HealthBeat News

Category: Nutrition and Health

  • This Simple Activity Cuts Diabetes Risk 40%

    By Nurse Mark

     

    I remember my grandfathers – both of them. My maternal grandfather was a watchmaker. The old-fashioned kind of watchmaker, who could actually make a functioning watch out of brass and steel – not just a fumble-fingered clerk who might not be able to replace the battery in your new electronic watch without destroying it. In fact, Grandpa Pass wouldn’t have those newfangled quartz watches in his shop.

    Grandpa Pass didn’t own an automobile either. He really didn’t need to. His home was about a mile and a half from his watch and clock repair shop and he walked to work in the morning and back home again in the evening  – rain or shine, every day of his working life.

    And that working life spanned many decades. Grandpa Pass died in his 85th year having enjoyed good health right up to his final days.

    Did Grandpa Pass plan it that way? Was he some sort of a health nut or fitness buff? Hardly.

    Grandpa Pass worked at a very sedentary job – hunched over a workbench manipulating the tiny pieces of clocks and watches. He would occasionally stand to serve a customer at the counter, but there was no great physical labor to his work.

    So how did he do it? What was the secret to his remaining healthy and free from doctors and drugs right up to the end?

    Perhaps it was that mile-and-a-half of walking – about 30 minutes – twice a day, every day, for decades.

    According to a study just released by researchers at Imperial College London and University College London using data from a survey of some 20,000 people across the U.K., people who walk to work are 40 per cent less likely to have diabetes than those who drive.

    And it’s not just diabetes – they also found that people who walk to work were 17% less likely to have high blood pressure than people who drive. And of course, the walkers are far less likely to be overweight too.

    Wow – the drug companies would love to be able to sell a pill that would do all that!

    Moderation: the secret to longevity and health?

     

    Grandpa Pass was not an exercise fanatic – in fact, he really didn’t “exercise.” He just walked a half-hour or so each way to work and back. That might be called “moderate” exercise.

    He enjoyed the healthy, fresh foods that Grandma Pass prepared for him – in moderation.

    Perhaps there are lessons in this for us in our more modern world.

    Not everyone lives within a mile or two of their work so as to be able to walk, or even 5 miles which would be bicycling distance.

    But we can all find a half-hour or so each day for some moderate exercise.

    Not everyone has access to all those farm-fresh, wholesome, and natural foods that Grandma would prepare from scratch preserving their nutrition and freshness, either.

    But we can all eat in moderation, and we can all make sure that we make up for the nutritional depletion that has come from or modern industrial farming methods – even the USDA is acknowledging that two-thirds or more of Americans are mineral and vitamin deficient.

    Making sure that we get all our vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients is the easy part – with a basic daily regimen of:

    • An optimal dose multiple vitamin, mineral, antioxidant and bioflavonoid formula.
    • A green food formula that provides flavonoids and phytonutrients.
    • High-potency Omega-3 essential fatty acids.

     

    Dr. Myatt has put together a time and money-saving package of essential daily supplements – her Maxi Health Foundation Bundle – that saves you from having to shop around and drive all over town in order to find the best-priced , highest quality, optimal dose supplements. Each Maxi Health Foundation Bundle is a one-month supply of these essential health-saving nutrients for one person – at a substantial savings compared to locating and buying these items separately.

    We’ll help with the vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients – the exercise is up to you!

     

    References:

    Anthony A. Laverty, MSc, Jennifer S. Mindell, PhD, Elizabeth A. Webb, PhD, Christopher Millett, PhD.: Active Travel to Work and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the United Kingdom. http://www.ajpmonline.org/webfiles/images/journals/amepre/AMEPRE_3837-stamped-080613.pdf

  • Are You Missing This Important Mineral?

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Magnesium.

     

    You know the stuff; that really lightweight metal that you had fun with in high school chemistry class. There was always the class clown who would put a match to a piece of it, and it would burn with an incredibly bright, white light. Invariably, someone would panic and try to douse the flame with water – which would only make it burn more ferociously…

    Magnesium is one of the most common minerals on our planet Earth – the fourth most common element in fact after iron, oxygen and silicon.

