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Old 07-05-2014, 02:08 AM   #102
R.B.
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,843
Re: Iodine deficiency ! - falling intakes - goitregens - competition bromine and fluo

In the UK the Government recently asked the body responsible for setting national nutritional standards called SACN to look at iodine intake. In their consequent position statement (linked below) SACN declined to look at maternal iodine intake due to a lack of 'robust' evidence. There is a huge amount of non randomized control evidence (RCTs) as to the importance of iodine in development, and RCTs to look at the neurological impact of iodine deficits in pregnancy can never happen due to ethical implications. The refusal of SACN to look at the issue begs the question who is responsible. I put the issues below in questions to a director of NICE and Health for England (HFE) (UK health regulatory agencies) and made this delegate submission at a recent forum held by an excellent organization called the Westminster Forums. http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/ (the size of allowed submissions is limited). Importantly there is growing evidence that nutrient deficiency in the first trimester may lead to irreversible sub-optimal brain formation, for example incomplete neuron migration. There is also some evidence that fundamental factors such as abstract thought, empathy, musicality and higher human function generally may be compromised, which factors help define our humanity. Motor and more basic function is less sensitive to degradation. In a resource pressured world higher human function arguably including empathy and abstract thought is of fundamental importantance to the avoidance of conflict.


SUBMISSION

Optimal neurological development including IQ is crucial to individuals, society, and nations. Cell development in common with all cellular function, indeed life itself, is nutrient dependent. Is Health for England (HFE) ultimately responsible for national dietary and consequent nutrient intake; if not who is?

SACN reports to HFE but appears to restrict considerations to specific nutrient issues where science is ‘robust’; who then is responsible for assessment of health risks relating to significant population insufficiencies, where ‘evidence’ of risk is ‘weak’ e.g. no RCTs, but the overview fairly compelling? Further who is tasked to design and implement corrective strategies for existing identified nutritional insufficiencies.

For example SACN’s ‘Position Statement’ on iodine intake during pregnancy stated “The Subgroup advised that without further evidence it would not be possible to carry out a robust review of the UK DRV ”; although it is widely accepted very low iodine causes cretinism, and significant if ‘non-robust’ evidence suggests mild to moderate iodine deficiency may, starting in the first trimester, incrementally increase risks of irreversible sub-optimal brain formation, lower IQ 5-10 points, impair abstract thought, and lower other life-chance related developmental outcomes. (Maternal thyroxin supplies early foetus needs. Hypothyroxinemia is commonly associated with low iodine.) Accumulating evidence indicates growing iodine insufficiencies in adolescent females and pregnant women . Low income arguably increases deficiency risks. Further, DHA , and vitamin D deficiencies inter alia, likely also incrementally irreversibly compromise brain structure and function; examples of insufficiency and its effects include:

• DHA – 500 mg daily after week 22 reduced low birth weight babies by 35%, and very early pre-term deliveries by 50% (par 2.32) 7
• Iodine – 85% of adolescent females in a Belfast sample (par 5.1.1) 7 and 61% of pregnant women were classed as iodine deficient (par 5.1.5.2) 7
• Vitamin D – 75-96% of pregnant women were vitamin D insufficient 12

Iodine and vitamin D insufficiencies present particular challenges; realistically population based intake normalisation is only achievable through fortification or supplementation:

• Vitamin D food sources are limited compared to sun exposure production, which in modern day life is limited. The problem is particularly acute in the dark skinned.
• Iodine is only found in significant amounts in marine and particularly estuarine foods including seaweeds. Dairy foods are the next best source, but primarily because of cattle supplementation rather than pasture content . Other food sources of iodine are limited. Use of iodised salt, and idophors as food-industry disinfectants are falling. Iodine is lost during food preparation and storage, complicating intake assessments. Significant amounts are lost during intensive exercise. Iodine is stored in fat, so likely a greater issue in the obese. Thyroid iodide uptake is inhibited by a wide range of increasingly common foods including brassicas, perchlorates, and competing halides (bromine and chlorine), which group can partially be mitigated by higher iodine intake. Other rising factors that decrease thyroid function include high fluoride, nitrates, PCBs, chlorination, lithium, smoking, and likely polyunsaturated fat imbalances and excesses.

DHA is also mainly found in marine food, but livestock DHA could be increased somewhat by appropriate intervention. Inattention to dietary needs of livestock leads to large falls in DHA content.

In summary evidence grows of UK population wide insufficiencies in fertile and pregnant females of inter alia Omega 3 DHA, vitamin D, and iodine. Realistically addressing increasing pre and post-natal neurodevelopmental national nutrient insufficiency risks of particular relevance to the disadvantaged, including crucially iodine, vitamin D, and DHA, in fertile and pregnant females, can only be achieved by food supplementation; this will require bringing together health agricultural and food sectors in a quest for optimal solutions; the question is by whom?


