Page 45 - Summer2009

effects are those with underlying thyroid disease when a person excretes 90 percent of the iodine ingested. He devised an
and previous low iodine intake. Problems from LRGLQH ORDGLQJ WHVW ZKHUH RQH WDNHV PJ LRGLQH SRWDVVLXP LRGLGH DQG
consumption of iodized water—including both measures the amount excreted in the urine over the next twenty-four hours.
hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism—usually He found that the vast majority of people retain a substantial amount of the
resolve after consumption is discontinued. A safe PJ GRVH 0DQ\ UHTXLUH PJ SHU GD\ IRU VHYHUDO PRQWKV EHIRUH WKH\
dose is 1-2 grams per day, and most can tolerate ZLOO H[FUHWH SHUFHQW RI LW +LV VWXGLHV LQGLFDWH WKDW JLYHQ D VXI¿FLHQW
19
much higher amounts without probelms. amount, the body will retain much more iodine than originally thought,
PJ ZLWK RQO\ SHUFHQW RI WKDW DPRXQW KHOG LQ WKH WK\URLG JODQG
THE CHALLENGE $FFRUGLQJ WR $EUDKDP PRUH WKDQ SDWLHQWV LQ WKLV SURMHFW WDNH
A challenge towards the reigning attitudes to LRGLQH LQ GDLO\ GRVHV UDQJLQJ IURP WR PJ DQG LQ WKRVH ZLWK GLD-
iodine compounds came in 1997, when Dr. Guy betes, up to 100 mg a day. According to these physicians, iodine at these
Abraham, a former professor of obstetrics and GRVHV GRHV LQGHHG UHYHUVH ¿EURF\VWLF GLVHDVH DOORZV GLDEHWLF SDWLHQWV WR
gynecology at UCLA, mounted what he calls the use less insulin and hypothyroid patients to use less thyroid medication;
Iodine Project. He had his company, Optimox UHVROYHV V\PSWRPV RI ¿EURP\DOJLD DQG VWRSV PLJUDLQH KHDGDFKHV 7KH\
Corporation, make Iodoral, the tablet form of report that the side effects of iodine, including hypo- or hyperthyroidism,
Lugol’s solution (which combines iodine and DOOHUJLHV VZHOOLQJ RI WKH VDOLYDU\ JODQGV DQG WK\URLG RFFXU LQ OHVV WKDQ
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potassium iodide), and he engaged two family percent. 8ULQH WHVWV FRQ¿UP WKDW LRGLQH DW WKHVH GRVHV UHPRYHV WKH WR[LF
practice physicians, Dr. Jorge Flechas (in 2000) KDORJHQV ÀXRULGH DQG EURPLGH IURP WKH ERG\ They believe that iodism,
22
in North Carolina and Dr. David Brownstein (in an unpleasant brassy taste, runny nose, and acne-like skin lesions, is caused
2003) in Michigan to carry out clinical studies by the bromide that iodine extracts from the tissues. Symptoms subside
20
with high doses of the iodine compound. The on a lower dose of iodine.
project’s hypothesis is that maintaining whole ,Q 'U $EUDKDP SXEOLVKHG D ORQJ SDSHU FKDOOHQJLQJ WKH :ROII
ERG\ VXI¿FLHQF\ RI LRGLQH UHTXLUHV PJ D Chaikoff effect. “The W-C effect is supposedly the inhibitory effect of
day, an amount similar to what the Japanese peripheral inorganic iodide (PII) levels equal to or greater than 0.2 mg/L
FRQVXPH DQG RYHU HLJKW\ WLPHV WKH 5', RI 0 RQ WKH RUJDQL¿FDWLRQ RI LRGLGH E\ WKH WK\URLG JODQG RI UDWV UHVXOW-
mcg. The conventional view is that the body ing supposedly in hypothyroidism and goiter. These rats never became
FRQWDLQV ± PJ RI LRGLQH RI ZKLFK ± hypothyroid and thyroid hormones were not measured in their plasma.
percent resides in the thyroid gland. Dr. Abraham Nevertheless, the W-C effect, which did not even occur in the rats, was
FRQFOXGHG WKDW ZKROH ERG\ VXI¿FLHQF\ H[LVWV extrapolated to humans. The correct interpretation of the results obtained

ATOMIDINE

Atomidine is a stable compound of iodine in a saline solution “that liberates the element in an atomic or nascent
state on contact with an excess of solvent, such as the fluids of the body.” The use of Atomidine was popularized by Ed-
gar Cayce, the so-called Sleeping Prophet, who gave medical diagnoses and suggested treatments in a trance. He often
recommended the use of Atomidine, produced by Schieffelin & Company in New York, which he referred to as “iodine
with the poisons taken out,” for a variety of conditions including thyroid and other glandular problems, sore throat, gum
problems and infection (www/iodinesource.com/Excerpts.asp). A typical treatment consisted of “one drop in half a glass
of water each morning for five days before the morning meal, leave off ten days, and then take again” or “three to five
drops in water morning and evening.” He also recommended Atomidine for use as a gargle, as a douche and in topical
preparations. (One intriguing ointment recipe called for adding 10 drops tincture of Benzoin, 5 drops Atomidine and 3
drams powdered snuff to 1 ounce ‘Oil of Butterfat’.”)
A theme running through Cayce’s writings was the use of Atomidine as a gentle way of “cleansing or purifying the
body,” alternating with days when Atomidine was not used. He issued the same precautions for foods containing iodine,
especially seafood, which he said should be consumed occasionally but not everyday. In one reading he indicated that
seaweed could be toxic because of its high iodine content.
A paper published in the 1930s to promote Atomidine, written by the Schieffelin & Company, is posted on the internet
(www.mnwelldir.org/docs/history/atomidine.htm). According to the report, Atomidine should be diluted when taken “and
never given after a starchy meal.” The paper cites many cases of improvement when Atomidine is given for gum problems,
as an antiseptic after surgery, gastrointestinal problems, urinary tract infections, high blood pressure, goiter, malaria and
tropical fevers, venereal disease, infections of eye, ear, nose and throat, bronchitis and asthma.

SUMMER 2009 Wise Traditions 43