RC: Low Thyroid /iodine deficiency

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Barb Peck bpeck@together.net
Barb Peck
bpeck@together,net

Ellen:

A horses T4 level fluctuates over a 24 hr. periods, and also
can flucuate seasonally.

Alot of horses that have low T4 are not necessarily hypo-
thyriod in the classic disease sense.

Calculated from the iodized salt in commercial grain, a horse needs 8-10 lbs of grain a daily to meet the daily minimum requirement of 2 milligrams (mg) of iodine.

On low grain, and inland (not near the coast) the horses iodine
requirement must be met by iodized salt.

Morton salt, and Cargill, iodize salt at the rate of 70
micrograms per gram. A horse 's minimun daily requirement
for salt is 30 grams (2 tablespoons), which will supply 2.1 mg
of iodine.
There is a narrow range for iodine..2-4mg.  Too much can be
as bad as not enough.

I went thru this last year with one of my horses.
I calculated everything he ate, and found he was iodine
deficient.  OPted not to go on Thyro-L, supplemented
a salt mix in the grain (he get's 2 lbs grain/day) and in
30 days his T4 was back to 2.7 (up from 0.7).

It's important to blood test the same time of day, every time.

I have a ton of data (including references)  on this
subject.

Will contine this privately for anyone interested, as RideCamp 
is probably sick of hearing about this subject from me..
as it comes up periodically..

willing to share the data I have..
Barb