Iodine, thyroid, and breast cancer??
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Ok, girls I don't understand all this iodine stuff. This is what I'm gathering: You do the iodine loading test. The doctor tells you how deficient you are.So you start taking the iodoral. Then you do the test again after so long. The doctor tells you that you are not absorbing it well. He tells you that you need the apt stuff. Why do the loading test when 50 mg is safe and that's usually what the doc says to take and just get the apt. I guess I'm being skeptical here. I know that cancer is BIG business but so is alternative medicine. It just seems like with the iodoral it's always something else to do, which cost money, or something else to take. I'm not being negative nellie here. Has anyone else wondered the same???
God Bless Us ALL!!
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Anomdenet,
I was told by the endocrinologist at MD Anderson that I needed a thyroidectomy. I had a
biopsy done and the results were papillary thyroid cancer. Are you saying that iodine can be
effective to treat thyroid cancer once it has been diagnosed? Or is it used to prevent thyroid
cancer, before it has been established? I will try to look up Stephanie Buist's website and also
watch the video for Dr. Flechas. I had planned to do a second opinion and had asked my
cardiologist for a recommendation. I made an appointment and gave them all my insurance info.
Then when I called to confirm the appointment date and time, and to ask if they had received my
info from MD Anderson, they said they didn't have any info about me or the appointment! I
decided if they couldn't keep track of my info, I didn't want to trust them with my medical records
info and didn't have time to make another doctor appointment before I am scheduled to see the
MD Anderson doctor again. One more question, does the increase in the risk for breast cancer
apply to those of us who have already had bc? I have had 2 occurrences of bc, 2005, and 2008.
I chose not to do chemo or rads, so I was taking a big risk with that. So far, all my scans have
come back with no evidence of any mets. According to what I have read on the net, this type of
thyroid cancer is easily cured by surgery alone. I am wondering if I might of had the thyroid cancer first
and then got bc. The endocrinologist said it was very slow growing, but how slow? Maybe I
need to do more research before I do the surgery? Thanks for the info.
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momob, so sorry to hear of your dx. Just one round of bc is more than enough, let alone two, and then some. Here's a link to get you started on some reading
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seaotter, I take iodoral because I yearn to be one of the people who feel better because of it. I've read many people say how good they feel just within a short time of taking it. Here I am, months later, still waiting. So, I'm disappointed, but not really surprised that my absorption rate is only 66%.
I agree that there's a lot to be leery of in the claims of alternative medicine also. I've spent way more on supplements in the last year than I ever spent on tamoxifen for the time I took it. At least we can take the iodine loading test and get reimbursed through the iodine project at breastcancerchoices.org
fwiw, you don't have to take the loading test before starting supplements. I took iodoral 5 months before I took the loading test. It's a struggle to keep myself supplied at the current dose, and I suspect I'll find out on Monday that Dr Fletchas will tell me to increase it. I'm sticking with it because I believe in my heart rads knocked my thyroid out of whack and when I finally get myself back in balance I'll feel good again. I won't give up until I achieve that goal.
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althea,
Thanks for the link. I looked it up and read a little, I'll go back to it shortly, but wanted to
thank you for the info.
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I sent an article to m naturalpath about iodine link to breast cancer. She wants to put me on iodine, and possibly taking me off Armour. I'm trilled that she is listening to me, and open minded. I'm not sure what is going to happen, but the idea of iodine fixing the problem feels more natural.
Momo, I'm concerned about your thyroid problem. I would get a second opinion before operating. Once it's out, there is no going back.
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LJ13 - and for those women who are not overweight, exercise and have never taken any form of hormone treatment, what reason do you have for them getting breast cancer (myself included)? There is definitely something else at work here and I for one am going to investigate every possibility. I've had enough college level biology, chemistry and genetics to understand the scientific jargon and for the sake of my daughter, daughter's-in-law, step-daughter and grand-daughters I am not looking for a better cure, but rather for the cause and there is just too much 'correlation' between iodine, thyroid and breast cancer to ignore. Smoking was first linked to cancer in the '30s, but decades went by before anything was done about it. Too many women are becoming breast cancer victims for the same thing to happen again, we found our voices in the '60s and we're going to use them.