1. SACN position statement on iodine and health - February 2014 – par. 122 http://www.sacn.gov.uk/pdfs/sacn_pos...and_health.pdf
2. Comprehensive Handbook of Iodine: Nutritional, Biochemical, Pathological and Therapeutic Aspects - Victor R. Preedy, Gerard N. Burrow, Ronald Ross Watson - Academic Press, 17 Mar 2009 - Medical - 1334 pages – in part on line - multiple references e.g - (FYO I purchased a copy and have read it twice from cover to cover)
http://books.google.com/books?id=7v7...gnancy&f=false
3. Effect of inadequate iodine status in UK pregnant women on cognitive outcomes in their children: results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) - Sarah C Bath PhD, Colin D Steer MSc, Prof Jean Golding FMedSci, Pauline Emmett PhD, Prof Margaret P Rayman DPhil, - The Lancet, Volume 382, Issue 9889, Pages 331 - 337, 27 July 2013 - http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...436-5/abstract
4. Section IV - The Scientific Basis for the Elimination of Brain Damage due to Iodine Deficiency – F Delange and B S Hetzel - http://www.iccidd.org/cm_data/hetzel-e-section4.pdf
5. Mild iodine deficiency in pregnancy in Europe and its consequences for cognitive and psychomotor development of children: A review – Caroline Trumpff, Jean De Schepper, Jean Tafforeau, Herman Van Oyen,
Johan Vanderfaeillie, Stefanie Vandevijvere – J Trace Elem Med Biol (2013) - http://www.iccidd.org/cm_data/2013_T...evelopment.pdf
6. Chapter 20 - The Iodine Deficiency Disorders - Creswell J. Eastman, M.D Michael Zimmermann, M.D – Thyroid Disease Manager - http://www.thyroidmanager.org/chapte...ncy-disorders/
7. Benefits of Docosahexaenoic Acid, Folic Acid, Vitamin D and Iodine on Foetal and Infant Brain Development and Function Following Maternal Supplementation during Pregnancy and Lactation. - Nancy L. Morse - Nutrients. Jul 2012; 4(7): 799–840 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407995/
8. Recommendations; UK 150mcg; WHO 250mcg; American Paediatrics 220 - 290mcg, Japan 3000mcg.
9. Dietary (n-3) Fatty Acids and Brain Development – Sheila M. Innis - J. Nutr. April 2007 vol. 137 no. 4 855-859
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/4/855.full
10. Omega-3 Fatty Acid Deficiency in Infants before Birth Identified Using a Randomized Trial of Maternal DHA
Supplementation in Pregnancy - Kelly A. Mulder, D. Janette King, Sheila M. Innis - LoS ONE 9(1): e83764. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083764 - http://www.plosone.org/article/fetch...esentation=PDF
11. DHA Deficiency and Prefrontal Cortex Neuropathology in Recurrent Affective Disorders – Robert K McNamara - J Nutr. Apr 2010; 140(4): 864–868. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2838627/
12. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in pregnant women: a longitudinal study - Valerie A. Holmes, Maria S. Barnes, H. Denis Alexander, Peter McFaul and Julie M. W. Wallace - British Journal of Nutrition / Volume 102 / Issue 06 / September 2009, pp 876-881 http://journals.cambridge.org/action...07114509297236
13. Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy - still a public health issue. - McAree T1, Jacobs B, Manickavasagar T, Sivalokanathan S, Brennan L, Bassett P, Rainbow S, Blair M.- Matern Child Nutr. 2013 Jan;9(1):23-30. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12014.- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23230904
14. Vitamin D3 and brain development - D Eyles, J Brown, A Mackay-Sim, J McGrath, F Feron http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/VitDGen...evelopment.pdf
15. Developmental vitamin D deficiency causes abnormal brain development. - Eyles DW, Feron F, Cui X, Kesby JP, Harms LH, Ko P, McGrath JJ, Burne TH. - Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009 Dec; 34 Suppl 1:S247-57. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.04.015. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19500914
16. The geochemistry of iodine and its application to environmental strategies for reducing the risks from iodine deficiency disorders http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/10724/1/CR03057N.pdf
17. To refine and confirm the level of selenium and iodine supplementation for breeding ewes http://www.eblex.org.uk/wp/wp-conten...ort-190214.pdf
18. POLICY STATEMENT Iodine Deficiency, Pollutant Chemicals, and the Thyroid: New Information on an Old Problem – COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH – American Academy of Pediatrics - DOI: 10.1542/peds.2014-0900 ; originally published online May 26, 2014; Pediatrics http://pediatrics.aappublications.or....full.pdf+html
19. http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=53928 I am R.B.
20. Modern organic and broiler chickens sold for human consumption provide more energy from fat than protein. Wang Y, Lehane C, Ghebremeskel K, Crawford MA. - Public Health Nutr. 2010 Mar;13(3):400-8. doi: 10.1017/S1368980009991157. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19728900

Last edited by R.B.; 07-05-2014 at 08:50 AM..
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