Low IODINE increases risk of hypothyroidism AND PCOS

marieparis22 · 09-12-2007, 02:05 PM

If you are both hypothyroid and have pcos chances are huge that you have an iodine deficiency which if corrected can reverse both.

Dolphin39 · 09-12-2007, 03:12 PM

How do you correct a iodine deficiency

Amy2000 · 09-12-2007, 03:39 PM

I know iodine has a big effect on thyroid function but I'm really interested to know how iodine can help PCOS too. Has anyone been taking iodine for a while? My doctor prescribed an iodine supplement (15 mg iodide, 10 mg iodine, 25 mcg selenium) about six weeks ago for enlarged thyroid/slight hypothyroid. It's a pill but I know some people take it in liquid form. Not sure yet what it's doing for me but I'm still taking it!

mommavia · 09-12-2007, 07:02 PM

It is extremely rare for a person living in the US to have an iodine deficiency. Iodine is often added to the water supply and most table salts have iodine added (you probably use this at home unless you buy non-iodized salt). Most processed foods and meats use iodized salt as well; there are a million sources of iodine, unless you make all of your own food using non-iodized salt, chances are you are getting plenty of iodine in your diet.

Cynthia

shenacat · 09-12-2007, 08:40 PM

Not only that, but you need to make sure the source of your thyroid disease is not autoimmune before you add extra iodine to your diet. Iodine will stimulate your thyroid and the antibody count will rise, causing your damage and making you feel sicker.

mommavia · 09-13-2007, 01:45 AM

Would you mind sharing the source of the information? I am interested to see how an iodine deficiency can cause PCOS since the only cells in the body that absorb iodine are thyroid cells.

Cynthia

marieparis22 · 09-13-2007, 12:03 PM

That it is rare to see iodine deficiency in the US is old information. The fact is they have apparently and continuously lowered the amount of iodine in the salt. Moreover most people, due to scares about high blood pressure, have decreased the amount of table salt they use (dumb idea really since most diet sodium comes from packaged foods.)

The site iodine4health.com used to have tons of recent studies. A doctor named Miller I think? did a report you can find there somewhere with an overview of the current information.

The information on ovarian cysts is there, too. I had ovarian cysts and fibrocystic breasts AND then discovered a thyroid problem which perplexed me since I thought I was so health conscious! But I grew up in the Mississippi River Valley known to be deficient in iodine and always 'watched my weight" which meant not eating in high school! Never put the cysts together with the thyroid until I read that 2006 report. Worth reading and very interesting.

There is a study there done by the Russians - I believe they used iodine to get rid of ovarian cysts... some kind of cyst. Definitely worth checking out since POCS wasn't an issue 30 years ago - and 30 years ago average iodine levels WERE OK.

marieparis22 · 09-13-2007, 12:18 PM

oops meant to say>>>Not in the same quantities and not quite the same TYPE. That is why Amy is taking iodine and iodide.

marieparis22 · 09-13-2007, 12:26 PM

And Cynthia that is another old wive's tale: that thyroid is the only tissue to use iodine.

In fact - and this is even more interesting and more important - breast tissue needs it too! Not in the same quantities and not quite the same type.

Doctors are reversing fibrocystic breasts with iodine and there has been a book written by an Australian doctor who says there may be alink between the rise in breast cancer and the rise in iodine deficiency.

The ovaries are the THIRD organ to need iodine.
But Cynthia it's very common to hear the information you are giving.
I call even doctors offices and the labs who do testing and they don't know this. But that site will lead you to the doctors who do know it and who are using it and to the tests that have been done.

And SHENACAT is absolutely right about making sure you don't have Hashi's because it can cause a bad reaction. But the test for the antibodies is simple and can be included in your next blood test.

Lugol's Drops are what I take and I take them because they are liquid and easily absorbed... an issue for thyroid patients.

Amy2000, that sounds like possibly Iodoral. I got that for my daughter, it's great. I didn't know it had the selenium in it. So much the better. But then you have to watch your other selenium supplementation because,. unlike many minerals, you can get too much selenium, my Hashi's friend told me (the one who also told me how bad Hashi's patients can react to iodine.)

The only reason I learned the iodine link to ovaries is because my thyroid was almost dead and even after a year on hormone I'm not 100%, I went so long without it. So I was on a hunt to give my body whatever it was deficient in to speed my recovery. As I said I had ovarian cysts too - big ones and 3 at a time. At the time my fibrocystic breasts were diagnosed I was 20 and was told it was not that common. Now, 30 years later, the percentage of women with fibrocystic breasts is, like, 95% So I figured my problem with iodine started earlier than that of most people, owing probably to the Mississippi Valley lack.

marieparis22 · 09-13-2007, 12:43 PM

Here is a quote from one doctor who is using iodine in his practice, Flechas:

“Iodine deficiency may cause the ovaries to develop cysts, nodules and scar tissue. At its worse this ovarian pathology is very similar to that of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). As of the writing of this article I have five PCOS patients. The patients have successfully been brought under control with the use of 50 mg of iodine per day. Control with these patients meaning cysts are gone, periods every 28 days and type 2 diabetes mellitus under control.”

“Iodine induces apoptosis and inhibits cells from forming cancer. The absence of iodine in the thyroid causes goiter. Goiter is associated with breast cancer, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer. It is felt by many researchers that the absence of iodine is a promoter of cancer. I feel that those patients with the lowest excretion rates and the highest absorption of iodine on the iodine-loading test are the ones with the highest risk for development of cancer.

