Iodine and
Selenium for Heart Health
Published on July 7, 2017 / Dr. Mark
Sircus
http://drsircus.com/iodine/iodine-selenium-heart-health/
The occurrence of iodine deficiency
in cardiovascular disease is frequent. The thyroid hormone deficiency on
cardiovascular function can be characterized with decreased myocardial
contractility and increased peripheral vascular resistance as well as with the
changes in lipid metabolism. A study done with 42 patients with cardiovascular
disease were divided into 5 subgroups on the ground of the presence of
hypertension, congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, coronary dysfunction
and arrhythmia. When urine concentrations were tested, the most decreased urine
iodine concentration was detected in the subgroups with arrhythmia and
congestive heart failure. Three patients found an elevated TSH level and
elevation in lipid metabolism (cholesterol, triglyceride) associated with all
subgroups without arrhythmia. The researchers concluded that iodine
supplementation might prevent the worsening effect of iodine deficiency on
cardiovascular disease.[1]
According to Scientific American,
physicians for decades have grappled with ways to block further tissue damage
in patients who suffer heart attacks. They have tried everything from drugs to
cell therapy—all with little luck. However, promising research indicates that a
bio gel made from seaweed may have the healing powers that have thus far eluded
them. Some of the principle healing agents in seaweed are magnesium, iodine,
and selenium. Seaweeds with high amounts of iodine have exceptional value in
the treatment of the heart but it is better and safer to use a liquid iodine,
magnesium and selenium at high dosages.
Selenium is not only crucial when
using iodine but it addresses directly the Hun Hordes of Mercury that
are attacking heart tissues in massive amounts leading to cardiac arrest. What
is not known by many is that mercury is a deadly cardiac poison whose best
antidote is selenium – since they bind together making it easier for the body
to remove the selenium-mercury compound. Magnesium of course is the Ultimate Heart Medicine. Magnesium deficiency is directly
correlated with most cardiovascular problems, including high blood pressure.
Clinical cardiovascular features of
hypothyroidism include: bradycardia, reduced cardiac output, increased
pericardial and pleural effusions, increased diastolic blood pressure and
peripheral vasoconstriction. According to Dr. Stephen A. Hoption Cann,
Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, iodine deficiency can have deleterious
effects on the cardiovascular system, and correspondingly, that a higher
iodine intake may benefit cardiovascular function.[2]
Differences in geographic iodine
intake have been shown to be associated with the prevalence of hypothyroidism
and hyperthyroidism. Both of these thyroid abnormalities have been shown to
negatively affect cardiovascular function. Selenium, an important antioxidant
in the thyroid and involved in the metabolism of iodine-containing thyroid
hormones, may play an interactive role in the development of these thyroid
irregularities, and in turn, cardiovascular disease.
Selenium, an important antioxidant in
the thyroid and involved
in the metabolism of iodine-containing thyroid hormones, may
play an interactive role in the development of these thyroid
irregularities, and in turn, cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Stephen. Hoption Cann
Dr. Michael Donaldson says, “Iodine
stabilizes the heart rhythm, lowers serum cholesterol, lowers blood pressure,
and is known to make the blood thinner as well, judging by longer clotting times
seen by clinicians. Iodine is not only good for the cardiovascular
system, it is vital. Sufficient iodine is needed for a stable rhythmic
heartbeat. Iodine, directly or indirectly, can normalize serum cholesterol
levels and normalize blood pressure. Iodine attaches to insulin receptors and
improves glucose metabolism. Iodine and iodine-rich foods have long been used
as a treatment for hypertension and cardiovascular disease; yet, modern
randomized studies examining the effects of iodine on cardiovascular disease
have not been carried out.”
Adequate iodine is necessary for
proper thyroid function.
The heart is a target organ for thyroid hormones. Marked changes
occur in cardiac function in patients with hypo or hyperthyroidism.
