call its sponsor, Jack Kessler, Ph.D., at 508-620-7676, Ext. 201.)

Most physicians and surgeons view iodine from a narrow perspective. It is an antiseptic that disinfects drinking water and prevents surgical wound infections, and the thyroid gland needs it to make thyroid hormones ? and that?s it. (When painted on the skin prior to surgery, tincture of iodine kills 90 percent of bacteria present within 90 seconds.) The thyroid gland needs iodine to synthesize thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), hormones that regulate metabolism and steer growth and development. T4 contains four iodine atoms combined with 27 other atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, but owing to its large size accounts for 65 percent of the molecule?s weight. (T3 has three iodine atoms.) The thyroid needs only a trace amount of iodine, 70 ?g a day, to produce the requisite amount of T4 and T3. For that reason thyroidologists say that iodine is best taken just in microgram amounts. They consider consuming more than 1 to 2 mg of iodine a day to be excessive and potentially harmful.

Expert opinion on iodine is now the purview of thyroidologists. Mainstream physicians and surgeons accept their thyroid-only view of iodine and either ignore or discount studies that show iodine in larger amounts provides extrathyroidal benefits, particularly for women's breasts. Thus a leading textbook on breast disease, Bland and Copeland?s The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Disorders (2003), fails to mention iodine anywhere in its 1,766 pages.

Iodine has an important and little understood history. This relatively scarce element has played a pivotal role in the formation of our planet?s atmosphere and in the evolution of life. For more than two billion years there was no oxygen in the atmosphere until a new kind of bacteria, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), began producing oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Cyanobacteria also developed an affinity for iodine. The most likely reason is that these organisms used iodine as an antioxidant to protect themselves against the free radicals that oxygen breeds (superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radical). Studying kelp, researchers have shown how iodine does this and have found that kelp will absorb increased amounts of iodine when placed under oxidative stress. Other researchers have shown that iodine increases the antioxidant status of human serum similar to that of vitamin C.

Iodine also induces apoptosis, programmed cell death. This process is essential to growth and development (fingers form in the fetus by apoptosis of the tissue between them) and for destroying cells that represent a threat to the integrity of the organism, like cancer cells and cells infected with viruses. Human lung cancer cells with genes spliced into them that enhance iodine uptake and utilization undergo apoptosis and shrink when given iodine, both when grown in vitro outside the body and implanted in mice. Its anti-cancer function may well prove to be iodine?s most important extrathyroidal benefit.

Iodine has other extrathyroidal functions that require more study. It removes toxic chemicals ? fluoride, bromide, lead, aluminum, mercury ? and biological toxins, suppresses auto-immunity, strengthens the T-cell adaptive immune system, and protects against abnormal growth of bacteria in the stomach.

In addition to the thyroid and mammary glands, other tissues possess an iodine pump (the sodium/iodine symporter). Stomach mucosa, the salivary glands, and lactating mammary glands can concentrate iodine almost to the same degree as the thyroid gland (40-fold greater than its concentration in blood). Other tissues that have this pump include the ovaries; thymus gland, seat of the adaptive immune system; skin; choroid plexus in the brain, which makes cerebrospinal fluid; and joints, arteries and bone.

Today's medical establishment is wary of iodine (as they are of most naturally occurring, nonpatentable, nonpharmaceutical agents). Thyroidologists cite the Wolff-Chaikoff effect and warn that TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) blood levels can rise with an iodine intake of a milligram or more. The Wolff-Chaikoff effect, a temporary inhibition of thyroid hormone synthesis that supposedly occurs with increased iodine intake, is of no clinical significance. And an elevated TSH, when it occurs, is "subclinical." This means that no signs or symptoms of hypothyroidism accompany its rise. Some people taking milligram doses of iodine, usually more than 50 mg a day, develop mild swelling of the thyroid gland without symptoms. The vast majority of people, 98 to 99 percent, can take iodine in doses ranging from 10 to 200 mg a day without any clinically adverse affects on thyroid function. The prevalence of thyroid diseases in the 127 million people in Japan who consume high amounts of iodine is not much different than that in the U.S.

