Home | Orthoiodosupplementation | Body | Disease | Special | Overviews

Thyroid Physiology  

Thyroid Disease

Goiter

• Abraham

• Brix

• Dugrillon, Gartner, Pisarev

• Flechas

• Furlanetto

• Hennemen

• Hintze

• Jooste

• Kahaly

• Koutras, Papanastasiou

• Kreissl

• Lee

• McClendon

• Meng

• Rasmussen

• Shomon

• Stubner

• Studer, Derwahl

• Wolff

Flechas

Iodine Insufficiency FAQ

Flechas JD

"Most people over age 60 are becoming depleted of iodine due to the lack of iodine in the diet and that this particular group of individuals is also the group with the highest occurrence of thyroid nodules and goiters. Also of interest is that 25% of the people in this age category will become senile as a result of low thyroid (hypothyroidism). Iodine supplementation may alleviate these iodine-related maladies, but iodine testing and thyroid studies such as a thyroid ultrasound and thyroid lab tests should be conducted prior to beginning iodine supplementation therapy."

"Traditional medical literature indicates that patients who have thyroid nodules or thyroid goiter may have the potential to develop hyperthyroidism when supplementing with iodine. Hence, before commencing iodine supplementation, it would be advantageous for a person to have their primary care doctor order a thyroid ultrasound to rule out the possibility of pre-existing goiter or thyroid nodules. The primary care doctor should also order thyroid lab work (to be used as a baseline) before prescribing iodine therapy and this lab work should be repeated and followed at regular intervals during the patient's iodine therapy. For iodine therapy patients not also on thyroid hormone replacement therapy, adjustments to the iodine therapy should be made if signs of hyperthyroidism should occur. Should signs of hyperthyroidism occur in patients who are taking thyroid hormone replacement therapy as well as taking iodine supplementation, the physician should first recommend an adjustment in the thyroid hormone therapy rather than in the iodine supplementation. This adjustment in therapy is recommended because iodine is required not only by the thyroid but is required for the proper functioning of many other tissues. The presence of pre-existing thyroid nodules or goiter does not preclude the patient from iodine supplementation therapy. In fact, in the extensive research with iodine therapy done in my office, I have seen many case of pre-existing thyroid nodules and goiter shrink in the presence of iodine therapy."

 Home | Orthoiodosupplementation | Body | Disease | Special Topics | Overviews  

The Iodine Group | Books | Disclaimers | Contact Us | Search  

  Copyright: Zoe, 2006.