Iodine & Disease Treatment

Fibrocystic breast condition

Fibrocystic breast condition: Fibrocystic breast condition is a benign (non-cancerous) condition of the breasts, characterized by lumpiness and discomfort in one or both breasts. In estrogen treated rats, iodine deficiency leads to changes similar to those seen in fibrocystic breast condition, while iodine repletion was found to reverse those changes.

An uncontrolled study of 233 women with fibrocystic breast condition found that treatment with aqueous molecular iodine (I2) at a dose of 0.08 mg of I2/kg of body weight daily over 6 to 18 months was associated with improvement in pain and other symptoms in over 70% of those treated . About 10% of the study participants reported side effects that were described by the investigators as minor.

A double blind, placebo-controlled trial of aqueous molecular iodine (0.07-0.09 mg of I2/kg of body weight daily for 6 months) in 56 women with fibrocystic breast condition found that 65% of the women taking molecular iodine reported improvement compared to 33% of those taking the placebo . Although the investigators recommended larger controlled clinical trials to determine the therapeutic value of molecular iodine in fibrocystic breast condition, no further results have been published in the scientific or medical literature.

The doses of iodine used in these studies (about 5 mg for a 60 kg person) were several times higher than the tolerable upper level of intake recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine and should only be used under medical supervision.

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