Everyone agrees that a lack of iodine in the diet causes a spectrum of disorders that includes, in increasing order of severity, goiter and hypothyroidism, mental retardation, and cretinism (severe mental retardation accompanied by physical deformities). Health authorities in the U.S. and Europe have agreed upon a Reference Daily Intake (RDI), formerly called the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), for iodine designed to prevent these disorders, which the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates afflicts 30 percent of the world?s population. The RDI for iodine, first proposed in 1980, is 100?150 ?g/day. Organizations advocating this amount include the American Medical Association, National Institutes of Health?s National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, WHO Expert Committee, and the European Union International Programme on Chemical Safety. These health authorities consider an RDI of 100 to150 g/day of iodine sufficient to meet the requirements of nearly all (97?98%) healthy individuals.

This consensus on iodine intake flies in the face of evidence justifying a higher amount. This evidence includes animal studies, in vitro studies on human cancer cell lines, clinical trials of iodine for fibrocystic breast disease, and epidemiological data. An intake of 150 g/day of iodine will prevent goiters and the other recognized iodine deficiency disorders, but not breast disease. Prevention of breast disease requires higher doses of iodine. Indeed, a reasonable hypothesis is that, like goiters and cretinism, fibrocystic disease of the breast and breast cancer are iodine deficiency disorders (also uterine fibroids).

What Albert Gu?rard writes about new truths applies especially to iodine: "When you seek a new path to truth, you must expect to find it blocked by expert opinion." The reigning truth on iodine is that the thyroid gland is the only organ in the body that requires this micronutrient, and a daily intake considerably more than what the thyroid gland needs is potentially harmful. The new truth is that the rest of the body also needs iodine, in milligram, not microgram amounts. Tell that to a thyroidologist and her response will call to mind this admonition on new truths.

These are the four most common formulations of inorganic (nonradioactive) iodine, as iodide (I-), and with or without molecular iodine (I2): Potassium iodide (KI) tablets, in doses ranging from 0.23 to 130 mg; super saturated potassium iodide (SSKI), 19?50 mg of iodide per drop; Lugol?s solution, 6.3 mg of molecular iodine/iodide per drop; and Iodoral, each tablet containing 12.5 mg iodine/iodide. Both Lugol?s solution and Ioderal are one-third molecular iodine (5%) and two-thirds potassium iodide (10%). Studies done to date indicate that the best iodine supplement is one that includes molecular iodine (I2), which breast tissue prefers.

Iodine was used for a wide variety of ailments after its discovery in 1811 up until the mid-1900s, when thyroidologists warned that "excess" amounts of iodine might adversely affect thyroid function. It is effective in gram amounts for treating various dermatologic conditions, chronic lung disease, fungal infestations, tertiary syphilis, and even arteriosclerosis. The Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Szent Gy?rgi (1893?1986), the physician who discovered vitamin C, writes: "When I was a medical student, iodine in the form of KI was the universal medicine. Nobody knew what it did, but it did something and did something good. We students used to sum up the situation in this little rhyme:

If ye don?t know where, what, and why Prescribe ye then K and I"

The standard dose of potassium iodide given was 1 gram, which contains 770 mg of iodine.

Regarding KI and other iodine salts (like sodium iodide), the venerated 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, published in 1911, states, "Their pharmacological action is as obscure as their effects in certain diseased conditions are consistently brilliant. Our ignorance of their mode of action is cloaked by the term deobstruent, which implies that they possess the power of driving out impurities from the blood and tissues. Most notably is this the case with the poisonous products of syphilis. In its tertiary stage ? and also earlier ? this disease yields in the most rapid and unmistakable fashion to iodides, so much so that the administration of these salts is at present the best means of determining whether, for instance, a cranial tumor be syphilitic or not."

This 19th and early 20th century medicine continues to be used in gram amounts in the 21st century by dermatologists. They treat inflammatory dermatoses, like nodular vasculitis and pyoderma gangrenosum (shown here), with SSKI, beginning with an iodine dose of 900 mg a day, followed by weekly increases up to 6 grams a day as tolerated. Fungal eruptions, like sporotrichosis, are treated initially in gram amounts with great success. These lesions can disappear within two weeks after treatment with iodine.

For many years physicians used potassium iodide in doses starting at 1.5 to 3 gm and up to more than 10 grams a day, on and off, to treat bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with good results and surprisingly few side effects.

