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Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Iodine Connection and Type 2 Diabetes

I came across several articles reporting on the link between insulin resistance and iodine supplementation. It is something that you might want to discuss with your doctor. Type 2 diabetics are having success in coming off their medications and/or lowering their insulin intake by supplementing with iodine IF THAT IS DETERMINED TO BE AFFECTING THEIR INSULIN RESISTANCE. I would recommend you get a blood and/or urine test done in a hospital lab or doctors office and then discuss this with your diabetes doctor before running out and buying iodine supplements at random.

Dan

http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/diabetes-iodine.html

EXCERPTS:

Is there a diabetes iodine link? There is some evidence that iodine has a very beneficial effect on blood sugar control. The following note talks about this.

It is from a paper written by a physician name Jorge Flechas, I believe his practice is in North Carolina. Dr Flechas is discussing the use of Iodoral, an iodine supplement to treat fibrocystic breast disease (FBD); while treating a woman for FBD, he discovered a diabetes iodine connection.
Dr. Flechas writes:

"It was while treating a large 320-pound woman with insulin dependent diabetes that we learned a valuable lesson regarding the role of iodine in hormone receptor function.
This woman had come in via the emergency room with a very high random blood sugar of 1,380 mg/dl. She was then started on insulin during her hospitalization and was instructed on the use of a home glucometer. She was to use her glucometer two times per day.
Two weeks later on her return office visit for a checkup of her insulin dependent diabetes she was informed that during her hospital physical examination she was noted to have Fibrocystic Breast Disease.
She was recommended to start on 50 mg of iodine(4 tablets) at that time. One week later she called us requesting to lower the level of insulin due to having problems with hypoglycemia. She was told to continue to drop her insulin levels as long as she was experiencing hypoglycemia and to monitor her blood sugars carefully with her glucometer.
Four weeks later during an office visit her glucometer was downloaded to my office computer, which showed her to have an average random blood sugar of 98. I praised the patient for her diligent efforts to control her diet and her good work at keeping her sugars under control with the insulin.
She then informed me that she had come off her insulin three weeks earlier and had not been taking any medications to lower her blood sugar. When asked what she felt the big change was, she felt that her diabetes was under better control due to the use of iodine.
Two years later and 70 pounds lighter this patient continues to have excellent glucose control on iodine 50 mg per day."

In an interview with Jimmy Moore, Dr. Flechas explained the diabetes iodine interaction: "The iodine attaches itself to hormone receptors within the body and increases the sensitivity of the receptor to its associated hormone. In this patient's case, the iodine increased her sensitivity to the hormone insulin to the point of normalizing her blood sugars."

(MORE)

Formal Studies

Dr. Flechas has done some formal studies on the connection between diabetes and iodine:


We since have done a study of twelve diabetics and in six cases we were able to wean all of these patients off of medications for their diabetes and were able to maintain a hemoglobin A1C of less than 5.8 with the average random blood sugar of less than 100. To this date these patients continue to have excellent control of their Type II diabetes.
The range of daily iodine intake was from 50 mg to 100 mg per day. All diabetic patients were able to lower the total amount of medications necessary to control their diabetes. Two of the twelve patients were controlled with the use of iodine plus one medication. Two patients have control of diabetes with iodine plus two medications. One patient had control of her diabetes with three medications plus iodine 50 mg. The one insulin dependent diabetic was able to reduce the intake of Lantus insulin from 98 units to 44 units per day within a period of a few weeks.

Here is a LINK to a SELF TEST FOR YOUR IODINE LEVELS:

http://altmedangel.com/iodine.htm

medical testing for iodine levels BY A BLOOD OR A URINE TEST.

(excerpt)

How to Test for Iodine DeficiencyResearch has found that if the body suffers from iodine deficiency, it may lead to mental retardation and is believed to be one of the major problem with children. The only way to get rid of conditions like hot flashes and mental retardation, is to consume foods rich in iodine. You may also feel tired very soon, besides your body may pain if there is insufficient amount of iodine in the body.

Home test for iodine deficiency includes taking some iodine and a swab of cotton. You can find tincture iodine in a drugstore. Dip the cotton swab in the tincture iodine and paint a circle in the inner part of your upper arm or the thighs. Once you have done with that, wait for an hour. After an hour if you find that the circle has disappeared, it means that your body is deficient in iodine. However, on the other hand, if the circle remains as it is for at least four hours, it means that the iodine levels are fine. This is one of the easiest self test which you can use, but if you are still not sure, you can get a iodine deficiency test done in a laboratory.

If you go for a test in a laboratory, they would take a sample of your urine, and this sample is usually taken early in the morning. After the sample is taken, you will be given a iodine tablet which would be of a particular dose. After a few minutes your urine sample would again be taken and it's at this point of time that your urine is tested. If the iodine levels are normal, them most of the iodine which was ingested through the tablet, would be excreted. On the other hand, if your body lacks iodine, then it would be retained in the body.
Usually if the doctor finds something abnormal with the thyroid glands, then he would suggest you get a test of these glands done. No doubt they don't measure the levels of iodine in the body, but it can give the doctor a good idea of thyroid problems.

Blood Test for Iodine Deficiency

Besides urine test, blood tests are also done to see whether the iodine levels in the body are sufficient or not. Blood tests are done to check the levels of thyroid hormones in the blood. If the amount of thyroid hormones are low it means that the body is not being able to produce enough of this hormone due to the lack of iodine or due to malfunction of thyroid gland.
So, there are a number of ways to test for iodine deficiency. Whether you test it at home, or in a laboratory, get in touch with a doctor to know the reasons behind such deficiency and the kinds of iodine rich foods which you should take to rejuvenate the levels of iodine in the body. Nowadays, certain amount of iodine is added to the salt to take care of this problem.


(Think On This)...............MY input:

Psalm 139:14 reads; "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and my soul knows very well." In the original Hebrew text, the word 'fearfully' means: with great reverence and heart-felt interest and respect. The word 'wonderfully' means: unique, set apart, uniquely marvelous. WOW! No wonder the psalmist bursts out with exuberant praise in this verse. He realized the great love and concern that went into his unique and very individual creation. According to this Scripture, you truly are a Master Piece! The next time you have the temptation to ask the Lord, "Don't you care what is happening to me?" Remember this verse, because the total truth is that He cares and loves you with an acute intensity that cannot ever be measured.


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