Don't forget to salt load, people!


http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-18/IOD_18.htm


"The halides fluoride and bromide block the uptake and utilization of Iodine in target cells.(13) Bromide possesses goitrogenic, carcinogenic, and narcoleptic properties.(10) Iodine intake in adequate amounts increases the mobilization and urinary excretion of fluoride and bromide.(9,13) Chloride, like iodide, increases urinary excretion of bromide.(14) Restriction of table salt decreases markedly the renal clearance of bromide by as much as tenfold, resulting in a corresponding tenfold elevation of serum bromide levels. Some subjects on a restricted salt diet with elevated serum bromide levels reported that they felt better the days they indulged in salty foods. Urinary excretion of chloride is a good index of intake, and its measurement should therefore be included in a comprehensive assessment of the metabolism and excretion of the goitrogenic, carcinogenic, and narcoleptic bromide.(14,15) In this author’s experience, elevated serum fluoride levels (greater than 0.05 mg/L) are a rare occurrence whereas elevated serum bromide levels (greater than 12 mg/L) are common in our population......

......In Horowitz’s patient previously mentioned, serum bromide was 3,180 mg/L, considered possibly fatal. Horowitz’s patient experienced severe bromism following daily ingestion of a soft drink containing organic bromine. (53) Brominated oils are used frequently in soft drinks, and the label does not clearly indicate the amount of organic bromine present. As previously stated, organic bromine is stored in fat tissue and released slowly as bromide.

Horowitz stated that he was unable to measure the amount of bromine in the suspected drink because all the bottles were removed by the owner of the store who refused to have the product analyzed. The patient, a computer executive, experienced confusion, ataxia, headache, fatigue, and loss of concentration. The diagnosis of severe bromism was not made until the third visit with the same complaints. Hemodyalysis was required to improve the patient’s clinical condition. All these problems originated from consumption of a cola drink. In several reported cases of chronic intoxication from ingesting an organic bromine-containing drug, serum bromide levels remained elevated even after serum levels of the drug were undetectable.(52) Chronic bromide intoxication from this drug is probably due to inorganic bromide released from the drug.

Physicians are encouraged to learn more about the symptoms of bromism and to request serum bromide levels in suspected cases. Chronic bromism causes symptoms that cover many medical specialties: psychiatry, neurology,gastroenterology, and dermatology. If the physician is not familiar with bromine toxicity, these symptoms will be misdiagnosed and mistreated. Ewing and Grant, (59) emphasizing the bromide hazard commented:

“Physicians must participate in educating the public to the bromide hazard.”

The lowest serum bromide levels that will result in significant mental and physical symptoms is at the present unknown. Fuortes(60) proposed 30 mg/L as the highest non-toxic level of serum bromide. In 1938, Clark (61) reported that small doses of bromide resulted in dullness, apathy, and inability to concentrate. Sangster, et al,(62) evaluated the effect of daily oral ingestion of bromide for three months at 4 mg/kg BW and 9 mg/kg BW in seven male and seven female volunteers. At the 4 mg/kg BW level, five of the seven males complained of increased sleepiness and decreased ability to concentrate. Decreased amplitude of brain waves in the temporal and central areas were observed in these subjects. Mean serum bromide levels pre-intervention were 5.6 mg/L for the males and 4.8 mg/L for the female subjects. Under steady state conditions at 12 weeks post-intervention, the mean serum bromide levels were 160 mg/L for the seven male subjects and 240 mg/L for the seven female subjects. These levels of serum bromide associated with the above symptoms were much lower than the arbitrarily set limit of 500 mg/L for bromide toxicity.

How many patients with misdiagnosed bromism are currently treated with psychiatric drugs? Levin (63) in 1948, described four varieties of bromide psychosis: chronic brain syndrome from chronic bromism, delirium, schizophrenia, and hallucinosis. Decreased cerebral blood flow was reported in a case of bromide psychosis, being one-third of values observed in normal subjects.(64) Undiagnosed bromism is common in psychiatric patients."