Whether it’s underactive thyroid or overactive thyroid, the missing link is iodine.  Even though a patient shows numerous symptoms of an underactive thyroid, it’s not very often a doctor will properly diagnose the thyroid function.  Based on over 60 years of research by Dr. Broda Barnes, blood tests for thyroid function are extremely inaccurate.  Dr. Barnes advocated the body temperature as being a more accurate indication of how the thyroid is functioning.  Dr. Barnes spent 60 years studying thyroid patients and was the researcher to develop Armour Thyroid.  If a doctor recognizes a thyroid dysfunction, iodine never comes to mind as part of the treatment.  A synthetic medication is the doctors’ medicine of choice.  Medical textbooks still suggest iodine for those with a goiter, cyst, and/or nodules.  The thyroid cannot function without iodine.  Iodine along with L-tyrosine, an amino acid found in proteins, combine to produce thyroxine, the thyroid hormone.  Without iodine – no thyroid hormone. Cysts, nodules and goiter of the thyroid are common in the absence of iodine.  In many cases, a physician will recommend radioactive iodine to destroy the thyroid.  If the thyroid was saturated with iodine, which is a normal metabolic activity, the doctor would not be able to destroy the thyroid with radioactive iodine.  A case in point are the number of the people who rushed out to buy iodine during the Japanese crisis when huge levels of radioactive iodine was exposed to the environment.  Iodine protects the thyroid.  Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, is a book written by Dr. David Brownstein.  It’s a must read for anyone interested in good health.  Women who start taking iodine are amazed at how quickly many symptoms that plagued them for years disappear.   Hair stops falling out, chronic fatigue disappears, menopausal symptoms are reduced significantly, edema is eliminated, puffiness of the face and eyelids are reduced, there is improved weight loss, energy levels increase, and a general sense of well-being are all benefits of iodine therapy.  New research indicates 12.5 mg to 25 mg of iodine per day are excellent dosages.  Before World War II, iodine was the number one medicine prescribed by physicians as it was antibacterial, antiviral and anticancer.  Doctors then said they used it for everything because it did everything good.