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LJ13 - and for those women who are not overweight, exercise and have never taken any form of hormone treatment, what reason do you have for them getting breast cancer (myself included)? There is definitely something else at work here and I for one am going to investigate every possibility. I've had enough college level biology, chemistry and genetics to understand the scientific jargon and for the sake of my daughter, daughter's-in-law, step-daughter and grand-daughters I am not looking for a better cure, but rather for the cause and there is just too much 'correlation' between iodine, thyroid and breast cancer to ignore. Smoking was first linked to cancer in the '30s, but decades went by before anything was done about it. Too many women are becoming breast cancer victims for the same thing to happen again, we found our voices in the '60s and we're going to use them.
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Momo,
Dr. Flechas talks about seeing individuals who keep getting iodine deficiency related-cancers. breast, thyroid, stomach, etc. As a breast cancer survivor, my goal is to prevent any recurrence from a cancer that may be due to a deficiency. We didn't have this deficiency until 30 years ago when iodine was removed from the food supply. There isn't much iodine in iodized salt because the iodine evaporates once it's opened.
I read yesterday in the news that Australia is PUTTING IODINE BACK into bread after 30 years without it.
Thyroid cancer rates have skyrocked in women even worse than breast cancer in the US.
Anom
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Anom, the French have put the iodine back in it too. See, other countries are actually looking for the causes, while we just keep looking for new drugs to treat it!
Haykat-It is great that you are joining us looking for answers. The truth is, there is not just one cause, there are many and each of us has to figure out what happened in our own individual cases. This is not "blaming the victim" as some would say. I like to think of it as "not becoming the victim again". I can look at lots of things that I found out probably caused my cancer. Iodine was probably a major factor, as well diet, stress, hormone balance. I can name so many more things that I have found that I now know I was doing wrong. The proof is out there. We know what causes cancer, it is not just one thing, and we know what can cure cancer, it is also not just one thing. The more we learn, the more weapons we have. And it has been so wonderful that we have learned so much from each other here, and especially all the info about iodine from Anom, where our doctors have let us down. I will never forgive on of my doctors who patted me on the back when I told her what I was reading and I began to question what they were telling me. She basically told me to be a good little patient and they would help me through this and that I did not have to worry myself by doing all that reading. That is when I picked up more books, and dropped her as my doctor!
Hope30- Don't give up that hope! Check out the information from Dr. Brownstein's and Dr. Flechas' research. There is a lot of promise there, and real Hope!
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Hi everyone...I started out about 19 years ago with graves disease which is hyperthyroid. I was given 2 different doses of radioactive iodine to kill out the thyroid. It took forever for my thyroid to go hypo and then I was put on synthroid. Since my radiation from the bc I have had to have my thyroid meds raised twice because the thyroid had gone more hypo. I read there is a connection between the radioactive iodine and bc somewhere and will see if I can find the article. By the way my thyroid roblems started after a partial hysterectomy.....jude14
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Hopefor30 what were your symptoms for thyroid cancer?........I have hypothyroidism and am on synthroid.....I have been on it for over 3 years now........
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Anom, thanks, did not realize that the ATP cofactor had special stuff. Glad I'm taking it.
HollyAnne, yes there is an Iodine loading test you can do. Many of us have done it. You can find it on breastcancerchoices.org. let us know if you cant locate it... !!!
Spring.
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hollyann
I had thyroid cancer and had it removed, I didn't have any symptoms, it was found by chance when i was having a pet scan to look at a spot on my lung, which turned out to only be scar tissure. I had no idea that anything was wrong with my thyroid, little lone having cancer, infact, my gyno had just sent me for a blood test to check my thyroid but it came back fine....Bee
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Dear girls, thanks for the excellent topics of discussion and debate on this thread.
I am fascinated by much of this; in England, under active thyroid is a very political thing. If under the guidelines of "Evidence Based Medicine" one is outside the range of what is considered normal or abnormal for thyroid levels, there is virtually no way you will get a GP to prescribe treatment, even though there is very little reason to suppose (for example) that Levothyroxine will damage you and also it is a very cheap, very old, very well known treatment.
I went through about 3 years of utter misery trying to get treatment. In the end I did, but it is still really contentious.
And now I read this very pertinent thread. Hmmmm........
In general, I am interested to find overall strategies for my future well being. (my surgery is for 24 June 09) In the thread, there is mention of chiroprators and various other things. It is quite obvious to me that due to the stress of dealing with this, ones body (physically) can easily go out of alignment (hunched shoulders etc, back troubles) so Osteos, Alexander Technique practitioners etc etc could all help in dealing with wellbeing.
