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cobalt can cause goiter (as in cobalt from B12)

triffid113

Day of the Square Peg
Messages
831
Location
Michigan
I just want to share this info from www.thyroidmanager.org:

Cobalt. Cobalt inhibits iodide binding by the thyroid.105 The mechanism is unknown. Cobalt deficiency is associated with a reduction in type I monodeiodinase activity and a fall in T3105a while cobalt excess may produce goiter and decreased thyroid hormone production. 105b It is sufficiently active to have been used in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis.106

Also I want to mention that my hair analysis at age 45 showed no elevated cobalt, but at age 51, yes HIGH cobalt...my guess is from B12 supplements. It did not affect me that much...my TSH when not during allergy season is 2.3 (should be below 2.0) but TSH >=2.0 raises cholesterol (which raises blood pressure) so it is something to avoid if at all possible. To be fair I also take a cruciferous vegetable extract and broccoli is supposedly a goiterogen. Life Extension brand and they told me it would not cause problem (but never gave me a reason why). I take the broccoli because it makes my hormones come out right...so to avoid breast cancer. [Hey! I don't know everything! But I don't like that my cobalt came out HIGH on my tests].
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
My cobalt is still barely detectable. What are the consequences of “a reduction in type I monodeiodinase activity and a fall in T3105”?
 

triffid113

Day of the Square Peg
Messages
831
Location
Michigan
Ugh. I typed a response and my cat rubbed her head on my pc and I lost it! Arghgh!

I have found a few useful bits of info:
cysteine protects against cobalt toxicity (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3298579)
melatonin protects brain cells from cobalt (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1034/j.1600079X.2001.310406.x/abstract)

Also this study says zinc helps prevents testiculardamage from cobalt:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/089062389390009V

I take a broccoli pill every day (which surely contains cysteine?)

Triff
 

triffid113

Day of the Square Peg
Messages
831
Location
Michigan
I am taking 400-850 mcg mB12/day. Now. But in the past I took that Jarrow mB12 sublingual 1-2x/day to get 5000-10000 ADDITIONAL mcg of mB12/day. As I stepped up to the mB12 band wagon. I did that for at least a year before I tested my homocysteine w/o the sublingual and decided I did not need it. I need to get a new hair analysis. At age 45 I was taking 100mcg cyanoB12/day as part of my non-active B100.

Excessive cobalt causes hypothyroid (goiter) and cardiomyopathy and Alzheimer's and it degrades the testicles. At least there is one thing on that list I don't have to worry about!

Also one of the symptoms of too much cobalt is puking...and I puke if I take too many vitamins...I got to a max pill limit of 40 and when my doc prescribed more it became a puke problem and I started to try to prioritize and test to see if I really needed everything. The thing is I DO have the genetic defects that say I need active B12. I do not believe I have an intrinsic factor deficiency.
 

adreno

PR activist
Messages
4,841
Someone will have to chime in if this is uncorrect:

Vitamin B-12 is a big, fat vitamin molecule. It has a formula of C63H88CoN14O14P and a molecular mass of 1355.37 g/mol. Notice that there is only one atom of cobalt (Co) in that molecule. There is only a single atom of phosphrus (P), too, for what that's worth.
The 1355.37 g/mol means that there are 1355.37 grams in a mole of that substance (B-12). Cobalt has a molecular mass of 58.93 g/mol. If we set up a ratio of cobalt to B-12, we will get 58.93 : 1355.37 as the cobalt to B-12 ratio. See that the ratio? That's cobalt to B-12, and if we take the same ratio and extend it to the 1000 micrograms (1000mcg) in the vitamins, we'll get about 43.5 micrograms cobalt to 1000 micrograms of B-12.
We've got about 43.5 micrograms of cobalt per 1000 micrograms of B-12.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_cobalt_is_in_1000mcg_Vitamin_B-12

It looks like this dose of cobalt is unlikely to cause problems:

Expert group on vitamins and minerals of the Food Standards Agency (2003)
Overall, the Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals of the UK Food Standards Agency
concluded that there are insufficient data to set a Safe Upper Level (equivalent to UL) for
cobalt. However, a guidance level was established based on a study in laboratory animals
where cobalt has been associated with adverse effects on spermatogenesis and, ultimately,
fertility (Pedigo et al., 1988). Doses of 23 mg Co/kg bw/day caused minor testicular effects,
the severity of the effect then increased in a dose-related manner. This is the lowest dose at
which toxic effects have been observed in animals (LOAEL). There are no data available to
establish whether the effects on spermatogenesis and fertility also occur in humans exposed to
cobalt, but the UK Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals considers that it would be prudent
to assume that they do. By applying the conventional uncertainty factors (10 for LOAEL to
NOAEL extrapolation x 10 for inter-species variation x 10 for inter-individual variation =
1000) for guidance purposes only, the UK Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals is of the
opinion that an intake of 0.023 mg/kg bw/day total cobalt would not be expected to result in
any adverse effects. This guidance value of 0.023 mg/kg bw/day is equivalent to 1.6 mg/day
in a 70 kg adult (FSA, 2003).
http://www.vkm.no/dav/ebc8d55983.pdf

So even 10mg would provide not even a third of the guidance value. However, for those taking 30-40mg daily there could be a risk.
 

dbkita

Senior Member
Messages
655
I agree with Adreno. The amount of cobalt absorbed is miniscule relative to the LOAEL. If you are experiencing emesis taking too many pills I would suspect it has far more to do with how many and what type of pills and their effect on your stomach environment. I take 7500 mcg of mb12 and adb12 per day and my hair analysis results for cobalt show virtually none.