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Broda Otto Barnes
Born(1906-04-14)April 14, 1906
Missouri
DiedNovember 1, 1988(1988-11-01) (aged 82)
Bend, Oregon
EducationUniversity of Denver B.S.
Western Reserve University M.S.
University of Chicago Ph.D. (1931)
Rush Medical College M.D. (1937)
OccupationPhysician
EmployerUniversity of Illinois Research Hospital
Known forHypothyroidism
Spouse Helen Tucker Morgan (1905-2002) ​ ​(m. 1981⁠–⁠1988)​ 2nd wife
Parent(s)Addie and Robert B. Barnes

Broda Otto Barnes (April 14, 1906 – November 1, 1988) was an American professor of medicine, health education, and physiology, as well as a practicing physician engaged in clinical research. He spent more than 50 years of his life researching endocrine-hormone physiology and dysfunctions, and he published more than a hundred papers in mainstream medical journals.

Barnes was "one of the world's foremost authorities on the thyroid gland." His most noted work included seminal survey research of normal basal temperature, invention of the Barnes Basal Temperature Test for diagnosis of hypothyroidism, and his clinical research supporting preferred treatment of hypothyroidism by natural thyroid extract. Late in life Barnes became known to the public for his popular book on unsuspected hypothyroidism and the many seemingly unrelated diseases that it can cause.

In his prime, Barnes was an established academic medical research authority. He never considered himself a maverick, but some of his methods became controversial with the passage of time. Thyroid extract was the mainstream (and only) hypothyroidism treatment, until natural extract gradually fell out of favor after the levothyroxine component was synthesized. The basal temperature test diagnosis method was published in the mainstream Physicians Desk Reference (PDR), but was removed after many years. On the other hand, Barnes' view of a 40% prevalence for hypothyroidism and related low basal temperature conditions, was never widely accepted in mainstream medicine.

Despite the ongoing controversy, a significant minority of licensed physicians continue to agree with the 40% prevalence, use the temperature test as Barnes did with diagnostic symptoms – plus contemporary blood tests they discount, and they prescribe thyroid extract as a preferred treatment.

Career

Barnes was born on April 14, 1906 in a log cabin in Missouri, the son of Addie and Robert B. Barnes. Barnes studied chemistry at the University of Denver, and became an instructor of physiological chemistry at Western Reserve University for two years and received his MS in 1930 from there. Barnes received his PhD at University of Chicago in 1931 and taught physiology there from 1931 to 1936. He completed his MD in 1937 at Rush Medical College, and for two years he was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois. He was named chairman of the Health Education Department at the University of Denver. He became professor affiliate in the department of physiology at Colorado State University from 1963 to 1968. On 13 September 1981 he married Helen Tucker Morgan (1905-2002) in California. She was his second wife.

In 1984, Barnes established a not-for-profit foundation to continue the legacy of his research, The Broda O. Barnes Research MD, Research Foundation, Inc. His papers are archived at the University of Chicago.

Hypothyroidism

File:Basaltemperaturetest.png
Barnes Basal Temperature Test
Diagnosis

Barnes developed a unique diagnostic test for thyroid function that became 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 97.8 °F (36.6 °C) or below was considered by him to be highly indicative of hypothyroidism, especially when hypothyroid symptoms are present. A reading over 98.2 °F (36.8 °C) was indicative of hyperthyroidism. Menstruating women must take this test on day 2-4 their cycle.

The details of the test were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in August 1942 ("Basal Temperature vs. Basal Metabolism"), and again in The Lancet in 1945. The BBTT test was available to average physicians by being listed for many years in the mainstream PDR. It continues to be used by a significant minority of medical doctors and the public. It is currently advocated by some alternative practitioners. In contemporary medical practice, thyroid function is assessed using specific biochemical methods which measure blood levels of thyroid gland hormones and regulators.

Barnes didn't consider his Basal Temperature Test to be 100% conclusive, and acknowledged there were other causes of lowered basal temperature. Nevertheless, he maintained that it was the most useful diagnostic test in the diagnosis of hypothyroidism, superior to blood tests of thyroid function. In his books, Barnes argued that hypothyroidism affected more than 40% of the American population, significantly higher than the prevalence of approximately 5% reported in the peer-reviewed medical literature. Barnes attributed this difference to the failure of diagnostic tests to correlate with the clinical signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism in all cases, a claim that remains controversial but supported by a a significant minority of physicians.

Barnes also used a simple test that he believed could detect iodine deficiency. It tested iodine being absorbed through the skin.

Diseases attributed to hypothyroidism

Barnes believed that many common diseases, including heart disease, cancer, depression, arthritis, diabetes, the common cold, tonsillitis, ear infections, apparent laziness in children, various menstrual disorders, and skin disorders, were caused or exacerbated by hypothyroidism.

