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 tissue 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).

Iodine is required for normal thyroid hormone production, it’s best-known role. 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" (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.

Here’s the "short course" on 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.

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.

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