There is a case report in the medical literature of a 54-year-old man who, thinking it was iced tea, drank a "home preparation" of SSKI in water that his aunt kept in the refrigerator for her rheumatism. Over a short period of time he consumed 600 ml of this solution, which contained 15 gm of iodide, an amount 100,000 times more than the RDI. He developed swelling of the face, neck, and mouth, had transient cardiac arrhythmias and made an uneventful recovery.

Dr. Guy Abraham, a former professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA, mounted what he calls "The Iodine Project" in 1997 after he read the Ghent paper on iodine for fibrocystic disease. He had his company, Optimox Corp., make Iodoral, the tablet form of Lugol?s solution, and he engaged two family practice physicians, Dr. Jorge Flechas (in 2000) in North Carolina and Dr. David Brownstein (in 2003) in Michigan to carry out clinical studies with it.

The project?s hypothesis is that maintaining whole body sufficiency of iodine requires 12.5 mg a day, an amount similar to what the Japanese consume. The conventional view is that the body contains 25?50 mg of iodine, of which 70?80 percent resides in the thyroid gland. Dr. Abraham concluded that whole body sufficiency exists when a person excretes 90 percent of the iodine ingested. He devised an iodine-loading test where one takes 50 mg and measures the amount excreted in the urine over the next 24 hours. He found that the vast majority of people retain a substantial amount of the 50 mg dose. Many require 50 mg a day for several months before they will excrete 90 percent of it. His studies indicate that, given a sufficient amount, the body will retain much more iodine than originally thought, 1,500 mg, with only 3 percent of that amount held in the thyroid gland.

More than 4,000 patients in this project take iodine in daily doses ranging from 12.5 to 50 mg, and in those with diabetes, up to 100 mg a day. These investigators have found that iodine does indeed reverse fibrocystic disease; their diabetic patients require less insulin; hypothyroid patients, less thyroid medication; symptoms of fibromyalgia resolve, and patients with migraine headaches stop having them. To paraphrase Dr. Szent-Gy?rgi, these investigators aren?t sure how iodine does it, but it does something good.

Thyroid function remains unchanged in 99 percent of patients. Untoward effects of iodine, allergies, swelling of the salivary glands and thyroid, and iodism, occur rarely, in less than 1 percent. Iodine removes the toxic halogens fluoride and bromide from the body. Iodism, an unpleasant brassy taste, runny nose, and acne-like skin lesions, is caused by the bromide that iodine extracts from the tissues. Symptoms subside on a lesser dose of iodine.

As these physicians point out, consuming iodine in milligram doses should, of course, be coupled with a complete nutritional program that includes adequate amounts of selenium, magnesium, and Omega-3 fatty acids. Done this way, an iodine intake 100 times the reference daily intake is "the simplest, safest, most effective and least expensive way to help solve the health care crisis crippling our nation," as the leader of The Iodine Project, Dr. Abraham, puts it.

People who take iodine in these amounts report that they have a greater sense of well-being, increased energy, and a lifting of brain fog. They feel warmer in cold environments, need somewhat less sleep, improved skin complexion, and have more regular bowel movements. These purported health benefits need to be studied more thoroughly, as do those with regard to fibrocystic breast disease and cancer.

Meanwhile, perhaps we should emulate the Japanese and substantially increase our iodine intake, if not with seaweed, then with two drops of Lugol?s Solution (or one Iodoral tablet) a day. -- (NutrioDine IS FAR SUPERIOR)

Recommended Reading:

Miller DW. Iodine in Health and Civil Defense. Presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness in Portland, Oregon, August 6, 2006. The text for this talk, with 68 references, can be found here, and the PowerPoint slides I used for it, here.

Abraham GE. The safe and effective implementation of orthoiodosupplementation in medical practice. The Original Internist 2004;11:17?36. Available online here. This is a good introduction to The Iodine Project. His other research studies are online here.

Flechas, JD. Orthoiodosupplementation in a primary care practice. The Original Internist 2005;12(2):89?96. Available online here.

Brownstein D. Clinical experience with inorganic, non-radioactive iodine/iodide. The Original Internist 2005;12(3):105?108. Available online here.

Derry D. Breast cancer and iodine: How to prevent and how to survive breast cancer. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing; 2002. The book is a bit disorganized, has references at the end of each chapter not cited in the text, and no index; but it is an eye-opener nonetheless. Brownstein D. Iodine: why you need it why you can?t live without it. West Bloomfield, Michigan: Medical Alternatives Press; 2004. Well-written and referenced, with case histories.