    Yet many people are deficient in this important, precious (for health) mineral.

    How can this be?

     

    Our ancestors rarely suffered from magnesium deficiencies – they got plenty in their diets. That is unfortunately not the case today.

    Can you say “monoculture“?

     

    Modern, “industrial” agriculture methods have depleted our topsoil of this and many other minerals, leaving our crops and thus our diets deficient. Even the USDA admits that less than a third of Americans don’t get even the minimal USDA recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 240 to 420 millgrams per day.

    Why is magnesium so important to our health?

     

    Magnesium is involved in energy processes, nerve function, enzyme activation, and protein formation.

    Magnesium is essential to the basic chemistry of life – nucleic acid. Over 300 enzymes require magnesium to function, including all enzymes that utilize or synthesizing ATP (adenosine triphosphate – the most basic energy source for our cells), and enzymes used to synthesize DNA and RNA. ATP is found in cells in the form of ATP and a magnesium ion bound together in a chelate.

    So what – if I’m a little low?

     

    Since magnesium is important to so many vital physical processes in our bodies it’s easy to see how a deficiency can have so many, wide ranging, and serious effects.

    Magnesium deficiency is associated with:

    fatigue glaucoma depression
    high blood pressure diabetes hearing loss
    fibromyalgia kidney stones osteoporosis
    asthma gallbladder stones cancer
    stroke migraine insomnia
    heart disease (arrhythmia, CHF, angina, acute MI) pregnancy complications (toxemia, premature delivery) premenstrual syndrome
     

    And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

     

    Without magnesium our bones cannot utilize calcium properly, leading to osteoporosis. This also why a magnesium deficiency can lead to kidney and gall stone formation and can result in vascular calcification (AKA “hardening of the arteries”).

    Magnesium is Mother Nature’s “calcium channel blocker.” Calcium Channel Blockers are drugs used to control high blood pressure. The drugs have a multitude of nasty side effects. Magnesium doesn’t, and it lowers high blood pressure very nicely.

    Magnesium is a “calming” mineral. It reduces muscle cramps and spasms and is used in emergency medicine to treat life-threatening heart arrhythmias.

    Magnesium deficiencies are associated with metabolic syndrome and Type II Diabetes.

    Small doses of magnesium were found to be as effective as drugs in treating depressed elderly Type II Diabetics, and has been speculated to be useful in the treatment of other depression as well.

    But what if I take too much?

     

    Like anything, it is possible to get too much magnesium. Difficult, but possible. Excess magnesium in the blood is quickly and effectively filtered out by the kidneys, so it’s hard to overdose on magnesium from dietary sources alone.

    Overdose is possible with misuse of supplements, particularly in people with poor renal function and occasionally people using high doses of magnesium salts as a cathartic can get themselves into trouble, causing hypermagnesemia even if they don’t have renal dysfunction – they just overwhelm their kidneys ability to cope with the overload.

    For most people however, excess magnesium in the system is going to be quickly eliminated in the urine.

    Where can I get some?

     

    Diet is the best way to get your magnesium. Unfortunately, as we discussed earlier, our soils are depleted and our crops are lacking. Green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, are good sources of magnesium.

    Like almonds? They provide up to 20% of the RDA of magnesium (80mg) per one ounce serving. Spinach runs a close second, providing 78mg per half cup. Cashews are number 3 with 74mg per one ounce serving – who knew that eating healthy could be so great!

    But remember, the RDA is 240 to 420 millgrams per day – and you really should be getting twice that much for optimal health!

    Supplementation provides a more certain source for magnesium.

     

    Multiple vitamin / mineral formulas should ideally contain goodly amounts of magnesium. For example, Dr. Myatt’s Maxi Multi provides 500mg per day. For those who need more, Magnesium Glycinate is available in 100mg capsules to allow optimal fine-tuning of daily intake. And for those who are concerned with osteoporosis and bone health, CalMag Amino contains 200mg of magnesium in the optimal ratio with calcium along with several other essential bone health nutrients including Vitamin D, boron, and Vitamin K.

