D Dawson wrote:

> Ben wrote:
>
>
>>I enquire whether members of the list might have information as to
>>whether any hunter gatherers have been documented to consume the
>>thyroid gland of prey.
>>
>>Iodine has the most profound effect of any single factor on IQ:
>>iodine deficiency reduces IQ an average of 13.5 or 15 points
>
>
> Would this be signficant as some direct effect of iodine on brain
> function or as an agent for sufficient thyroid activity?  I believe
> hypo thyroid is often associated with decreased mental fuction and
> chronic fatigue.
>
>

As a person who swallows 3/4 of a grain of Armour thyroid every morning
because of a hypothyroid condition, I can attest to the decreased mental
function and fatigue.  I went to NYC on business last fall and forgot my
thyroid meds.  By two days in I was tired, by four days in I was barely
alive, not to mention dizzy.  I felt like I was looking at the world
from the bottom of a well I was far too tired to climb out of.  It was
horrible, and I found myself thinking of all the poor folks who were
hypothyroid before there was any medical understanding of the problem.
They became myxedemic cretins, and no doubt sat, blob-like, in a corner
for most of their lives.

BTW, I took my BP at the grocery store on my way home -- 90/47.  No
wonder I was dizzy.  If civilization as we know it ever collapses, I'll
have to take to devouring the raw thyroid glands of rabbits and
squirrels on a daily basis.

Dana