Endemic goiter was common in people
and in domestic animals, particularly in the eastern part of Finland away from
the sea. Studies in the 1950s revealed that the major dietary difference
between eastern and western Finland was iodine. The risk of death from coronary
heart disease was 3.5 times higher
for people with a goiter in Finland.[3]
“Thyroid hormone is an important
regulator of cardiac function and cardiovascular hemodynamics. Triiodothyronine,
T3, the physiologically active form of thyroid hormone, binds to nuclear
receptor proteins and mediates the expression of several important cardiac
genes, inducing transcription of the positively regulated genes including
alpha-myosin heavy chain (MHC) and the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase.
Negatively regulated genes include beta-MHC and phospholamban, which are down
regulated in the presence of normal serum levels of thyroid hormone. T3
mediated effects on the systemic vasculature include relaxation of vascular
smooth muscle resulting in decreased arterial resistance and diastolic blood
pressure. In hyperthyroidism, cardiac contractility and cardiac output are
enhanced and systemic vascular resistance is decreased, while in hypothyroidism,
the opposite is true. Patients with subclinical hypothyroidism manifest many of
the same cardiovascular changes, but to a lesser degree than that which occurs
in overt hypothyroidism. Cardiac
disease states are sometimes associated with the low T3 syndrome. The
phenotype of the failing heart resembles that of the hypothyroid heart, both in
cardiac physiology and in gene expression. Changes in serum T(3) levels in
patients with chronic congestive heart failure are caused by alterations in
thyroid hormone metabolism suggesting that patients may benefit from T(3)
replacement in this setting.”[4]
Iodine-containing thyroid hormones,
thyroxine (T4) and
triiodothyronine (T3) are important metabolic regulators
of cardiovascular activity with the ability to exert action on
cardiac myocytes, vascular smooth muscle, and endothelial cells.
Dr. Stephen. Hoption Cann
“Whole body sufficiency of
iodine/iodide results in optimal cardiac functions,” writes Dr. Guy Abraham.[5]
There is an epidemic of cardiac arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation in this
country and Dr. Abraham is convinced that the medical iodine phobia has a great
deal to do with this phenomenon. Adequate stores of iodine are necessary for a
smooth heartbeat.[6]
The thyroid hormone deficiency on
cardiovascular function can be characterized with decreased myocardial
contractility and increased peripheral vascular resistance as well as with the
changes in lipid metabolism.[7] Dr.
B. West says, “Iodine supplementation may be the missing link in a good
percentage of heart arrhythmia cases, especially atrial fibrillation. The
body needs adequate stores of iodine for the heart to beat smoothly. After
close to a year now of using Iodine Fulfillment Therapy, I can attest to this
fact. Most of the stubborn cases of cardiac arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation
that we were unable to completely correct with our cardiac protocols have now
been resolved with adequate supplies of iodine added to the protocol.”[8]
“Amazingly, while medicine shuns
iodine therapy, their most popular anti-fibrillation drug, Amiodarone, actually
is iodine in a more toxic, sustained-release form. This drug can produce a
smooth heartbeat when the body has accumulated about 1,500 mgs of iodine—the
exact amount of iodine retained by your body when iodine fulfillment is
achieved by natural supplementation with Prolamine Iodine. Unfortunately,
Amiodarone is an extremely toxic form of iodine used by the medical profession.
The side effects are often too great (and even life threatening) for most
people to endure long enough to achieve a normal heartbeat. In addition, once
you stop this drug, your original problem returns. Iodine therapy, on the other
hand, fulfills the body’s needs safely, then maintains the smooth heartbeat
with a low-maintenance dose,” wrote Dr. West.
Dr. Donaldson reminds us of the
selenium iodine connection saying, “Another factor in how much iodine can be
safely used depends on other possible mineral deficiencies. Selenium is very
important for thyroid function. Selenium is part of the anti-oxidant enzyme
glutathione peroxidase. Glutathione peroxidase in the thyroid helps quench free
radicals produced by the enzyme thyroid peroxidase (which functions to organify
iodide as it enters the thyroid). If high levels of iodide are present in the
thyroid without sufficient amounts of glutathione peroxidase it causes
free-radical damage to the thyroid, leading to autoimmune thyroid disease.