    Ever get a charley-horse or other muscle cramps?

     

    Magnesium absorbs quickly through the skin and relieves muscle cramps fast. Try massaging in a few sprays of Magnesium Oil – Dr. Myatt uses this herself for muscle cramps after exercise and she swears by it. It’s not really oil – it is a very thick brine (like a salt solution) that feels oily going on but absorbs in to the skin quickly. It doesn’t stain like oil, but it does sometimes leave a light powdery residue on the skin that is easily wiped or washed away. This stuff is like a “miracle cure” for kids who are prone to night-time muscle cramps, “growing pains,” and charley-horses!

     

    Magnesium – who knew that “science class” stuff would turn out to be so important!

     

    References:

    National Institutes for Health Office of Dietary Supplements Fact Sheet on Magnesium: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/ – includes numerous additional references.

    Eby Ga, 3rd; Eby, KL (2010). “Magnesium for treatment-resistant depression: a review and hypothesis”. Medical hypotheses 74 (4): 649–660.

    Barragán-Rodríguez, L; Rodríguez-Morán, M; Guerrero-Romero, F (2008). “Efficacy and safety of oral magnesium supplementation in the treatment of depression in the elderly with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, equivalent trial”. Magnesium research : official organ of the International Society for the Development of Research on Magnesium 21 (4): 218–23.

    Jee SH, Miller ER III, Guallar E et al. (2002). “The effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials”. Am J Hypertens 15 (8): 691–696.

    Guerrero-Romero F, Rodriguez-Moran M (2002). “Low serum magnesium levels and metabolic syndrome”. Acta Diabetol 39 (4): 209–213.

    Zipes DP, Camm AJ, Borggrefe M et al. (2012). “ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 Guidelines for Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force and the European Society of Cardiology Committee for Practice Guidelines (writing committee to develop Guidelines for Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death): developed in collaboration with the European Heart Rhythm Association and the Heart Rhythm Society”. Circulation 114 (10): e385–e484.

    James MF (2010). “Magnesium in obstetrics”. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol 24 (3): 327–337.

    Hashimoto T, Hara A, Ohkubo T et al. (2010). “Serum magnesium, ambulatory blood pressure, and carotid artery alteration: the Ohasama study”. Am J Hypertens 23 (12): 1292–1298.

    Massy ZA, Drüeke TB (2012). “Magnesium and outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease: focus on vascular calcification, atherosclerosis, and survival”. Clin Kidney J 5 (Suppl 1): i52–i61.

    Turgut F, Kanbay M, Metin MR et al. (2008). “Magnesium supplementation helps to improve carotid intima media thickness in patients on hemodialysis”. Int Urol Nephrol 40 (4): 1075–1082.

    “Lack Energy? Maybe It’s Your Magnesium Level”. United States Department of Agriculture.

    Euser, A. G.; Cipolla, M. J. (2009). “Magnesium Sulfate for the Treatment of Eclampsia: A Brief Review”. Stroke 40 (4): 1169–1175.

  • Men – Use This Daily For A Significant Reduction In Cancer Risk

    By Nurse Mark

     

    A study of male physicians 50 years of age and older found modest but significant reduction in cancer rates associated with daily [XXX] use.

    Pharmacy Times

     

    Wow! This article, published by a mainstream on-line pharmacy news magazine and reporting on the results of a major study published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) contains some life-changing, game-changing news.

    According to the researchers, who conducted a large-scale, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of more than 14,000 male US physicians aged 50 years or older for over a decade, simply taking this one thing every day could produce a “significant reduction in cancer rates.”

    Is it a new drug? No.

    Is it a new diet? No.

    Is it some new form of exercise? No.

    Is it some newly discovered herb or vegetable from the Amazonian rain forest? No and No.

    Well what is it then?

    Simple, easy, and safe, it is your daily multiple vitamin.

    According to the researchers:

    Conclusion:  In this large prevention trial of male physicians, daily multivitamin supplementation modestly but significantly reduced the risk of total cancer.

     

    So, you can expect to see more about this breakthrough any day now, as the major news outlets pick up on this important health information, right?