Treatment

Barnes treated hypothyroidism by prescribing patients a daily dose of thyroid hormone. He recommended starting with a small dose (1 grain for a healthy adult, 1/4 grain for children), then slowly increasing the dosage in monthly intervals until symptoms resolved. For most patients, he recommended continuing thyroid medication for life at that optimal dose, though some could be slowly weened off. He advised patients to take the thyroid medication first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, at least 20 minutes before food.

Barnes used a desiccated thyroid extract from Armour Thyroid almost exclusively, stating that patients experienced better improvement of symptoms with the natural extract rather than synthesized components of it. He claimed that even with synthetic combinations containing T4 and T3, patients were left with symptoms (such as dry skin & fluid retention), that would resolve on switching to thyroid extract. This observation lead Barnes to a deduction that there are additional undiscovered active components in the natural extract besides T4 and T3.

During his years of practice, Barnes noticed that some of his patients with low basal temperature, especially those with arthritis, could not be substantially relieved of their symptoms using only thyroid hormone supplementation. For these patients he used what he called the combination treatment. The combination was usually desiccated thyroid extract plus a physiological-equivalent low dose of the semisynthetic adrenal steroid prednisone. In 1976 Barnes wrote, "In the last four years more than two hundred patients have benefited from the combination treatment."

Pregnancy mistest research

In 1932, W. Fleischmann and S. Kann reported in a German gestational physiology journal that female bitterings, small carp-like fish, "...show an enlargement of the ovipositor following injection of an estrogenic preparation...".

Since human pregnancy urine contains estrogen, Drs. Aaron E. Kanter, Carl P. Bauer and Arthur H. Klawans of the University of Chicago added a teaspoon of urine from a pregnant woman to a bowl in which a bitterling was swimming. This experiment produced ovipositor lengthening, as expected by reasoning from the earlier results of Fleischmann. In 1935, TIME Magazine nationally reported their announcement of this potentially useful new test for human pregnancy, which was then currently determined by rabbit and mouse tests. But subsequent to the announcement, Kanter, et al, found that urine from non-pregnant women or men had the same effect.

A University of Chicago colleague, physiologist Broda Barnes was the principal investigator with obstetricians Kanter and Klawans in an experiment reported in 1936. They sought to determine the source organ of whatever non-pregnant urine substance was causing the same bitterling ovipositor response as Fleischmann's estrogenic preparation. Barnes, et al, extracted juice from 14 different organs of seven species (including both genders of humans) and exposed bitterlings to them. The organ they found responsible was the adrenal cortex. The Barnes, et al, 1936, publication in Science was also reported in TIME.

In 1938, Fleischmann and Kann determined that in addition to estrogen, a specific adrenal hormone, corticosterone, could cause the observed bitterling ovipositor reaction. This additional non-pregnant hormone reaction made the bitterling test not useful for its originally announced purpose, though it did open the door to an investigation of why corticosterone is significant in urine.

Publications

Books

  • 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. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Peer-reviewed journal articles