Low DE, Ghent WR, Hill LD. Diatomic iodine treatment for fibrocystic disease: special report of efficacy and safety results. [Submitted to the FDA] 1995:1?38. Available online here. This study makes a strong case for iodine as the preferred treatment for fibrocystic disease.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html - Another essay here.
 
I just started taking some iodine about 1 month ago. Mostly for my thyroid issues, but like you, I looked up it's function and thought maybe it would help just overall.

I've feeling better. More energy, warmer body temp, better mood.

I'm going to stick with the bottle that I have of it. It is the old fashioned Lugols. I can't afford to buy anything else right now. But when that runs out, I'll see about getting the nascent type.

Thanks for the additional information.
 
Thanks Psyche for posting so much information on iodine and other essential minerals. It is quite amazing how the "powers that be" have ignored iodine's importance for the last 40 years. Someone introduced me to this web site about a year ago and had started taking Lugol's 5% two drops in an empty gelatin capsule everyday. (This is how I take any supplement that has a hard to swallow taste.) In two weeks, got really sick, with no one telling me what was going on, thought I was having a bad reaction to the iodine. So stopped taking it. After three months started to read more on iodine, learned about the reaction of candida die off and started taking it again 10 months ago.
It has done a lot for the fibromyalgsia I have. Stopped taking the allopathic meds prescribed by my MD over 4 months ago. Still have symptoms, but they are greatly reduced. Can get out bed in the morning. Been working on the detox diet and taking many supplements, but there was info in your posts I had not gathered before. So again my thanks. Highly recommend all on the path to detox and well being to include Lugol's or kelp iodine drop supplements daily.

J Crows website has a line of Lugol's iodine products and then some. I have read Dr. Jarvis' book. Very interesting. I have only managed to read the info on iodine. The site is full of "stuff" left to explore and discern for each visitor. They even have some links to G's work and food for the moon references.

http://jcrow.com/iodine.html
 
I have been taking iodine supplements in the form of whole foods supplements for about 3 years and it has been very important in my brain functioning and my thyroid functioning. My chiropractor first gave me organically bound minerals in the winter one year and he told me that our iodine levels are usually low in the winter. He uses applied kinesiology and the minerals that I need usually switch out every once in a while. The others I use that contain mainly iodine are : min tran, min chex, and prolamine iodine. When I feel out of it mentally and am really struggling to focus or concentrate I know that it is usually my minerals that are out of balance and I get them tested. Also I use iodized sea salt in my food for added iodine. :)
 
Excellent info - thank you - was intrigued by a statement made by the sleeping prophet, Edgar Cayce - he claimed that the only four nutrients a body needs is: water, salt, iodine and soda.

That led me to some experimentation ...
 
scifiscriptwriter said:
Excellent info - thank you - was intrigued by a statement made by the sleeping prophet, Edgar Cayce - he claimed that the only four nutrients a body needs is: water, salt, iodine and soda.

That led me to some experimentation ...

:huh: :huh: Where do you see this ? Cayce is regularly advising to have a various nourishment with a lot of fresh vegetables, fruits and some meat.

Some random quotes about diet :

5016-1
Eliminate fats, sweets and pastries from the diet. Do have a great deal of fruits and vegetables.

257-252
(Q) What foods best for the body diet and welfare from now until fall, to keep weight and strength normal?
(A) A well-balanced diet, - whole grain cereals, plenty of citrus fruits, plenty of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. Plenty of sea foods in their proper season and their proper relation one to another.

There's this reading witch mention four principles but this is not the same thing :
487-18
(Q) Is the present general diet alright?
(A) Present general diet is very good. Keep an even balance between acids and alkalines, potashes and iodines; these are your four principles, and ones that work one with the other.
 
Thanks Psyche for generous amount of information re: iodine...it encourages me to eat more sea veggies.

would like to share my favorite way to get iodine by eating sea veggies:

making dashi for soup base by adding strip of kombu to 1 quart of filtered water and simmer just below a boil. remove kombu and either save for another use, or
cut up and add to the soup you'll be making, such as Miso soup.
Add a strip of kombu to a pot of soaked beans, and cook beans as usual. It will disintegrate and will help tenderize the legumes as well as making them more digestible (no bean toots

Sprinkle dulse flakes on eggs, salads, potatoes and just about anything you like salt on. This is quickly become one of favorite condiments.