    Wrong. This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on November 14, 2012 – nearly six months ago. And you probably haven’t heard about this until just now.

    Because the substance that caused the “significantly reduced the risk of total cancer” is a simple, cheap, daily multiple vitamin this study has gone unnoticed and virtually unreported.

    If this had been some new, expensive, breakthrough experimental drug produced in tiny quantities in the secret laboratories of BigPharma you can be sure that we would know all about it. Newspaper headlines would be shouting it’s praises. Television ads would be exhorting you to “ask your doctor if this could be right for you!” Shortages would be causing near-riots, and BigPharma stocks and profits would be skyrocketing.

    But BigPharma isn’t that good. They really don’t have anything to offer that’s as good as what Mother Nature can give us in the form of simple healthy vitamins and minerals. And it’s hard to find a way to patent vitamins and minerals – so BigPharma really isn’t very interested.

    Now, to be fair, the vitamin used in the study was a well-known brand – Centrum Silver – made by the BigPharma giant Pfizer. Even so, because it’s a vitamin and not a miraculous new wonder-drug even Pfizer can’t seem to get anyone to take notice of this study. And that’s too bad – because even though Pfizer’s Centrum Silver is a lightweight as a daily vitamin, it proved the worth of vitamin supplementation in this study.

    We call these “one-a-day” tablets like Centrum Silver “pixie dust” around here because of the teeny, tiny little amounts of actual vitamins and minerals that they contain – check out the Centrum Silver label and then compare it with the label of a serious Optimal Dose daily multivitamin like Dr. Myatt’s Maxi Multi.

    And remember, ingredients like FD&C Blue No. 2 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Red No. 40 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow No. 6 Aluminum Lake, Polyethylene Glycol, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Pregelatinized Corn Starch, Modified Food Starch, Sucrose, Talc, Titanium Dioxide, Maltodextrin, and Sodium Aluminosilicate have no place in any respectable vitamin. You will find these ingredients in vitamins like Centrum Silver – but you’ll never find them in Maxi Multi!

    So, men (and women too) can quickly and easily “significantly reduce the risk of total cancer” with one simple addition to their daily routine – just by adding an Optimal Dose daily multivitamin like Maxi Multi.

    Are you taking this important step to safeguard your health?

     

    Resources:

    PharmacyTimes.com news report: http://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/Daily-Multivitamin-Use-Produces-Modest-Cancer-Reduction#sthash.0wzb67ep.dpuf

    Centrum Silver vitamin tablets – be sure to look at the “product labeling” information! http://www.centrum.com/centrum-silver-adults-50-plus#tablets

    Now compare that to the product label for Dr. Myatt’s Maxi Multi Optimal Dose Daily Multivitamins!

    JAMA Report: Multivitamins in the Prevention of Cancer in Men – The Physicians’ Health Study II Randomized Controlled Trial http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1380451

  • Gimme One Good Reason… To Take A Multiple Vitamin!

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Just One? Howzabout A Baker’s Dozen Proven Reasons to take a Good Multiple Vitamin…

     

    While conventional medicine and newspaper headlines continue to preach that nutritional supplementation isn’t important, the results of medical research shows just the opposite. Here are some recent medical findings that should convince you to keep taking a high-quality, optimal potency multiple vitamin/mineral supplement. If you’re not sure what an “optimal potency” formula consists of or what you should be taking for your age and sex, refer to The Wellness Club web site’s nutritional supplements page for an up-to-date ingredient list and optimal dose recommendations.