Several of the enzymes that convert T4 into T3 also require selenium. Studies
in Zaire have found that supplementing selenium and iodine deficient children
with just selenium had adverse effects on thyroid function.” [9]
Selenium is absolutely essential in
the age of mercury toxicity for it is the perfect antidote for mercury
exposure. It is literally raining mercury all over the world but especially in
the northern hemisphere. And of course with the dentists poisoning a world of
patients with mercury dental amalgam and the doctors with their mercury laden
vaccines, selenium is more important than most of us can imagine. Selenium deficiency
impairs thyroid hormone metabolism by inhibiting the synthesis and activity of
the iodothyronine deiodinases, which convert thyroxine (T4) to the more
metabolically active 3,3′-5 triiodothyronine (T3). In rats, concurrent selenium
and iodine deficiency produces greater increases in thyroid weight and plasma
thyrotrophin than iodine deficiency alone, indicating that a concurrent
selenium deficiency could be a major determinant of the severity of iodine
deficiency.[10]
Later studies showed that serum T4
was maintained at control levels when both dietary iodine and selenium were
low, but not when iodine alone, or selenium alone, was low. Activity of
thyroidal GSH-Px (erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase) was lowest in rats
fed a diet containing high iodine and low selenium. The results suggested that
high iodine intake, when selenium is deficient, may permit thyroid tissue
damage as a result of low thyroidal GSH-Px activity during thyroid stimulation.
A moderately low selenium intake normalized circulating T4 concentration in the
presence of iodine deficiency. [11]
Adequate selenium nutritional status
may help protect against some of the neurological effects of iodine deficiency.
Researchers involved in the Supplementation en Vitamines et Mineraux
AntioXydants (SU.VI.MAX) study in France, which was designed to assess the
effect of vitamin and mineral supplements on chronic disease risk, evaluated
the relationship between goiter and selenium in a subset of this research
population. Their findings suggest that selenium supplements may be protective
against goiter.[12] Selenium (Se) in the form of selenocysteine is an essential
component of the family of the detoxifying enzymes glutathione peroxidase (Gpx)
and of the iodothyronine selenodeiodinases that catalyze the extrathyroidal
production of tri-iodothyronine (T(3)). Thus, Se deficiency may seriously
influence the generation of free radicals, the conversion of thyroxine (T(4))
to T(3) and a thyroidal autoimmune process.
Recent studies concluded that a positive effect of Se on
thyroidal autoimmune process was shown[13] and indicated that high serum Se levels
(>120 ug/l) may also influence the outcome of GD. (Graves disease).[14] A recent study testing the various
dosages of selenium confirmed that doses greater than 100mcg of selenium (as
L-selenomethionine) were required to maximize glutathione peroxidase activities
in autoimmune thyroiditis.[15]
Selenium is also essential for the
production of estrogen sulfotranserfase which is the enzyme which breaks down
estrogen. A deficiency of selenium can thus lead to excessive amounts of
estrogen, which may depress thyroid function, and also upset the
progesterone-estrogen balance. Animal studies have shown that the addition of selenium supplementation will
alleviate the effects of excess iodine intake.[16] Iodine and selenium deficiencies must both be resolved for
iodine treatment to be effective.
Dr. John Young in Tampa Florida has
been experimenting with a new process for reversing metabolic syndrome and Type
2 diabetes. Over the past seven years he claims to have a success rate of 80
percent with over 100 diabetes patients. Dr. Young uses a combination of
alkaline protein and minerals with a form of iodine that he says reverses the
process in diabetes patients in eight to 12 weeks.
Dr. George Flechas has found that
iodine can reduce the need for insulin in diabetic patients, using 50 to 100 mg
of iodine per day. Of 12 patients, six were able to completely come off their
medications with random glucose readings below 100 mg/dl and an HbA1cless than
5.8 (normal), and the other six were able to reduce the amount and/or number of
medications needed to control their diabetes.