Bluestar said:
Thanks Psyche for posting so much information on iodine and other essential minerals. It is quite amazing how the "powers that be" have ignored iodine's importance for the last 40 years.

Quite the contrary, salt was the first food substance to be fortified back in the 20's, I believe; while this was probably under the guise of preventing goiters, current holistic wisdom would indicate the body knows how to handle excess iodine from naturally occurring substances and is less likely to suffer the long term effects from chemical "nutrients" (at least that's what I was taught in a holistic nutrition class yeeeears ago.)

I also recall my mom having a bottle of iodine in the medicine chest which we would use on cuts and scrapes, but then antibiotic ointments came along....
Hey, on the subject of antiseptics, does anyone remember mercurochrome? How awful was that...?

For those of you too young to remember (or whose parents were wise enough not to buy it): Mercurochrome ( Merbromin) is a topical antiseptic used for minor cuts and scrapes. It is an organomercuric disodium salt compound and a fluorescein (I remember it being a brilliant red-orange color). It is readily available in most countries but no longer sold in the United States because of its mercury content. It was removed from the United States GRAS list in 1998, for fear of mercury poisoning and is apparently still sold in other countries (see wiki for more info)
 
Wow, what a wealth of information on Iodine (Selenium too), it took me ages to read through all of it, but it was well worth it.
Thanks a lot, Psyche :flowers: :)

I stumbled over this thread mainly because of some research on the topic of hypothyroid/Hashimoto's disease, originating from the Autoimmune Thyroid -Hashimoto's Disease thread, seems to me there might be a connection to Iodine (along with Selenium) deficiency.
 
Indeed thank you Psyche for so much information ! :) After reading this thread there seems overwhelming evidence on the intake of iodine.

Concerning Autoimmune Thyroid (thread on the forum) and the intake of iodine, there seem to be different views.

Bowthorpe in _http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/book writes: "Hashimoto patients find iodine to exacerbate their autoimmune symptoms, especially with the use of sea salt..."

And Brownstein, _http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/brownstein-hormones.htm
[...Iodine can aggravate autoimmune thyroid conditions. Iodine supplementation in those that have an autoimmune thyroid problem can be akin to pouring gas over a fire. However, with hypothyroid conditions that are not autoimmune in nature, iodine-containing foods can actually help the thyroid function better."

I do some research and I go in circles. Any hints?
 
I read about it before, but I haven't reviewed nor researched the material, so I'm afraid I can't be very useful. The only thing that comes to mind now is that thyroid autoimmune conditions , i.e. Hashimoto, has a link with gluten intolerance. So eliminating gluten ASAP should be the priority as that alone may restore thyroid function.
 
Ok. I´ll keep on searching on iodine/Hashimoto and will post it. My gut feeling says to give iodine a cautious try. (I am on gluten free diet since several months...)

This is the nascent iodine recommended in reply 4 above:
_http://www.magnascent.com/index.php/iodine.html
 
Hi Ecllipse - typed in search engine: Edgar Cayce, water, salt, iodine, soda and came up with a quote from Thomas P from Townsend Newsletter, June 2004

www.iodine4health.com/overviews/clinicians/cayce_clinician.htm.

As for the soda part of the equation, he thinks Cayce meant calcium carbonate rather than bicarbonate of sode.
 
Thanks once again for this great info.

As an experiment, am taking : distilled water, sole (himilayan salt mixed with water), iodine and bicarbonate of soda as a drink in the mornings (very mauve drink) and will let you know how I do.

Reason: Cayce made the statement that all a body needs is water, salt, iodine and soda.
 
Hi scifiscriptwriter,

I have found the reading, it was not easy because the reference was never mentioned, nor in your link or web page with the same citation. This is not surprising, this is a twist of what Cayce said.

