The 13-year-old boy’s neck was rapidly enlarging when he arrived at the clinic. Physicians were perplexed.
Their first suspicion was disproved by testing. However, more testing identified iodine as what they and the boy had been lacking.
Iodine deficiency afflicted children in vast regions of the nation a century ago. In one of the greatest public health triumphs of the 20th century, it virtually vanished when some food manufacturers began incorporating it into bread, table salt, and other foods.
However, due to dietary and food manufacturing changes, people are currently consuming less iodine.
Researchers have been increasingly detecting low levels of iodine in pregnant women and other people, raising concerns about an influence on their newborns, even if the majority of people are still getting enough. Additionally, there are a few, but increasing, cases of iodine shortage in children.
Dr. Monica Serrano-Gonzalez, a physician from Brown University who treated the youngster in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2021, stated that people should be aware of this.
What is iodine?
Seawater and some soils, mostly found along the coast, contain the trace element iodine. When a purple cloud of vapor appeared during an experiment with seaweed ash in 1811, a French chemist made the unintentional discovery. Iodine’s name is derived from a Greek word that means violet.
Later that century, scientists realized that iodine is essential for children’s brain development and that humans require specific levels of it to maintain their health and control their metabolism.
A goiter, or enlargement of the neck, is one indication of inadequate iodine. Iodine is used by the thyroid gland in the neck to create hormones that control heart rate and other bodily processes. The thyroid runs into overdrive to compensate for the deficiency of iodine, which causes it to expand.
In some inland regions of the United States during the start of the 20th century, particularly in a goiter belt that extended from Appalachia and the Great Lakes to the northwest, goiter was extremely prevalent in children. In addition to having other signs of a condition formerly known as cretinism, some of the children were abnormally small, deaf, and mentally retarded.
Adding iodine to salt
Iodine can basically be sprayed on table salt, according to public health specialists, who understood that feeding everyone seaweed and seafood wouldn’t fix the issue. In 1924, iodized salt was first made accessible. Over 70% of American families were using iodized table salt by the 1950s. By fortifying bread and a few other meals with iodine, iodine deficiency became uncommon.
Diets, however, evolved. A significant portion of the American diet now consists of processed goods, which are high in salt but not iodized. Iodine is no longer added by well-known bread brands. The 13-year-old child, who has mild autism, was a picky eater who tended to limit his diet to particular brands of peanut butter and bread.
Additionally, using kosher salt, Himalayan rock salt, or other noniodized items is currently popular among those who salt their food.
According to Dr. Elizabeth Pearce of Boston Medical Center, many have forgotten why salt contains iodine. She is a key figure in the humanitarian organization Iodine Global Network, which aims to eradicate iodine deficient illnesses.
She pointed out that between the 1970s and the 1990s, Americans who were surveyed reported a 50% decline in their iodine levels.
How much iodine is enough?
According to scientists, the majority of Americans are still consuming adequate iodine through their diet, despite a decline in overall consumption. For women and children, who are most susceptible to iodine shortage, experts are concerned that this is not the case.
All pregnant and lactating women should consume 150 micrograms of iodine daily, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical associations. One-half to three-quarters of a teaspoon of iodized table salt can provide that.
Researchers in the United States have increasingly documented minor iodine insufficiency in pregnant women throughout the past 15 years or more. About 25% of the 460 pregnant women in the city of Lansing who participated in a research conducted by Michigan State University were not receiving enough.
Jean Kerver, the study’s lead author, pointed out that iodine is absent from many prenatal supplements. For this reason, doctors advise women who are pregnant or nursing to make sure they are taking iodine-containing multivitamins or prenatal supplements by reading the labels.
Although there is disagreement over the precise threshold at which issues begin, some research has connected even minor iodine shortage to lower IQs and language delays in kids, according to Pearce.
According to experts, not enough research has been done to determine the true effects of iodine shortage on the American people in recent years.
In their Providence clinic, Serrano-Gonzalez and her colleagues reported seeing four additional cases in children.
“We are worried that this might be on the rise, particularly in patients who are on restricted diets,” she said.
— The Associated Press’ Mike Stobbe
The Science and Educational Media Group of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute provides support to the Associated Press Health and Science Department. All content is entirely the AP’s responsibility.
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