"From literally hundreds of phone interviews with patients over the last two years, the levels of iodine excretion that seem to raise the highest alarm are those in which the excretion is somewhere around 10 mg or less per 24 hours in patients age 35 and up. My observations at this point show that there is a definite increase in the incidence of breast cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer or thyroid cancer. If a patient has the iodine loading test and has an iodine excretion of 10 mg or less in a 24-hour period, I initiate a cancer workup.”

I had a look at that site and a lot of stuff has been moved around. I went to orthoiodinesupplementation to find this.

I have to go to work! I can't find the study from Russia at the moment but with my memory maybe I got the country wrong. Good luck everyone!

marieparis22 · 09-13-2007, 01:01 PM

ok. Couldn't stop until I'd found the reference to the Russian study. It was at Flechas' site, helpmythyroid.com. I'm sure I'm violating copyright law here. I hope he'll forgive me for the cause! My Flechas will get a new patient from it ! This quote also speaks to your comment, Cynthia, about iodine levels being normal (I thought the same thing until I was almost comatose - or earlier when I couldn't perspire for three years! An iodine deficiency symptom.) Notice he says "can be concentrated" not "IS concentrated" - I'm not sure what that means.

. Iodine is concentrated in the lacrymal glands of the eye, and a lack of iodine can cause dry eyes. Iodine can also be concentrated in the parotid and submandibular glands of the mouth, and iodine deficiency here can result in dry mouth. Iodine can be concentrated in the ovaries, and Russian studies done some years ago showed a relationship between iodine deficiency and the presence of cysts in the ovaries. The greater the iodine deficiency, the more ovarian cysts a woman produces. In its extreme form, this condition is known as polycystic ovarian disease.

Is there enough Iodine in our salt?

There is more iodine in iodized table salt than there is in plain sea salt, which contains very little iodine to start with. Quite frequently we see articles in the local press showing that there is a high amount of iodine in salt and we need to reduce the total amount of salt because of the potential damage from iodine.

However, during the last National Nutritional Survey called the NHANES III from 1988 - 1994, (13 years ago!) the study revealed that 15% of the U>S> adult female population suffered from iodine insufficiency where this was defined as a urine iodine level 60 meq per liter. Another misconception is that high consumption of iodized salt helps prevent iodine deficiency. The fact is that iodized salt contains 74meg of iodine per gram of salt. The purpose of iodization of salt was to prevent goiter and cretinism and was never meant for optimal iodine requirements by the human body.

shenacat · 09-13-2007, 01:22 PM

Wow, you have been much more verbose than I would think given your first post, lol

Thanks for the info. I have successfully ruled out iodine insufficiency for myself, since I don't suffer from dry eyes or dry mouth, and have been known to sweat myself into insensibility. I also have never had a goiter, and have measurable antibody levels. Furthermore, diabetes, pcos, and thyroid disease run rampant in my family, and I doubt that all of us for generations have been iodine deficient.

I'm sure some people here might benefit from the information though, and I thank you for providing it!

sasha299 · 09-13-2007, 03:31 PM

That is interesting information but I just want everyone to be sure to get their iodine excretion tested PRIOR to any supplimentation because the jury is still out on how common defficiency is.

http://www.tsh.org/disorders/iodine/iodine.html
" you or your physician want to know more about your iodine intake, the best thing to do is to measure the iodine content of your urine. In a general way the amount of iodine in your urine is equal to the amount you take in from all sources, including food, medications, and special x-ray dyes. Such a test could be helpful if you are pregnant and want to know exactly how much iodine you are taking in. However, in most cases that information is far less important than a measurement of your thyroid hormone and TSH blood levels"

Stats: http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/i/iodi...#medical_stats

marieparis22 · 09-13-2007, 03:40 PM

Actually that doesn't eliminate the possiblity that iodine could have helped them all especially f you're from the Great Lakes region, the Ohio River valley, Indiana for some reason... there are a bunch of places known for rampant thyroid problems. Diabetes and thyroid are in my family too probably because genetically it was our weak spot and then some of us were deficient in iodine for some reason or another. Ioidine deficiency is also implicated in prostate.

With all those problems and with 75%+ of the population now deficient in iodine, chances are slim your family, with all those problems, was in the 25%.

I didn't post all the info. I gave the URL too so that you all could read the whole thing.

Let me say this too because I'm in a really crabby mood tonight: when someone takes the time to share information like that because she was pretty sure it would help it is NOT likely that it WON'T help.

I have been absolutely amazed by the reaction of people on these forums. They don't do their own research. They tell other people to do the research and bring the information back to them. They argue and talk like they know the final word without ANYTHING to back them up.

That is all contrary to the education we get in college which tells me there are a lot of uneducated people on these boards.

I took the time to drop this here to HELP YOU. Only a fool would walk away from the wealth of information in those URLs that I dropped off here. Either you all want to help yourselves or you want to sit here and whine and stay on meds and see doctors or something neurotic.

Go read the web sites. They are loaded with information about ovarian cysts and that's why you are here, isn't it? To get information on ovarian cysts?

shenacat · 09-13-2007, 07:34 PM

I thanked you for your information, if you recall.

I fail to see how someone's willingness to share information relates in any way whatsoever to the validity of said information. Just because you shared it with us does not mean we are all now diagnosed with iodine deficiency.

I also think as a new poster perhaps you should take some time to familiarize yourself with the regulars before insulting them.

It is important to take any information shared by third parties with a grain of salt, to do your own research to back it up, and to compare it with what you already know to be true. Each of us is an individual and is effected differently by our health problems, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Again, thank you for your information.