I was pretty horrified this week to discover that some of what makes me feel ill right now is the "fight or flight" response to diagnosis, i.e. big rush of cortisol due to fear etc. The repeated state of shock that is triggered by each new event (conflicting news, insensitive doctors etc etc) has really beaten me down already.
I am not convinced that chemo is a route I want to pursue - to me it might do so much other damage I am not sure the "gains" are worth the other dangers. I don't call become an invalid a succesful treatment.
I have been an organic food eater all my life, so can't make a lot of adjustments there, but for instance, I am a big yoghurt eater and wonder, is it better to have fat free? currently I mainly do.
This is a bit opf a ramble, but wonce I marshall my thoughts I might have one or two contributive ideas to give.
One good thing at my hospital is that they do believe in manuka honey applied to wounds for healing. So they aren't without imagination!
Good luck all and thanks for the info -
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vivre - You are right about there being more than one cause, but I am finding a lot of them link together. I have always had a very acidic system, which I did not realize prevented my body from absorbing certain nutrients, especially iodine. I doesn't matter how many supplements you are taking if your system is unable to absorb them. Had I known all this I would have done something to change the acidity a long time ago. Additionally, since high blood pressure runs in my family and salt intake was linked to high blood pressure, I stopped salting my food more than thirty years ago, using herbs and spices for seasoning instead. I took a multi-vitamin with iodine and figured that was good enough, but apparently not. The doctors say over and over again that there isn't anything you can do to prevent breast cancer and I'm just not buying it. What they mean is that there isn't anything they can charge you for. Even if they are aware of the nutritional aspects of the disease process they figure we wouldn't want to make those changes and they would only be wasting their time, I guess. We all know smoking causes cancer and heart disease and yet people still smoke, so obviously people can't be trusted to make the right lifestyle choices to protect themselves from disease. This may be true of many, but we should still be allowed to make the choice.
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London Virginia-good to hear your point of view. You make one of my main arguments against national healthcare-it will mean arguing with more burearcrats about which treatments we "deserve". It scares the daylights out of me that we may end up with pencil pushers deciding the standard of care we are allowed. And all the natural practioners, like chiropractors and naturapaths, who already have to fight for their existance, may become extinct. It will be great to have you join our discussions here, and join us on the natural girls thread too!
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Hopefor30,
I know you must hate being told that thyroid cancer is a good kind of cancer to get. But, if you are diagnosed with both breast and thyroid cancer, at least you have really powerful circumstantial evidence that the same thing caused both. And if you can identify the cause, you can most likely prevent recurrence.
A lot of us got breast cancer and thought it just struck out of the blue. No current breast cancer treatment addresses the cause. The current mainstream strategy tries to wipe out cancer cells regardless of what caused them. Which I understand--but shouldn't researchers also focus on what caused our breast cancer?
Researcher, Dr. Carmen Aceves wrote an article calling for iodine to be used as an adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. Can you imagine how cheap that would be? The drug manufacturers will block that like crazy. Compare the cost of chemo and chemo-related products compared with iodine.
Anom
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Jude14,
Did you have your ovaries removed?
Anom
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Found this great radio interview with Dr. Flechas, talking about iodine:
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All this very interesting. I was diagnosed with toxic goiter (Grave's Disease) in 1952. All attempts to solve problem of overactive thyroid failed, so in 1953 my thyroid gland was removed. I was 10 yrs old. I have been taking Armour thyroid extract since then except for one brief episode of Synthyroid which did not work. After my bc dx my gyn question me about where I had lived as a child and exposure to radiation. She could find no correlation there. I have argued with drs for years when my body felt like not enough thyroid meds. They all said the meds increased bone density loss. Several yrs ago I was dx with osteoporosis. The bc dx came later. I always had fibrocystic breasts which was blamed on caffine (self-medicating low thyroid function). It really seems to me a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't. Any thoughts????
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Oh, I forgot to add that I took radioactive iodine during 1952 and 1953 in attempt to stop overactive thyroid gland. My symptoms at that time were rapid weight loss, rapid heartbeat, profuse perspiration, oily skin and hair, protruding eyes, and jaundice. I looked like a child from one of Nazi concentration camps.
