Broda Otto Barnes (14 April 1906 – 1 November 1988) was an American
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and professor of medicine who studied
endocrine dysfunction, particularly
hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism (also called ''underactive thyroid'', ''low thyroid'' or ''hypothyreosis'') is a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It can cause a number of symptoms, such as po ...
.
In the 1970s, Barnes published several books arguing that
hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism (also called ''underactive thyroid'', ''low thyroid'' or ''hypothyreosis'') is a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It can cause a number of symptoms, such as po ...
was underdiagnosed in the U.S. and was responsible for a wide range of health problems. Barnes' views on the prevalence of hypothyroidism were never widely accepted by the medical community and run counter to its current understanding of thyroid function, but they have been embraced by some elements of the
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
community.
Biography
Barnes was born on April 14, 1906, in a log cabin in
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
,
the son of Addie and Robert B. Barnes. Barnes studied chemistry at the
University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
, and became an instructor of physiological chemistry at
Western Reserve University
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
for two years, receiving his
M.S.
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
in 1930. Barnes received his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1931 and taught physiology there from 1931 to 1936.
[ He completed his ]M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
in 1937 at Rush Medical College
Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, and ...
, and for two years he was an assistant professor
Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada.
Overview
This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...
of medicine at the University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
.[ He was named chairman of the Health Education Department at the ]University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
. He became professor affiliate in the department of physiology at Colorado State University
Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...
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
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
foundation, the Broda O. Barnes Research Foundation, to continue to advocate his arguments about hypothyroidism.[ Barnes and his wife also established a program of interest-free ]student loan
A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest r ...
s to aid "worthy and needy chemistry students" at the University of Denver. The University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
library retains a collection of memorabilia, consisting largely of photographs related to Barnes' time there.[ ]
He died on 1 November 1988 in Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...
.
Hypothyroidism perspective
Barnes developed and promoted a 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 (for premenopausal women, the test is performed on the 2nd and 3rd day of menstruation). Barnes considered a measurement of or below to be highly indicative of hypothyroidism, especially when hypothyroid symptoms are present. Barnes believed that a reading over was indicative of ''hyper''thyroidism, unless a patient had advanced arthritis, which he claimed would falsely elevate the temperature due to muscle contractions.
The details of the test were published in the ''Journal of the American Medical Association
''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of bio ...
'' (JAMA) in August 1942. The test has never been adopted by the medical profession; however, it was subsequently promoted by Barnes in a series of books, and is currently advocated by some alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
practitioners. In modern medical practice, the most accurate means of assessing thyroid function is through specific biochemical tests which measure blood levels of thyroid gland hormones and regulators. In his books, Barnes argued that hypothyroidism affected more than 40% of the American population, significantly higher than the prevalence
In epidemiology, prevalence is the proportion of a particular population found to be affected by a medical condition (typically a disease or a risk factor such as smoking or seatbelt use) at a specific time. It is derived by comparing the number o ...
of approximately 5% reported in the peer-reviewed
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
medical literature. Barnes believed that many common diseases, including heart disease, cancer, depression, arthritis, diabetes, the common cold
The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after exposu ...
, tonsillitis, ear infections
Otitis is a general term for inflammation or infection, inner ear infection, middle ear infection of the ear, in both humans and other animals. When infection is present, it may be viral or bacterial. When inflammation is present due to fluid bui ...
, apparent laziness in children, various menstrual disorders
A menstrual disorder is characterized as any abnormal condition with regards to a person's menstrual cycle. There are many different types of menstrual disorders that vary with signs and symptoms, including pain during menstruation, heavy bleeding, ...
, and skin disorders, were all 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, and then slowly increasing the dosage in monthly intervals until symptoms resolved and waking body temperature was between 97.8F and 98.2F. He also recommended never surpassing 3 grains of desiccated thyroid. For most patients, he recommended continuing thyroid medication for life at that optimal dose, though some could be slowly weaned off. Barnes used a desiccated thyroid extract, Armour Thyroid, almost exclusively, based on his anecdotal observation that it was superior to synthetic hormones.
During his years of practice, Barnes also began to believe that virtually all his hypothyroid patients had concomitant undiagnosed adrenal insufficiency
Adrenal insufficiency is a condition in which the adrenal glands do not produce adequate amounts of steroid hormones. The adrenal gland normally secretes glucocorticoids (primarily cortisol), mineralocorticoids (primarily aldosterone), and androge ...
. Based on this speculation, he routinely prescribed an accompanying dose of the synthetic corticosteroid
Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are involv ...
prednisone
Prednisone is a glucocorticoid medication mostly used to immunosuppressive drug, suppress the immune system and decrease inflammation in conditions such as asthma, COPD, and rheumatologic diseases. It is also used to treat high blood calcium ...
. Barnes argued that it was mandatory to give prednisone to patients with a systolic blood pressure
Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...
below 100.
Pregnancy test research
In 1932, W. Fleischmann and S. Kann reported in a German gestational physiology journal[ See footnote 1 at ] 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
Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal acti ...
, 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
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' 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.
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 adrenal cortex is the outer region and also the largest part of an adrenal gland. It is divided into three separate zones: zona glomerulosa, zona fasciculata and zona reticularis. Each zone is responsible for producing specific hormones. It is ...
. The Barnes, et al., 1936, publication in ''Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
'' was also reported in ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''.
In 1938, Fleischmann and Kann determined that in addition to estrogen, a specific adrenal hormone, corticosterone
Corticosterone, also known as 17-deoxycortisol and 11β,21-dihydroxyprogesterone, is a 21-carbon steroid hormone of the corticosteroid type produced in the cortex of the adrenal glands. It is of minor importance in humans, except in the very rare ...
, 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.
Books
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See also
* Wilson's temperature syndrome
Wilson's (temperature) syndrome, also called Wilson's thyroid syndrome or WTS, is a term used in alternative medicine to attribute various common and non-specific symptoms to abnormally low body temperature and impaired conversion of thyroxine ( ...
, similar claims about hypothyroidism
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Broda
American medical researchers
University of Denver alumni
Case Western Reserve University alumni
University of Chicago alumni
Rush Medical College alumni
American endocrinologists
People from Bend, Oregon
1906 births
1988 deaths
People in alternative medicine
20th-century American physicians