    1. Harvard researchers have found that sub-optimal levels of folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12 are a risk factor for heart disease and colon and breast cancers.
      (Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) June 19, 2002)
    2. A six-month study showing that folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 helped prevent recurrence of blocked arteries in patients who have undergone coronary angioplasty.
      (Journal of the American Medical Association, August 28, 2002)
    3. Vitamin K is a critical nutrient for skeletal integrity, with evidence of vitamin K supplementation reducing bone loss in healthy postmenopausal women and a significant positive relationship between vitamin K status and indices of bone health in men.
      (24th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, September 20 – 24, 2002, San Antonio, Texas)
    4. Alzheimer’s disease: Association with zinc deficiency and cerebral vitamin B12 deficiency.
      (Journal of Orthol. Psychiatry (CANADA), 1984, 13/2 (97-104))
    5. Supplementation of the elderly with vitamin E has been shown to enhance immune response, delay onset of Alzheimer’s disease, and increase resistance to oxidative injury associated with exercise.
      (Proc Nutr Soc. 2002;61:165-171)
    6. Vitamin E intake, from foods or supplements, is associated with less cognitive decline with age.
      (Arch Neurol. 2002;59:1125-1132)
    7. Researchers at Cambridge University in England looked at serum vitamin C and how long people lived. People who had the lowest levels of vitamin C were twice as likely to die compared to those with the highest serum vitamin C levels. This study was based on the findings from over 19,000 people.
      (Lancet 2001; 357:657-63)
    8. 26.4% of esophageal and gastric cancers are attributable to low selenium levels.
      (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Mark et al., 2000)
    9. Calcium supplementation is associated with a significant – though moderate – reduction in the risk of recurrent colorectal adenomas. The effect of calcium was independent of initial dietary fat and calcium intake.
      (N Engl J Med (United States) Jan 14 1999, 340 (2) p101-7.)
    10. Data from the Nurses’ Health Study conducted at the Harvard Medical School showed that long-term supplementation with folic acid reduces the risk of colon cancer by 75% in women! 90,000 women participated in the Nurses’ Health Study, making this an especially significant finding. The authors of this study explained that folic acid obtained from supplements had a stronger protective effect against colon cancer than folic acid consumed in the diet.
      (Annals of Internal Medicine (1998; 129:517-524)
    11. Regarding asthma, the lowest intakes of vitamin C and manganese (a trace mineral not to be confused with magnesium) were associated with more than five-fold increased risks of bronchial reactivity. Decreasing intakes of magnesium were also significantly associated with an increased risk of hyper-reactivity.
      (Thorax (United Kingdom), 1997, 52/2 (166-170))
    12. Antioxidant supplements reduce the risk of cataract. One study evaluated 410 men for 3 years to ascertain the association between serum vitamin E and the development of cortical lens opacities (cataracts). The men with the lowest level of serum vitamin E had a 3.7 times greater risk of this form of cataract compared to men with the highest serum level of vitamin E.
      (American Journal of Epidemiology Sept. 1996)
    13. Encouraging moderate exercise and dietary supplementation with calcium and vitamin D are the major nonpharmacological management measures used to prevent and treat osteoporosis.
      (Drugs and Aging (New Zealand), 1996, 9/6 (472-477)
    14. Nutrient intake of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is deficient in pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), zinc, copper, and magnesium.
      (Journal of Rheumatology (Canada), 1996, 23/6 (990-994))

    OK, OK… a “Baker’s Dozen” is thirteen, and I just listed fourteen good reasons to take an Optimal Dose Daily Multiple Vitamin. So how many good reasons do you need?

     

    And remember – there is no way that a full compliment of optimal-dose vitamins and minerals and trace minerals can be made to fit into one tablet or capsule of any size that could possibly be consumed by you or me – it’s just not possible, no matter how hard you squeeze it! An Optimal Daily Dose multiple vitamin will require from six to nine capsules daily. To learn more about what an Optimal Dose Daily Multivitamin formula should look like please check out Dr. Myatt’s Maxi Multi – a standard by which you can judge your current multiple vitamin.

  • Allergic To Iodine – What To Do?

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Allergic – perhaps one of the most overused and misunderstood terms in the medical lexicon.

     

    We get questions often from people who are certain that they are “allergic” to any number of things, including essential elements such as iodine, sulfur, and even calcium.

    Here’s an example:

    I’ve had low thyroid all my life, but am allergic to iodine (the doctor gave me iodine drops and my jaws locked). I use iodized sea salt. I have just about every disease you mentioned (on our informational page about iodine) – arthritis (everywhere), fibromyalgia, lumps on my thyroid and low thyroid, ovarian cysts (hysterectomy), breast cysts, chronic bronchitis – what can a person who is allergic to iodine do?