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Vivre - thanks for your comments. I am pro-NHS in many ways but I do think there is less choice. I would quite like to switch hospitals at the mo, but it would be too complex and take too long - I want surgery NOW. However, I wouldn't want to have to deal with the bureaucrats in an insurance company either, so there's a bit of a crap shoot here!
Loads of English people pay for osteopaths, naturopaths etc etc for the very obvious reason that one gets crap all help from GPs in numerous circumstances.
However, we do not have to pay for medication once diagnosed, which is one less worry. There is good and bad either side of the Atlantic but I really do like the idea you guys can "sack" your surgeon etc!!
There are comments in this thread about corn and corn syrup in US foods. This is much more rare in the UK coz we don'tgrow that much corn.
For myself, I hardly ever eat food that coems in a box, and it the list ofcontents looks like a chemical cocktail, I don't buy it.
And guess what, I still got cancer. So the queries on this thread about "what is it that actually causes this?" are very pertinent. On the one hand, until that question is answered then we are reliant on drug companies to supply treatments, and having worked previously in biotech I do know that many good people struggle to find cures or treatments for grim things and can be very good folk.
But I still think that aside from the cancer itself, there may be all sorts of general conditions that come out of stress, the treatment itself etc etc once one had been through surgery and then goes on to treatment regimes.
Presently (I now this may change) I have found the psychological effects far outweigh the disease itself. I use those words with great deliberation. This coming week I am going to contact some therapists as presently I can't see how I will drag myself miles away to the distant hospital for the op. For two pins I would get on the next plane back to Greece and not bother coming back.
The ancient physicians very well understood the concept of Mind and Body (see the hypocratic oath et al). Pity the modern ones don't!
Interestingly in France, Greece and some other european countries, they have over the centuries still used old remedies and natural herbs etc. In French pharmacies there is usually a range of natuopathic treatments commonly used by the entire population - it isn't seen as some weirdo hippy sh1t!
If indeed there seems to be an increase in cancer amongst younger women (which seems to be the case over here - shocking), then unless there is a similar increse in men then it is a reasonable starting point to assume it may be a "female hormones" type thing, because both sexes eat similar food, drink the same tap water etc. Over say the last 10 years or more here, younger people don't go on the Pill, they use other contraception for a variety of reasons. So what my generation used as a standard (i.e. the Pill) has fallen out of favour.
Anyway, there is another thing I want to mention.
There seems to be a lot of guilt amongst people who feel they should have done something differently. All of us could have done something or another differently, but personally I simply won't buy into this at all because I know for myself I have lived a healthy life, and yes, had a bunch of big stressful stuff happen but hey, my parents went through WW2 and there is sh1t all in my life that matches that. In the UK it is stated in brochures for cancer hospitals that they do NOT believe there is a stress tie up with this disease, and I agree with that. What I do think is that we do need also to think of our hearts and other useful bits of anatomy and try to help those bits\to function well for us.
So, moderation in all things, except at Christmas or whatever you personal festival season might be!!
Love to all -
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LV-Maybe we can call you lovey-so English! LOL It is a fallacy that the current US system turns people away. The truth is most of us do not have a lot of trouble with insurance for the big stuff, it is the little stuff that they often do not recognize. They will pay $300 a month for arimidex but they will not pay $30 or iodine. It makes no sense to me. There is a fallacy that Americans are not insured. Most of the uninsured are unemployed, which is a growing number now unfortunately, but even they can get Cobra, a type of insurance for less than they would have to pay if we were taxed for it. When they say 40 million are uninsured, that number includes about 20 million illegals and millions of young people who choose not to. Also, the thing that is great about our system is that if you need something done right away and one doctor is busy, you just go to another one. If you do not like a doctor, it is easy to change. I was able to get all my tests done and had surgery finished within 3 weeks of my dx. I could have had it even sooner except that my surgeon had a vacation planned. I am so thankful I did not have to wait any longer than that and I did not have to wait for some bureaucrat to decide if I could do it. My friend in Canada had to wait weeks for surgery and 3 months for radiation. I started radiation right away. So I was dx in Oct, and was totally done with it all by January. As long as a procedure is accepted protocol, the insurance will cover it. What is driving up costs in America is the fact that doctors and hospitals are sued constantly for lots of dumb things. No one even wants to deliver babies in Southern Illinois anymore because everytime something went wrong people sued the doctors and won, even when it was not their fault. The doctors were put out of business.The other problem with costs is that there are so many illegals who can walk in, get care, and walk