Iodine and arsenic in menstrual blood

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M. Armand Gautier has some interesting theories concerning the menstrual function and the rut of animals in relation to the role of arsenic in nutrition. These were communicated to the Academie des Sciences on August 6th, and may be read in La Presse Médicale for September 8th, 1900. He traces a relationship between the functions of the genital organs, those of the thyroid gland, and the growth of the appendages of the skin, namely, hair and nails. His attention was attracted to the subject by the observation that patients, when taking arsenic, menstruate more frequently than at other times, that their skin improves in condition, and that their hair increases in length and thickness. Since arsenic and iodine are assimilated by the thyroid, and excreted by the epidermis and its appendages, it occurred to Dr. Gautier that it is upon the utilisation and elimination of these substances that the above-mentioned relationship is based, and his experiments have confirmed him in this opinion.

He has shown that normal blood of man and of animals contain no arsenic and a very little iodine, while menstrual blood contains .3 milligrammes of arsenic per kilogramme, and 4 1/2 times more iodine than normal blood. A human thyroid contains about 15 milligrammes of arsenic, so that, allowing for a blood loss of 400 to 500 grammes per day during menstruation, the total blood lost would contain 12 to 14 milligrammes of arsenic, or nearly as much arsenic as the thyroid of the patient contained before menstruation. Thus arsenic and iodine are excreted every month by woman, and menstruation finds its raison d’étre in a removal of these substances from the thyroid, and perhaps also, in less degree, from the skin.

Normally the nucleo-proteids and iodised bodies of the thyroid go to nourish the skin, and especially the hair bulbs and the nail beds. The arsenic and iodine thus used are eliminated by the shedding of hair and nails, and by the desquamation of the general surface of the epidermis. In woman there is an excess production of these bodies, which is eliminated periodically in the menstrual blood, unless conception occurs, in which case the excess is used up in the construction of the foetus, in whose rapid growth much phosphorus, arsenic, and iodine are consumed.

We are aware that the thyroid gland excites and regulates growth, that it influences the nutrition of the skin, and that it is in relation with the development and function of the reproductive organs. Its atrophy in the cretin coincides with arrest of development, myxo:dema, and infantilism of the sexual organs. On the other hand, the thyroid develops rapidly in the pregnant woman, and in certain females it hypertrophies some days before menstruation. Hofmeister has observed atrophy of the sexual organs after removal of the thyroid, and conversely it is stated that the administration of thyroid substance has been followed by renewal of growth in an infantile uterus. In a word, all the organs rich in nucleins, especially those in which arsenic and iodine occur together, are favourably influenced by the administration of thyroid substance.

It is mainly by the appendages of the skin and by the menstrual blood that arsenic and iodine are eliminated by the female human subject. It may be asked, however, how these substances are dealt with by the male subject, and by female animals which do not menstruate. Our author answers this question by pointing out that warm-blooded animals of both sexes are covered with hairs or feathers, which grow as a rule before the breeding season, and are shed to a considerable extent when the period of sexual activity is passed. Thus the supply of arsenic and iodine is used during the winter in growing fur, feathers, horns, etc. When these have reached their full growth the supply of nucleo-proteids is diverted to the sexual organs, and breeding commences. The skin is thus deprived of the essentials of luxuriant growth, the hair falls out, the horns fall off, and the feathers drop out.

Fabio, breeding plumage?

The human male is not, as a rule, covered with hair; but at the same time he is more hirsute than the female. The hair of his head and beard grows, and our author maintains his epidermal desquamation is more rapid than that of the smoother skin of the female, whose hair does not grow much after puberty is reached. The extra growth of hair in the male human subject is thus said to eliminate as much arsenic as is lost in the menstrual blood by the female. In other words, the girl only begins to menstruate when her hair stops growing, whilst, on the other hand, it is just at the same period of life that the boy’s beard begins to grow. Amongst hairy human races, in whom, as in monkeys, arsenical nucleins are largely used up in the production of hair, menstruation and the corresponding periods of sexual appetite would be expected to appear at longer intervals than in hairless humanity. The author has ascertained by inquiry from anthropologists that this is actually the case. He also finds that cutting off the hair of females, as is done in some religious institutions, provides a fresh outlet for arsenical products, and thus tends to check the menstrual function.

