Broda Otto Barnes

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Broda Otto Barnes (April 14, 1904 – November 1, 1988) was an American physician who became an authority in the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism. He spent more than 50 years of his life researching and treating endocrine dysfunctions, specializing in the thyroid gland.[1][2] [3]

Barnes' views were never widely adopted in mainstream medicine, yet they continue to be vigorously supported by some practitioners.[4] [5] [6] [2]


Contents

[edit] Hypothyroidism

One of his most celebrated accomplishments was the invention of a diagnostic test for hypothyroidism, now known as the "Barnes Basal Temperature Test". This test is performed by placing a thermometer in the armpit for 10 minutes immediately upon waking. A measurement of 97.8F (36.6C) or below was considered by him to be highly indicative of hypothyroidism, especially when coexisting with hypothyroid symptoms.[7]

The details of the test was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in August of 1942. [7] Though the test was not widely adopted by the medical professional as a whole, it was and continues to be enthusiastically endorsed by a minority of medical doctors and many alternative practitioners. [6]

Though Barnes didn't consider his Basal Temperature Test to be 100% conclusive, he maintained up until his death in 1988 that it was the most useful diagnostic test in the diagnosis of hypothyroidism, superior even to modern blood tests of serum TSH and T4. Barnes considered modern blood tests--like the Basal Metabolism Test--to be unreliable, leaving many patients with clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism undiagnosed and untreated.[3]

Barnes other major contribution to the treatment of hypothyroidism was the observation that patients taking thyroid replacement therapy have much better improvement of symptoms with desiccated thyroid extract rather than synthetic thyroid hormones. [3]

He found that the even with synthetic combination drugs containing T4 and T3, patients were left with symptoms (dry skin & infiltration), that upon switching to desiccated thyroid extract would resolve. This discovery lead Barnes to speculate that there are additional undiscovered active components in the natural extract besides T4 and T3. Modern research as indeed revealed that T2 (diidothyronine) and T1 (monoidothyronine) are also present, thought their function is still not fully understood.[5]

[edit] Heart Disease

Barnes performed significant research into the cause of heart disease. During his lifetime he spent many summers in Graz, Austria, reviewing and researching autopsy reports in the city hospital. The Graz autopsy records are widely considered to be the oldest and most complete in the world, and came as a result of the decree of empress Maria Theresa of Austria over 200 years ago, that all persons dying in the city of Graz must have an autopsy. [7]

His study of over 70,000 of these autopsy reports spanning the war years of 1939-1945, lead Barnes to conclude that atherosclerosis--the underlying cause of heart disease and heart attacks-- was not caused by diet and cholesterol as is widely believed, but instead by hypothyroidism. [7]

The cholesterol theory of heart disease credits the drop in consumption of fatty foods during the war years for the drop in heart attacks, and the increase of heart attacks after the wars end with the resumed availability of fatty foods. [7]

Barnes’ autopsy research however showed the in the war years when the rate of deaths from heart attacks dropped, the patients who were dying—largely due to Tuberculosis--had greatly accelerated rates of atherosclerosis. Barnes pointed out that the vast majority of patents who had died would have died from a heart attack soon after if the infection had not killed them first, and furthermore that the patients were largely hypothyroid.[7]

Barnes concluded then, that the hypothyroid patient is both susceptible to infection and atherosclerosis, and it is a question of circumstances that will determine which will be fatal first. Thus the drop and rebound of heart attacks during the and after the war years can be attributed to an increased rate of infectious disease during the war, and the increased availability of antibiotics at the wars end.[7]

Barnes also conducted a multi-decade study of his own patients, that showed a 94% reduction in the rate of heart attacks as compared to the Framingham Heart Study. Barnes concluded that this was due to the thorough screening for and effective treatment of hypothyroidism among his patients, which largely prevented the development of atherosclerosis.[7]

[edit] Diabetes

After many years of practice, Barnes also realized that though he had many diabetic patients, he had not seen virtually a single diabetic complication in his practice. This, along with his previous research into heart disease, lead Barnes to believe that virtually all diabetic patients have a concomitant hypothyroidism. And, when the hypothyroidism is properly treated with desiccated thyroid extract, it prevents the atherosclerosis that leads to the various complications seen in diabetics.[7]

[edit] Pregnancy testing

The bitterling was shown to respond to hormones in a pregnant woman's urine, but the work was later discredited. [8][9]

[edit] Legacy

In his last years, Dr. Barnes established a not-for-profit foundation to continue the legacy of his research: Broda O. Barnes Resarch MD, Research Foundation, Inc. [3].

[edit] Publicatons

  • Barnes, Broda Otto (1976). Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness. HarperCollins. ISBN 069001029X. “And they discuss whether you too may be hypothyroid, affected by a condition even a physician may not recognize. Included is a simple test you can make at home to discover if hypothyroidism may be the real, previously unsuspected cause of your ill health.” 

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Thyroid Gland: Cures, Fallacies and Fixes.", Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. Retrieved on 2008-04-16. "Several decades ago, one of the dedicated thyroid experts, Broda Barnes, MD, was the first to advocate the administration of glandular thyroid extract ..." 
  2. ^ a b (2000) Solved: The Riddle of Illness.. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0658002937. “... A prime mover in clinical research on the thyroid gland for half a century, the late Broda O. Barnes, MD, Ph.D., was also a prime mover behind the writing of ...” 
  3. ^ a b c d Broda O. Barnes. Broda O. Barnes MD Research Foundation, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-16. “Broda O. Barnes, M.D., Ph.D. dedicated more than 50 years of his life to researching, teaching and treating thyroid and related endocrine dysfunctions in this country and abroad.”
  4. ^ Durrant-Peatfield, Barry (2006). Your Thyroid and how to keep it healthy. Hamnmersmith Press. 
  5. ^ a b Starr, Mark (2005). Hypothyroidism Type 2, 174. ISBN 0975262408. 
  6. ^ a b Shomon, Mary (2005). Living Well with Hypothyroidism:. Collins, 57. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnes, Broda (1976). Hypothyroidism: the Unsusptected Illness. HarperCollins. ISBN 069001029X. 
  8. ^ "Deceptive Bitterling", Time (magazine), October 12, 1936. Retrieved on 2008-04-16. "Not quite two years ago physicians and prospective parents welcomed the news that a small, carp-like fish could tell whether or not a woman was going to have a baby ... The bitterling lost her standing and the doe rabbit and mouse were reinstated as nature's best indicators of human pregnancy. But Obstetricians Kanter and Klawans pursued the matter with another research mate, Physiologist Broda Otto Barnes, secured further results which they detailed in Science last week." 
  9. ^ "Bitterling Ovipositor Lengthening Produced By Adrenal Extracts" (1936). Science. AAAS.