out and not pay a cent. I know this for a fact because my friend is a nurse at our local hospital where they cannot be turned away. So all of these bills are paid by the rest of us with higher prices. Our hospitals are state of the art and we have incredible doctors but they are all in fear of universal medicine. They already have it with medicare and medicaid, programs for the elderly and the poor, and doctors say they are lucky to get a third of what they are owed. The govt. already tells them they will not cover certain costs. Hence, doctors have more paperwork, more costs, and we all pay more. If we go to a govt run plan, all of these problems will be worse with a population the size of the US. There will be so much red tape that people will die before they get treatments. It sounds like a nice idea, but it will never work here. I hope the whole idea is tossed out. Unfortunately, no one is debating it because we have a one party rule right now and they are trying to ram it through before things change. There is no money to pay for it. It will make our current deficit look like poppycock. (see I even know an English word. LOL)
But back to the iodine, here is an example of a simple solution, with proven success that is not allowed to be adopted by more doctors because it is not a standard protocol. These standards are largely influenced by drug companies who push for the expensive drugs they sell and not for something cheap like iodine. They contribute a lot of money to politicians who do their bidding. If the govt. has total control, the politicians will get more payouts but we will lose any say in anything.
The only thing I do like about socialized medicine is that it forces the govt to accept cheaper alternatives. However, in return, it allows them to decide who can and cannot have them.I am very much a proponent of natural cures, and these would be studied more and given more credence if the US govt did more test studies on them. Most of the studies are done in Europe now, and our system ignores them. I do like the French system of the local apothecaire. We use to have that in the old days, but big Pharma forced most of them out of business. I still have one in my town, but because of the influence of Big Pharma, a lot of what they do is not covered by insurance. There is no easy answer I guess.
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can see this exchange of ideas might get extensive!! I am wracking my brains because I know that there were many studies into iodine about 30 years ago in a variety of contexts and for a variety of ailments.
i'll no doubt remember something over the next few days.
I think it isn't just pharma and in general BIG industry that has taken over our lives. The entire way we live now is out of kilter with an individual being in some sort of control over their lives. There is always either an organisation or hegemony bending us into the shape that a commercial demand wants.
Enuf already!!!
have a lovely Sunday everyone -
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Vivre - Universal medicine is not a simple topic. I'm Canadian and, in my experience, the universal health care system works exceptionally well. If I'm not happy with a particular doctor or specialist, I am at liberty at any time to seek out a second or even a third opinion and the system pays for it. I personally recently changed family physicians in order to deal with one who was much more accepting and supportive of alternative treatments.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 27, 2008 and had my surgery one week later on November 3, 2008 and started radiation shortly thereafter. I was completely finished all treatments by the first week of February. So I certainly can't complain about the speed with which my medical treatments occurred. Also, after being discharged from the hospital after the surgery, I got once daily visits from a registered nurse to take care of my drain, change dressings, remove stitches and staples etc. until I was completely recovered. All of this was covered by our universal health care and I didn't have to pay a cent. And this has not been my only positive experience with serious illnesses and our health care system. My husband was diagnosed a few years ago with blockages of arteries leading to his heart. He got a quadruple heart bypass only 6 days after diagnosis and probably largely because of the speed involved, he never did suffer a heart attack or heart damage of any kind prior to his successful surgery.
Now that I am fully recovered, I have been using the services of a naturopathic doctor and a lymphatic massage specialist. Our health care system covers about half the costs of these services. So, from everything I've experienced, universal health care can work extraordinarily well and does not necessarily have to be something to fear if it's structured and administrated properly.
Joy
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Springtime thank you for the reply..I will look that test up later.......
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Hi Anom...No I still have my ovaries just had a partial in 1989.....Now I wish I would have had a complete......
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haykat57 - I notice you mentioned you are very acidic (I think we all are). Have you looked into food combining? If you google it, I think you will find it fascinating!!!!
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Vivre, thank you for the great source of information!
Anybody who is still skeptical about iodine should listen to the radio show. The amount of information Dr. Flechas and the other docs have compiled over the years is huge.
Listen here:
http://curezone.com/ig/i.asp?i=21726
Anom
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