… to its target tissue, wherever possible. Yes I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on regarding what happens when we ‘deliver medicines differently’, as part of my Supplement Boom Series. Medicines being: nutrients, herbs, pharmaceuticals. ‘Delivered differently’ includes: on the skin, across the oral lining, up the nose…and I’m entering other orifices, as we speak (!), in preparation for our next Update in Under 30 episode. And what is already abundantly clear is standard supplements are not the best route for every remedy.
And ol’ mate Iodine is such an excellent illustration of this.
Such a critical mineral for us humans, from an evolutionary and ecological perspective, performing important roles related to health, far beyond the thyroid: roles in redox, as a protector of lipid bilayers, anti-inflammatory, trophic regulator, homeostatic signal, highly effective anti-microbial etc. Yet whenever you boost blood levels of iodine, it’s the thyroid that becomes the bottleneck. It takes the lion’s share of whatever is circulating (sometimes up to 80%) even if that’s not where you wanted the iodine to go. So for patients who need that iodine elsewhere – within other body openings to maintain microbial balance say, well, wouldn’t we be best to deliver it right to their doorstep, instead? In a word – yes
Iodine has a long history of use as a topical treatment with broad & diverse applications.
In douches for a range of vaginal infections, intranasally at the first signs of a cold, as povidone at a low concentration, with evidence of efficacy. Delivering direct to the desired target tissue means we can use much lower doses and produce a more potent local effect – without the extraneous and unwanted effects from a much larger oral dose that will be widely distributed and dispersed. Zinc, of course, is another established hero ( ?Or is that anti-hero…have a listen to the episodes!) of ‘nutrition delivered differently’ & local therapeutics. But topical treatment of any tissue – the nasal or oral lining, the vagina, the colon, the respiratory tract etc – comes with its own cautions and concerns. For example, how the active, while therapeutic, may still vary in terms of mucosal compatibility – is it drying, caustic, damaging or disruptive in some other way? As well as, to what extent it’s being taken up and into where? Into the circulation to boost blood levels, to some extent, being the most common, of course. And in the case of iodine we’d need to be careful then because we may find ourselves back at that bottleneck, right? But in the case of intranasal applications, there’s also the-not-insignificant-issue of direct brain deposition…so why – oh why – something as scary as silver is available as a nasal spray <GASP> but currently intranasal iodine isn’t, I will never know.
Sounds like someone needs to revisit intranasal pharmacokinetics, no?
In fact, while we’re here…let’s look a little deeper into all the lovely places we can stick our supplements(!) – their strengths and weaknesses such that we can be clear about where to deliver them
Intranasal Delivery – Nutrition’s New Pathway?
Nutritional medicine is taking an unexpected turn—up the nose. In this episode, we unpack the rising interest in nutrient-based nasal sprays promising local, systemic and even central effects. But bypassing the gut is never straightforward. After a quick nasal A&P refresher, we cut to the evidence on what intranasal delivery can genuinely offer … and what might just be a whiff of wishful thinking.
You can purchase Intranasal Delivery – Nutrition’s New Pathway? here. If you are an Update in Under 30 Subscriber, you will this episode waiting for you in your online account. You can become an Update in Under 30 Subscriber to access this episode and the entire library of Update in Under 30 audios and resources here.