  • Thyroid supplements and breast cancer" Barnes BO JAMA 236 Issue: 24 Pages: 2743-2744  : 1976
  • "Thyroid-adrenocortical relationships in the safe treatment of arthritis, allergy, and skin disorders with prednisone." Barnes BO.J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 1975 Dec;23(12):548-50. PMID: 1206190
  • "Hypertension and the thyroid gland." Barnes BO. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 1975;Suppl 2:167-70. PMID: 1183088
  • "The role of natural consequences in the changing death patterns". Barnes BO, Ratzenhofer M, Gisi R. [[J Am Geriatr Soc. 1974 Apr;22(4):176-9. PMID: 4594123
  • "On the genesis of atherosclerosis." Barnes BO. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1973 Aug;21(8):350-4. PMID: 4720848
  • "One factor in increase of bronchial carcinoma." Barnes BO. JAMA. 1960 Dec 31;174:2229-30. PMID: 13687094
  • "Prophylaxis of ischaemic heart-disease by thyroid therapy." by Barnes BO. Lancet. 1959 Aug 22;2(7095):149-52. PMID: 1379687
  • "The early diagnosis and treatment of pertusis." by Barnes BO, Mason P. Ariz Med. 1950 Jan;7(1):34. PMID: 15408931
  • The treatment of menstrual disorders in general practice. Barnes BO. Ariz Med. 1949 Jan;6(1):33. PMID: 18106263
  • "On the origin of the substance in urine which produces elongation of the bitterling ovipositor" Kanter AE, Klawans AH, Barnes BO Amer. J. Obstetrics & Gyn. 35 Pages: 984-989 1938
  • "Bitterling ovipositor lengthening produced by adrenal extracts." Barnes BO, Kanter AE, Klawans AH. Science. 1936 Oct 2;84(2179):310. PMID: 17837041
  • "The relation of the parathyroid hormone to the state of calcium in the blood" McLean FC, Barnes BO, Hastings AB Amer J Physiol Volume: 113 Issue: 1 Pages: 141-149 (1935)
  • "The relation of the hypophysis to experimental diabetes" Regan JF, Barnes BO. Science 1933 Feb 24;77(1991):214. PMID: 17814070
  • "The excretion of iodine in experimental hyperthyroidism" Barnes BO Amer J Physiol Volume: 103 Issue: 3 Pages: 699-703 1933
  • "The effects of theelin and theelol in latent tetany" Mathieu F, Barnes BO Amer J Physiol Volume: 105 Issue: 1 Pages: 172-176 (1933)
  • "Studies on thyroglobulin II. Absorption of thyroglobulin and related substances from the alimentary canal." Barnes BO, Bueno JG Amer J Physiol Volume: 103 Issue: 3 Pages: 570-573 1933
  • "Is there a specific diuretic hormone in the anterior pituitary?" Barnes BO, Regan JF, Bueno JG Amer J Physiol 105 Issue: 3 Pages: 559-561 1933
  • "Studies on thyroglobulin III. The thyroglobulin content of the thyroid gland." Barnes BO, Jones M Amer J Physiol Volume: 105 Issue: 3 Pages: 556-558 1933
  • "Improvement in experimental diabetes following the administration of amniotin." Barnes BO, Regan JF, Nelson WO :JAMA 101: 926-927 1933
  • "The physiological activity of iodine in thyroglobulin" Barnes BO Amer J Physiol Volume: 101 Issue: 4 Pages: 583-590 1932
  • "Variations in blood sugar values of normal and vagotomized dogs following glucose administration" Quigley JP, Hallaran WR, Barnes BO J. Nutrition 5 Issue: 1 Pages: 77-80 1932
  • "Studies on thyroglobulin I. The digestibility of thyroglobulin" Barnes BO, Carlson AJ, Riskin AM Amer J Physiol 98 Issue: 1 Pages: 86-92 1931
  • " Does insulin antagonize the action of atropine on the cardiac vagus endings?" : Barlow OW, Barnes BO J. Pharmacol. & Exper. Therapeutics 41 Issue: 2 Pages: 209-215 1931
  • "Action of insulin on the motility of the gastrointestinal tract VI. Antagonistic action of posterior pituitary lobe preparations" Quigley JP, Barnes BO Amer J Physiol: 95 Issue: 1 Pages: 7-12 1930

