Iodine deficiency ! - falling intakes - goitregens - competition bromine and fluorine

[R.B.]

Iodine deficiency as a cause of brain damage is a fascinating editorial paper which may be of wider interest and has wider implications for the individual and society particularly in respect of extremely preterm infants.

"Identifying the appropriate indications for supplementation may alleviate individual pain and distress due to disability for several hundred extremely low birth-weight neonates each year in the US alone, and save society a pro-rated lifetime cost of nearly $US1 million per child." (see below) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17107219

Iodine deficiency as a cause of brain damage

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1741987/

Abstract
This editorial reviews the impact of iodine deficiency
(1) on thyroid function in pregnant women and
neonates and (2) on the neurointellectual development
of infants and children.
All degrees of iodine deficiency (mild: iodine
intake of 50–99 μg/day, moderate: 20–49 μg/day, and
severe: <20 μg/day) affect thyroid function of the
mother and the neonate as well as the mental development
of the child. The damage increases with the
degree of the deficiency, with overt endemic cretinism
as the severest consequence. Maternal hypothyroxinaemia
during early pregnancy is a key factor in
the development of the neurological damage in the
cretin. Selenium deficiency combined with iodine
deficiency partly prevents the neurological damage
but precipitates severe hypothyroidism in cretins.
Iodine deficiency results in a global loss of 10–15
IQ points at a population level and constitutes the
world’s greatest single cause of preventable brain
damage and mental retardation.

A large series of investigations conducted in areas with
moderate iodine deficiency have demonstrated the presence
of definite abnormalities in the psychoneuromotor
and intellectual development of children and adults who
are clinically euthyroid and who do not exhibit the other
signs and symptoms of endemic cretinism, that is, the most
severe form of brain damage caused by iodine deficiency.
The psychometric tests used to find evidence for these
abnormalities are various and include locally adapted
“culture free” intelligence tests. The findings include low
visual-motor performances, motor skill, perceptual and
neuromotor abilities, and low development quotients and
intellectual quotients (IQ).11 12 20


The paper also make the points

Iodine is important to fetal development. Thyroxine is apparently found in fetal related fluid from the 6th week; the fetus does not start to make its own until the 24th week, (Is this logically a potential issue in extreme prematurity - is thyroxine provided to premature infants ? - It appears the issue is recognised but still under research. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17107219 http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01306227 ).

Thyroid volume increases in iodine deficient women in pregnancy.

Globally iodine deficiency is a huge issue.

Food based thiocyanates may aggravate iodine deficiency in pregnancy, with different consequences in different circumstances.

As previously discussed there are a number of other increasingly common place blockers of iodine metabolism which have been greatly increased by human action or activity including fluoride, nitrates, chlorination, many soy based foods, bromination, dioxins . . .

[R.B.]

This is a well regarded extensive UK study . . .


http://www.thejournal.ie/iodine-defi...19382-May2013/


‘Children of the 90s’ research

Researchers used samples and data from Bristol-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), also known as ‘Children of the 90s’. This is a long-term project involved more than 14,000 pregnant women in 1991 and 1992, and the health and development of their children has been followed by scientists ever since.

Researchers measured the iodine concentration in urine samples taken in the first trimester from 1,040 pregnant women. Referring to World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on recommended concentrations of iodine during pregnancy, they classified women who had an iodine-to-creatinine ratio [1] of less than 150 μg/g as being iodine deficient, and those with a ratio of 150 μg/g or more as iodine sufficient. Over two thirds (67 per cent) of the women fell into the category of “iodine deficient”.

The babies born underwent mental development assessments which involved measuring child IQ at age eight and reading ability at age nine. Adjusting the results for external factors likely to affect these scores, such as parental education and breast-feeding, the researchers found that children of women in the iodine-deficient group were “significantly” more likely to have low scores (lower quartile) of verbal IQ, reading accuracy, and reading comprehension. The research, published in the Lancet medical journal, found that the lower the mother’s concentration of iodine, the lower were the average scores for IQ and reading ability in the children.

[R.B.]

The effect of thiocyanates may extend to blocking the incorporation of iodine / iodide into breast milk.

The reduction of iodine in dairy is also of relevance as diary foods are an important source of iodine.

Thiocyanate in Food and Iodine in Milk: From Domestic Animal Feeding to Improved Understanding of Cretinism

To cite this article:
Peter Laurberg, Stig Andersen, Nils Knudsen, Lars Ovesen, Susanne B. Nøhr, and Inge Bülow Pedersen. Thyroid. October 2002, 12(10): 897-902. doi:10.1089/105072502761016520.


Transport of iodine in the mammary gland into breast milk plays a central role in various fields of prevention of thyroid diseases. First, a sufficient content of iodine in the mother's milk is necessary for normal brain development in the breastfed child. This is attained by expression during lactation in the mammary gland of the sodium iodide symporter (NIS), also responsible for iodine transport in the thyroid. Milk iodine content varies with the iodine intake of the mother, and urinary iodine excretion in groups of mothers seems to be a valuable indicator of the iodine status of their breastfed children. Second, iodine in dairy products provides a considerable part of iodine intake in many populations. Thiocyanate from rapeseed feeding of cows decreases milk iodine content, probably by competitive inhibition of NIS in the mammary gland. Alterations in feeding of dairy cows may alter the iodine content of consumer milk, and this may influence the risk of thyroid diseases in the population. Thiocyanate inhibition of iodine transport into milk may also be operative in humans with a high thiocyanate intake. This could further impair iodine status in breastfed children in low-iodine intake areas of the world. It can be speculated that a low-iodine content of mother's milk because of inhibition of NIS in the mammary gland may be one factor of importance for development of myxedematous cretinism.

[R.B.]

This is a paper (2005) by Dr Flechas titled


Orthoiodosupplementation in a Primary Care Practice

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...55819444,d.bGE