Iodine Testing

How widespread is iodine deficiency? In the United States iodine deficiency is becoming more problematic due to a decrease in dietary iodized salt intake as a means to reduce high blood pressure. Urinary iodine levels in the US today are about half what they were in the 1970s. Iodine is an essential element that is pivotal to normal function of the thyroid gland in addition to the health and integrity of breast tissue. Accurate diagnosis may often be overlooked because the symptoms overlap with those of other illnesses, perhaps masking the problem. Testing Iodine levels and accessing treatment for both excessive or deficiency levels is an emerging area of science that holds potential for improving your health and longevity.

ZRT’s Iodine Test in Dried Urine
ZRT now offers a test for diagnostic measurements of iodine with the development and application of dried urine testing. Using this simple dried urine test is one of the easiest ways to take control of your health and wellness while understanding the importance of underlying symptoms and your potential risk for iodine deficiency. With ZRT’s simple, innovative dried urine test, it now only requires a few minutes to collect urine on a filter strip 2 times a day as opposed to the inconvenience of a 24 hour collection that requires a bulky container for collection.

ZRT’s Comprehensive Iodine Thyroid Test in Dried Urine and Blood Spot
While measurement of urinary iodine levels may provide useful information on one’s iodine nutritional status, iodine sufficiency does not always guarantee that adequate amounts of thyroid hormones will be synthesized by the thyroid gland. Adequate iodine status is essential for the production of normal levels of thyroid hormones and the integrity of thyroid and mammary glands. ZRT has combined the advanced technology of iodine determination in dried urine (DU), with that of thyroid hormone measurements in finger prick dried blood spots (DBS) to create the Comprehensive Iodine Thyroid Test. The Iodine-Thyroid Profile is designed to evaluate not only the availability of iodine, but also its capacity to be utilized for thyroid hormone synthesis. The thyroid glands capacity to utilize iodine for thyroid hormone synthesis is determined by measuring thyroglobulin, TSH, total T4, free T4, free T3, and TPO antibodies in finger-prick whole blood dried on filter paper.

If you have additional questions about iodine testing, please ask your physician, pharmacist or other healthcare provider, or if you prefer to locate a provider currently working with ZRT Laboratory, please click here.

Headline news:

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• Low Iodine Levels in Organic Milk could Compromise Brain Development in Early Life, UK
• Potassium Iodide and the Nuclear Crisis in Japan
• BBC News - Worrying Levels of Iodine Deficiency in UK
• Iodine - Chernobyl's Lesson for Japan
• Many Americans Are Iodine-Deficient. Are You One of Them?
• Iodine Deficiency: Impact on Fetal Thyroid Mensuration
• Iodine Deficiency in Pregnancy: The Effect on Neurodevelopment in the Child
• Fluoride depletes iodine, causing hypothyroidism and immune deficiency
• Iodine Deficiency Linked to Poor Health
• Functions of Iodine
• Child Autism Associated with Iodine Deficiency
• Iodine and New School Lunch Programs
• To Salt or Not to Salt, That Is the Question
• Iodine: The Essential Element
• The Need for Iodine - The International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders
• Iodine May Help Protect from Radiation Damage
• National Institutes of Health - Iodine Fact Sheet