References

  1. ^ "Lake Forest Academy 83 Years Old Today". Chicago Tribune. September 18, 1940. Retrieved 2009-04-28. Dr. Broda O. Barnes of the University of Illinois Research hospital, will address members of the Chicago Dietetic association at 8 o clock tonight ... {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ California Marriage Index; Helen T Morgan; Broda O Barnes; 13 Sep 1981; Tuolumne
  3. ^ Barnes, Broda (1976). Hypothyroidism: the Unsuspected Illness. HarperCollins. ISBN 069001029X. Dr. Broda Barnes and Lawrence Galton tell what the thyroid gland is, how it works, the problems its dysfunction can induce. They detail case histories of patients, often thought hopeless, whose problems were discovered to be related to hypothyroidism and were cured by Dr. Barnes's simple effective techniques. And they discuss whether you too may be hypothyroid, affected by a condition even a physician may not recognize. ... {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Langer, Stephan (2000). Solved: The Riddle of Illness. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0658002937. He was born on April 14, 1904 , ... 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 ... {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ "Broda O. Barnes". Broda O. Barnes MD Research Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 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.
  6. ibid Langer, Stephan (2000,2006), p.244: "A clinical researcher in hypothyroidism for half a century, Dr. Barnes published more than a hundred papers on his investigations in the most reputable medical journals."
  7. ibid Langer, Stephan (2000,2006), p.4 : "I am thankful that I stumbled across the monumental research in this area of Broda O. Barnes, MD, PhD, one of the world's foremost authorities on the thyroid gland."
  8. ibid Langer, Stephan (2000,2006), p.44: "In the medical practices of Dr. Barnes and myself, natural thyroid hormone worked better in almost all cases."
  9. Uncommonly for a popular medical book, Barnes' 1976 book Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness, is still in print after more than 30 years.
  10. ibid Langer, Stephan (2000,2006), p.47: "Barnes never thought of himself as a maverick."
  11. ^ ibid Langer, Stephan (2000,2006), p.12: "...the Barnes Basal Temperature Test, which, for many years had been listed in the Physician's Desk Reference (the PDR)."
  12. ^ ibid Langer, Stephan (2000,2006), p.23: "Dr. Barnes and more than one hundred of his physician followers..."
  13. ^ Durrant-Peatfield, Barry (2006). Your Thyroid and how to keep it healthy. Hammersmith Press. We owe an enormous debt to the life's work of the great American Physician Dr. Broda Barnes. He began work in the early 1930's where he studied the thyroid for his doctorate. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Starr, Mark (2005). Hypothyroidism Type 2. New Voice Publications. p. 174. ISBN 0975262408. One of the twentieth century's most prolific researchers with regard to hypothyroidism was Broda O. Barnes, M.D., Ph.D. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ Shomon, Mary (2005). Living Well with Hypothyroidism. HarperCollins. The late Broda Barnes, MD, made the public more widely aware of the use of axillary (underarm) basal body temperature (BBT) as a symptom and diagnostic tool ... This method was initially promoted by Dr. Broda Barnes. Basal body temperature is the temperature after awaking and before rising from bed and before any ... {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. Alan Gaby (2004). ""Sub-laboratory" Hypothyroidism and the Empirical use of Armour Thyroid" (PDF). Alternative Medicine Review. 9 (2): 157–179. The empirical use of thyroid hormone was based initially on the work of Broda Barnes, MD, who pioneered and popularized the use of the basal body temperature test... as a tool for diagnosing hypothyroidism {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  17. Brownstein, David (2002). Overcoming Thyroid Disorders. Medical Alternatives Press. ISBN 0966088220. I was intrigued by the ideas of Dr. Broda O. Barnes, M.D. in his book 'Hypothyroidism the Unsuspected Illness'... I believe Dr. Barnes' ideas written over 35 years ago are still true today. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. "The Thyroid Gland: Cures, Fallacies and Fixes". Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. Retrieved 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 ... {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. Social Security Death Index; 14 Apr 1906 – 01 Nov 1988
  20. 1920 US Census for Douglas County, Colorado
  21. ^ "Guide to the Broda Otto Barnes Papers". University of Chicago. Retrieved 2009-04-29. Broda Otto Barnes (1904-1988), a University of Chicago alumnus, specialized in hypothyroidism and related endocrine dysfunctions. This collection consists of memorabilia, primarily photographs, from Barnes' time at the University of Chicago.
  22. "Silent epidemic - the underactive thyroid". Jamaica Gleaner. December 4, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-28. It is called a Barnes Test, in honour of Dr. Broda Barnes, the doctor who created this test. This involves taking your resting body temperature, {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  23. Vanderpump MP, Ahlquist JA, Franklyn JA, Clayton RN (1996). "Consensus statement for good practice and audit measures in the management of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. The Research Unit of the Royal College of Physicians of London, the Endocrinology and Diabetes Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of London, and the Society for Endocrinology". BMJ. 313 (7056): 539–44. PMC 2351923. PMID 8789985. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. Hollowell JG, Staehling NW, Flanders WD; et al. (2002). "Serum TSH, T(4), and thyroid antibodies in the United States population (1988 to 1994): National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III)". J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 87 (2): 489–99. PMID 11836274. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. "Iodine Deficiency". Charlotte Observer. January 30, 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-28. Dr. Broda Barnes uses a simple method of determining if you need iodine. It uses the concept of iodine being absorbed through the skin. ... {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  26. ibid Barnes, Broda (1976), p.208
  27. W. Fleischmann and S. Kann, Pflügers Arch. F. D. Ges. Physiol., 230: 662, 1932 (title not available) See footnote 1 at Science, 1 April 1938:Vol. 87. no. 2257, pp. 305
  28. ^ THE BITTERLING OVIPOSITOR REACTION TO CORTICOSTERONE, W. Fleischmann, S. Kann, Science 1 April 1938:Vol. 87. no. 2257, pp. 305 - 306 "In 1932 we reported that female bitterlings (Rhodeus amarus) show an enlargement of the ovipositor following an injection of an estrogenic preparation, while physiological solution of sodium chloride and an anterior pituitary extract yielded no reaction.¹ ... ¹ W. Fleischmann and S. Kann, Pflügers Arch. F. D. Ges. Physiol., 230: 662, 1932"
  29. ^ "Deceptive Bitterling". Time (magazine). October 12, 1936. Retrieved 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. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. Barnes BO, Kanter AE, Klawans AH (1936). "BITTERLING OVIPOSITOR LENGTHENING PRODUCED BY ADRENAL EXTRACTS". Science. 84 (2179). AAAS: 310. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |day= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

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