male snowy egret, breeding plumage~ wiki image

 The author illustrates his views by observations upon certain lower animals, notably many male birds, whose feathers grow to brilliance before the breeding season, and are shed like a wedding garment at its close. Other birds grow appendages on their beaks, which fall off after the breeding season. Amongst certain urodela a horny crest rich in arsenic decorates the tail of the male animal, and is reabsorbed during and after the reproductive period of the year. Lastly, the author mentions the various afiections of the skin which are common during pregnancy as evidence of the strain upon the production of arsenical proteids, which is caused by gestation. Myxedema, he finds, is a disease most common amongst multiparae, who have time after time drawn upon their reserves of thyroid~produced substances.

These views may appear to be vague, unproved, and even romantic ; they are, however, interesting and not without suggestiveness. It may be found, after experiment and extended observation, that they are based upon a substratum of solid fact. _

male mallard duck, breeding plumage, image source, wiki

article source: The Practitioner, Volume 65, 1900

topical iodine and tumors

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an early report on the use of topical iodine and "scirrhus"tumors(definition below). It was recognized then that if such growths were not attended to they could indeed develop into cancer. So much for FBD being a "benign" condition...   

(6.) Preparations of Iodine.—" That the external use of iodine, in the form of ointment, sometimes completely removes tumors possessing the characters of scirrhus*, (where it has been had recourse to at an early stage of their development,) is a fact of which we have witnessed some examples. The truly cancerous nature of such growths may of course be questioned ; yet a trial of iodine externally, provided the part be indolent, and its use excite no irritative action, is certainly advisable : the length of the trial should be regulated by the apparent influence produced on the tumor." Since I wrote these words in 1840, my confidence in the powers of iodine-friction, especially when combined with the use of the iodide of arsenic internally, has increased. Nor does my present experience allow me to conceive a single doubt that tumors, actually and truly scirrhous in structure,—tumors which would have run the common course of cancer,—may be arrested in their progress by early and judicious use of these agents. Nor is similar testimony wanting from others. Mr. Gr. N. Hill's cases afford very decisive evidence to the same effect, and Dr. Ashwell's statements on the subject (see Cancer of the Uterus) are strongly encouraging. The convictions of Mr. Travers on the point are stated with peculiar emphasis. " By an indolent scirrhus," says this writer, " I mean an incompressible permanent tumor, possessing for many years no distinguishing character of that disease ; but in a deranged state of health assuming its genuine character, and at a particular period of life breaking up into an actual cancer. I do not entertain a doubt that such a tumor may be, and often is, absorbed in its first stage, and need not therefore of necessity follow this course. I feel assured that most of the hard breasts of young and middle-aged women admit of being reduced by the iodine or the mercurial ointment, if early resorted to, and steadily persevered in, having often succeeded in procuring their absorption by such means, when, from the characters they presented, I should otherwise have felt compelled to urge their removal by operation Nothing is more certain than the susceptibility of absorption in many such tumors at an early stage of their existence.


The preparation of iodine used is not a matter of indifference. That ordinarily employed, a combination of iodide of potassium, iodine and lard, almost invariably produces a degree of cutaneous irritation, which makes it necessary to intermit its use frequently, and sometimes give it up altogether. The iodide of lead ointment (composed of a drachm of the salt and an ounce of lard) is not only completely free from this inconvenience, but has appeared to me more actively promotive of absorption. The ointment should be smeared in very gently, twice daily, for several minutes at a time.


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source: The Nature and Treatment of Cancer", by Walter Hayle Walshe, M.D., 1846




*scirrhus~ Scirrhus is a hard, unequal tumor, which occasionally appears in different viscera, such as the liver and womb, but more fre-quently in the grandular parts, for instance, the breasts, arm-pits, and about the neck. chestofbooks.com