Here is the full and exact reading which contain other very interesting things:

2533-6

GC: You will have before you the life existence in the earth plane of [2533] present in this room, born December 22, 1904, in ..., Virginia. Considering the statement in his reading of September 4, 1942 that the life expectancy in that period extended over hundreds of years, this entity being active for some 177 years, you will examine thoroughly the present development of this body and mind and give a discourse on how this body may be regenerated, giving comprehensive directions as to necessary exercises, diet with effects of different foods combinations, sleep and rest, and such other information as may be helpful in greatly extending the years of activity of this body and mind in the present. You will answer the questions that may be asked.
EC: Yes, we have the body, the enquiring mind, [2533], present in this room; together with the information which has been indicated as to the experience of the entity in the earth plane.
In giving a discourse upon how this entity may extend the life expectancy, with a body-mind-activity in keeping with the conditions to which the entity may hope to attain, - to be sure each entity, each soul, is in many respects a law unto itself; especially as related to the activities and the diets that would extend or impel life expectancy.
Thus, that which might be applicable in the experience of the entity as may be indicated here, should NOT be forced upon, or even considered for others; unless their OWN condition is in that state of being parallel with this individual entity.
To be sure, - as indicated in the study by the entity, - those things that have to do with body, mind and activities of a body, are the result in a physical manner from those conditions which existed in the experience of the parents of the entity, as well as in the experience of their parents.
For, as is determined, and as is the fact, there ARE circumstances and conditions which arise in the genealogical reactions that extend, as indicated in the law, "unto the third and the fourth generation."

These, then, are tendencies, inclinations as may arise in bodies; provided such bodies are not aware of such, or if measures are not taken to correct such weaknesses or tendencies as may be found to be a part of the physical experience of an entity.
Also there are those inclinations, those urges, those experiences, that will be a part of the mental and the spiritual entity, from that the entity did in the earthly sojourns as related to the law pertaining to the moral, spiritual and material aspects of an entity's consciousness.
But as related to this entity, and how this entity may apply in its own individual experience the truth, the law, the knowledge of interpretations of those activities of a physical-material nature, of dietetics and the like.
As we have indicated for the body, there are certain tendencies, certain weaknesses that are present in the body. They are not diseases, - these are rather dis-eases, when certain stresses or strains are brought to bear in the mental, in the spiritual and physical experience of the entity.
Urges arise, then, not only from what one eats but from what one thinks; and from what one does about what one thinks and eats! as well as what one digests mentally and spiritually!
The weaknesses that exist in this particular body are a projection of those conditions which existed in the great grandfather of the entity, in an experience in the earth; and has to do with those elements bearing upon the hormones of the blood force itself. And in the body, [2533], it exhibits itself as a tendency.
To eradicate, to eliminate such from the body, is to be interpreted from that given in the beginning; "Be ye fruitful, multiply, but SUBDUE" the tendencies, the inclinations, "the earth." For, in manifestation in the earth of spiritual and mental forces, it partakes of the earth. And the earth is earthy, as it changes, as it is in constant change.
And that which bespeaks of longevity in a body bespeaks of each cell, each atomic structure, each of the corpuscles being able to reproduce itself WITHOUT those tendencies or inclinations of racial or environmental conditions, but as one purified or cleansed for that continuity of experience within itself.
Knowing these tendencies, these weaknesses, does not then indicate that there are those bugaboos continually before the entity. For, these are left behind when ye do that ye know to do, and leave undone those things ye must or else pay the price of neglect, over-indulgence, gratification for the moment that there may be the satisfying of an appetite or tendency as may exist in the body!
Here we find the necessity for care, for exercise, for constant checking up on the bodily activities; not daily, necessarily, - but we remember that the body-physical alters in its expression continually, and by the end of a cycle of seven years it has entirely replaced that which existed at the beginning of the period seven years ago. Replaced with what? The same old tendencies multiplied, the same old inclinations doubled - or eradicated?
This depends, then, upon those activities as related to the influences or tendencies which exist. For, as may be told by any pathologist, there is no known reason why any individual entity should not live as long as it desires. And there is no death, save in thy consciousness. Because all others have died, ye expect to - and you do! These are a part of thy consciousness, in what? In the mental, in the spiritual, - and the physical reacts to same. [See 2533-6, Par. R3 in re "The Bantu Die at Will", etc.]
This is the condition that exists, then, with this body; a weakness, a tendency, - not a disease but a dis-ease, - in the hormones of the blood plasm; that tends - with cold, congestion, overacidity, or the improper balance of foods for the plasm's reproduction - to cause in sinew, in bone, a plastic or static condition.
As far as the blood count is concerned, in numbers, in protoplasm cells, or red blood, white blood and the leucocyte, we would find few bodies better balanced than this individual entity.
As to the plasms in the nerve reflexes from brain, and the coordination of the gray and white matter, - only at times do we find these show a variation.
Frustration will at times cause, to this body, a reaction that becomes rather aggravating to the body afterwards. At the moment it is too much disturbed to even know the cause of same, but it blesses itself out, or someone else, after same is passed!
This is a reflex from the hormone supply, the inability to supply in the brain circulation sufficient of the quick activity to the impulses there, under stress.
These are merely tendencies in the body.
As to spiritual tendencies and inclinations, - these may not be given. For, these are choices of the soul itself.
The tendencies as to the ideal are well. As to whether ye keep same, this ye determine in thine own mind. But ideals are not your mind, - ideals are principles acted upon BY the mind. But remember, just as that expectancy - because your great, great, great, great grandfather died you will die too - is there, and is part of the expectancy of every cell of your body! It can be eradicated, yes. How? By that constant activity within self of expectancy that this condition does not HAVE to happen to you!
That is as the spirit. And as the spirit builds, as the spirit forms in its activity in mind, the mind becomes then the builder. The mind is not the spirit, it is a companion to the spirit; it builds a pattern. And this is the beginning of how self may raise that expectancy of its period of activity in the earth. And this is the beginning of thy ideal. Of what? Of that the soul should, does, will, can, must, accomplish in this experience!
And by what authority? WHO, WHAT do you put in authority in thy earthly experience? In spirit, then in mind?
As to the manner of eradicating these fluctuations, these confusions, - do not confuse these with that as of a "front," as of a defense. But merely to know that you are right, to know in activity that you are right, has paved the way for self to control ANY situation that may arise, - whether of a mental confusion or of a combination of confusions from the mental and spiritual situations.
Hence again the mental rests upon its conception and choice of its ideal in spirit, and as to Who and What is the authority in same.
As to the physical conditions, that are a part of the pathological effects in the body:
At certain periods have those tests as to acidity, albumin, the balance in chyle activity through the body, as to glandular reactions; and these give then the positive or negative flexes in the body.
Knowing the tendencies, supply in the vital energies that ye call the vitamins, or elements. For, remember, while we give many combinations, there are only four elements in your body, - water, salt, soda and iodine. These are the basic elements, they make all the rest! Each vitamin as a component part of an element is simply a combination of these other influences, given a name mostly for confusion to individuals, by those who would tell you what to do for a price!