    First, let’s review our basic knowledge about iodine:

    Iodine is a non-metallic essential trace element in human nutrition. Currently considered in conventional medicine to be primarily a thyroid nutrient (thyroid hormones T4 and T3 are composed largely of iodine), Iodine is actually found in many organs and tissues in the body including salivary, parotid, submandibular and pituitary glands; pancreas, testis, breasts, prostate, ovary, adrenal gland; stomach, heart, thymus, and lung. (1,2,3).

    Most people know that iodine is required for normal thyroid hormone production. But iodine also plays an important role in immune function, cancer prevention (especially of breast, thyroid and prostate cancer), diabetes prevention and reversal, atrial fibrillation correction, overweight and obesity, “brain fog” and low energy, breast and ovarian cysts, liver detoxification and menopausal symptoms.

    Iodine is also an important anti-microbial and can often relieve skin, lung, GI tract and other infections when antibiotics fail. In fact, from 1900 to 1960’s, every US physician used iodine (as Lugol’s solution) to treat low and high thyroid conditions, infections and many other conditions with excellent results.

    Allergic?

    No-one is truly allergic to iodine, any more than one could be allergic to water – iodine is a trace element that is essential to life. It is naturally present throughout our bodies. Many people have reactions to other components of things that may contain iodine, and iodine has been unfairly implicated – we call it “Found at the scene of the crime, but not guilty!”

    It is interesting to note that this person describes using iodized sea salt. Iodine is iodine, and iodized means iodine has been added. Obviously, the problem that was experienced when given “iodine drops” (and we don’t know what these were nor how they were administered) was not due to the iodine but to some other ingredient or component of the “drops.”

    What can someone like this do? They should work with an iodine-savvy holistic physician like Dr. Myatt who will help to correct the iodine deficiency that is causing so many problems. A skilled physician will get to the bottom of the “allergy” so that appropriate forms of iodine supplementation can be used and the deficiency is corrected.

    Here’s some more facts about iodine.

    • Studies show that we may need a LOT more iodine than the current RDI of 150 micrograms, and that many if not most Americans are iodine deficient.
    • Conventional doctors are “iodine-o-phobic” (afraid to recommend higher-than-RDA doses of iodine) because they are not familiar with the vast body of research showing that higher iodine levels are beneficial.
    • Low iodine levels are associated with higher rates of low and high thyroid function; breast and thyroid cancer (and possibly many other types of cancer); ovarian cysts (including polycystic ovaries); fibrocystic breast disease; heart arrhythmias; lung and other infections; fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue to name only a few.
    • Because very high doses of iodine can cause heart palpitations and excess thyroid function (both which resolve upon stopping supplementation), initial testing of iodine levels and monitoring by an holistic physician may be the safest way to take iodine.

    More Iodine information:

    Iodine Test (spot and 24-hour excretion test for total body iodine sufficiency)

    Iodine Supplements (concentrated source of high-potency iodine)

    Modfilan (Seaweed Source of Natural Iodine) (low dose, all-natural source of iodine)

     

    References

    1.) C. Spitzweg, W. Joba, W. Eisenmenger and A. E. Heufelder. “Analysis of Human Sodium Iodide Symporter Gene Expression in Extrathyroidal Tissues and Cloning of Its Complementary Deoxyribonucleic Acids from Salivary Gland, Mammary Gland, and Gastric Mucosa.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 83, No. 5 1746-1751. (1)”Iodine in medicine and pharmacy since its discovery-1811-1961,” Proc R Soc Med, 1961:54:831-836.
    2.) Dai G, Levy O, Carrasco N. 1996 “Cloning and characterization of the thyroid iodide transporter.” Nature. 379:458-460.
    3.) Smanik PA, Ryu K-Y, Theil KS, Mazzaferri EL, Jhiang SM. 1997 “Expression, exon-intron organization, and chromosome mapping of the human sodium iodide symporter.” Endocrinology. 138:3555-3558.