Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness

Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness

by Broda Otto Barnes, Lawrence Galton

Absolutely outstanding reference !, May 30, 1999
Reviewer: Sgalya4535@aol.com - Baltimore, MD from USA
This text was an absolute delight to read. Dr. Barnes presented his theories on hypothyroidism and its relation to various disease states in a clear and easily readable format. This text can be used by obviously the layperson, but also the professional alike. As a physician assistant in family practice medicine, I have recommended this text to many of my patients. One of my biggest challenges is to convince my peers in medicine to accept Dr. Barnes' theories and put them into practice. One of the most difficult is the use of synthroid (T-4) vs natural dessicated thyroid. As stated in his book, those patients on the synthetics alone may have two symptoms left that won't dissapear: a dry, rough skin and retention of water. When these patients are switched to the natural thyroid, those symptoms are gone within 4 to 6 weeks and do not return. This has convinced Dr. Barnes that we have yet to isolate the entire hormone - perhaps there is another factor other than T-3 and T-4. This man was light years ahead of his time,and the medical profession needs to become more aware, and indeed I believe this is happening; slowly, but it is. This man has researched the thyroid gland for 52 years of his life! Even if you were to take three steps ahead and fall back two, you are still one step ahead, and over a 52 year period that is quite a bit of knowledge. The number of patients Dr. Barnes has helped over the years is staggering; he deserved a Nobel Prize in medicine.

THE Alternative medicine BIBLE of thyroid disease, September 18, 1997
Reviewer: thyroid.guide@miningco.com from USA
Despite the fact that Broda Barnes was an M.D., his book Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness is the bible for alternative medicine's view of hypothyroidism. Frankly, I think Dr. Barnes was a pioneer in identifying the many ways thyroid problems affect us that conventional medicine today doesn't recognize. If you've ever wondered if hypothyroidism is causing certain symptoms, or how it may be affecting you, this book is excellent. It also describes the controversial -- but still used by some -- Barnes Basal Temperature method of diagnosing hypothyroidism. Amazingly, Dr. Barnes also describes an optimal diet in his 1976 book that is remarkably similar to the popular "Zone" diet which is finding favor with many people with hypothyroidism today, 20 years later. Dr. Barnes really often seems to be one of the only doctors who truly understand the impact of thyroid disease on overall health and the difficulty medicine seems to have with it. Here's a quote from his book. "It may seem almost incredible that scientists can sit quietly on earth and follow the activity of the heart of a man walking on the moon and yet they have had so much difficulty in measuring the amount of thyroid hormone necessary for health and in developing effective and reliable tests to determine when thyroid function is inadequate." Dr. Barnes is also one of the doctors who regularly prescribed Armour Thryoid, the naturally- derived T4/T3 drug, for his patients instead of the sythetic T4 only preparations (i.e., Synthroid, Levoxyl, generic levo-thyroxine) that are currently popular. He says in the book: "[Synthetic] thyroxine...proved to have only one-tenth to one-twentieth of the metabolic activity of the natural Levo-thyroxine." Dr. Barnes also felt that doctors needed to gauge symptoms as well as blood tests when treating patients. Again, from his book: "The efforts though the various tests to measure thyroid activity by determining the amount of hormone stored in the gland or alternatively the amount present in the bloodstream fail to do what really counts: provide an indication of the amount of thyroid hormone available and being used within cells throughout the body. They are somewhat akin to trying to get an idea of a thrifty man's spending habits from the amount of money in his wallet or the size of his bank account. The amounts of money in wallet or bank account, like test for the amount of hormone in gland or bloodstream, tell us nothing about how much is being spent." Mary Shomon, Editor, The Thyroid Disease Website and Newsletter, http://thyroid.miningco.com

Sage Advice for Today's Illnesses, February 7, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Renton, WA USA
I have bought this book for myself and my daughter and her family. It supports everything I have been learning about the "well" functioning body without going "California". Dr. Barnes is not advocating that we need to live on another planet or eat seeds and twigs, to begin to heal. He even gives us a simple home test to provide us with the amo, when dealing with reluctant doctors. He includes the entire family, small children, teenager, adults, males and females. No one is exempt from his studies and results.

I recommend it highly. It's good old fashion, sage advice for today.

An important read!, December 31, 2000
Reviewer: Ruth Curtis from Terre Haute, IN
After reading many books and doing countless hours of research about hypothyroidism, I have come to the conclusion that Dr. Broda Barnes really knew what he was talking about. I wish that all of today's doctors would read this book and use it to diagnose and treat hypothyroidism. Dr. Barnes understood the connection of the many symptoms of hypothyroidism to the low functioning thyroid gland. He diagnosed and treated many, many patients in his time without the new TSH tests used today. It is no coincidence that these patients got better when he treated them. To truly understand hypothyroidism you must read this book. It may be a little outdated, but it is fundamentally correct in what it says. More doctors need to understand and use the information that Dr. Barnes has written about in this book.