Should everything deemed "unscientific" be rejected?

I have a lot of respect for the scientific method, but sometimes I think it has a polarising effect in discussions about certain issues: ie, if you don't adhere totally to the findings of the latest scientific research, you must be talking nonsense, or espousing “pseudoscience”, or fake news.

While I understand the importance of scientific research – for clinical trials of new drugs, for example, or for the testing of new foods – I think it's sometimes helpful to step outside it. Just because something hasn't been subject to rigorous scientific research doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong or bad. Sometimes it's just due to lack of funding, or time, as research can take many years.

Experimental health treatment

As an example, I've recently been experimenting with a very controversial treatment for a condition that I haven't even been medically diagnosed with, though I had all the symptoms. Certainly my health has improved enormously while on this treatment.

My symptoms started in 2014, when I put on a lot of weight – 31lbs – within about eight months. I was following a fairly healthy eating regime at the time, low in fat and with lots of fresh fruit and veg.

I then started to suffer from exhaustion, sleeping excessively, and I found it impossible to do running, which I had always loved, for more than 20 minutes at a time. My resting pulse rate was around 50 beats per minute – very low, unless you're very fit, which I certainly wasn't!

Reiki

I tried to find out what was causing my problems, without success, until I did a session of Reiki – a natural health treatment that is often branded as a “pseudoscience”! During the treatment, I felt a lot of warmth in my neck and throat area, and the practitioner said this was probably due to a thyroid issue.

This was like a lightbulb moment for me, as I had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, including a very low core temperature. It was often as low as 35.2C, and it would fluctuate during the day.

I saw my doctor and had a blood test, which showed me to be in perfect health with TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels in the “normal” range. However TSH levels are often said to fluctuate frequently.

With the National Health Service pronouncing me well, I was relieved that I would not be on drugs for life, which is the usual treatment for hypothyroidism. But I also knew that something was not right with my health, and that my treatment would be in my own hands.

I initially tried treating my thyroid problem with adaptogenic herbs, like Chinese ginseng and Rehmannia. I saw no improvement. After doing more research, I started to take 250mcg of iodine each day, the recommended dose. After six weeks there was no change in my symptoms.

Iodine treatment

Then I stumbled across Lynne Farrow's book, The Iodine Crisis, online. It recommended taking very high doses of iodine, in the region of 50mg per day, which is conventionally seen as potentially damaging to the thyroid. But I felt I needed to do something, and I decided to give this treatment a try.

I also read Dr David Brownstein's book on iodine. Dr Brownstein is one of the pioneers behind the “high-dose iodine protocol”, which has only been in practice for a couple of decades – a very short time in scientific terms.

Farrow and Brownstein advise starting low and building up the dosage gradually, as well as taking a range of “companion nutrients” while on the treatment. I followed their advice to the letter, as I realised I was effectively a guinea pig in this treatment. Iodine has been used medicinally for decades, but not in such large doses.

I documented my self-treatment in a series of video diaries for my YouTube channel Freethinking Health.

Dramatic improvement in health

In May 2017, after almost a year on 50mg of iodine a day, I started to see a marked improvement in my health. It was quite a dramatic improvement, and I gradually reduced the dose of iodine over the next few months.

This treatment was a huge success for me. I can't speak for anyone else, although I know there are many other people who have benefited from the high-dose iodine protocol.

Unscientific?

But it has not been subject to extensive clinical trials. It is considered unconventional and controversial, possibly a pseudoscience. And because of this, many people who are suffering with thyroid problems refuse to try it. In fact I know several people who have underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) or Hashimoto's disease, who refuse to take any iodine supplementation at all, because of the risk that it could make their condition worse, or tip them over to hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid).

These people will be taking medication – usually thyroxine – for life. I have told my friends that the high-dose iodine protocol worked wonders for me, and they've seen it with their own eyes.

But I won't do more than suggest it to them once, or maybe twice.

What works for me might not work for someone else. It's up to them whether they decide to try this treatment or not, and clearly there are many people who refuse to step outside the boundaries of clinically provescience.

I'm not saying that they should or shouldn't do this. But I am saying that there are some cases where I like to use my personal judgement to step outside the established boundaries of science.

I don't think this is utter nonsense or “pseudoscience”. It's just an alternative view.

My video is at DLive