In those activities, then, add - in the proper balance - that which will maintain this equilibrium. And if you set your life to be a hundred and twenty, you can live to be a hundred and twenty-one!
Ready for questions.
(Q) Give simple method of reducing the blood pressure of this body to normal.
(A) It is near to normal now. The simple method is to keep away from fats, and this will keep it near to normal.
Walk in the open early of mornings. This brings better activity of oxygen and ozone as to keep the balance in the blood flow through lungs, heart, liver, kidneys. These are the sources from which either the pressure or repression causes disturbance.
(Q) How may my eyes be strengthened so as to eliminate the necessity of reading glasses?
(A) By the head and neck exercise in the open, as ye walk for twenty to thirty minutes each morning. Now, do not undertake it one morning and then say "It rained and I couldn't get out," or "I've got to go somewhere else," and think there aren't these despot conditions that rebel at not having their morning walk!
(Q) How may I promote the growth of new hair on my head?
(A) Eat more shell fish; and rub same with a few coffee grounds occasionally.
(Q) Is the moderate use of alcohol and tobacco harmful to this body?
(A) The body must answer that within itself. To be sure, if we would give from the ideal, - these are made to extract from you the satisfying of appetites. The body CAN produce all the alcohol necessary, as well as the nicotine. Both are needed in the body. If you get it in the mind and spirit that it may be supplied, or can be supplied from other sources, to satisfy social or other relationships, then the body pays the price! Your ideal is not altogether one, is it?
(Q) In going over this body do you find any other disturbances not corrected?
(A) We find that as just indicated, - that in the physical, that in the mental and that in the spiritual, as given.
We are through for the present.

So, imho, the original statement:
while we give many combinations, there are only four elements in your body, - water, salt, soda and iodine

is very different from:
that the only four nutrients a body needs is: water, salt, iodine and soda
 
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