HEALTH NOTES

Hokitika Guardian, 4 November 1930, Page 2

HEALTH NOTES

GOITRE PREVENTION. USE OE lODIZED SALT. (Contributed l>y the Department o' Jlealtli.) It is extremely disappointing to find tlmt such n small percentage of the people in a fleeted areas are using the safe and effective? prophylaxis* which the use of iodized salt affords.

Professor ('. E. Herein; in his preface to ‘‘Goitre in School Children in certain -districts of the North Inland of New Zealand” by Dr. R. A. Shore and I?. L. Andrew, analyst.

Goitre is the term applied to enlargement of the thyroid, a gland which is situated in front of tiny neck. There are various types of goitres Die principal b.-ing (1) simple goitre, which is defined as an enlargement of the gland, such enlargement being of normal gland tissue, and functioning normally; (2) adenomatous goitre where the

enlargement combines poisonous goitres; these may produce most dangerous amounts of poison without much enlargement. Though these types are separately described, they seldom occur separately. The so-called simple goil.ro marly always Inis fibrous or cystic degenerations, and is always likely to develop them, simple enlargement being the precursor of any of the other forms.

DISTRIBUTION. Endemic goitre is, found in well defined areas of the earths surface, in New Zealand as a result of the examinI j atiou of 2-1,0(10 children it was found that 21 per cent, of the hoys and 2C per cent of the girls examined showed i some degree of goitre. Puberty is | the period of the greatest functional j activity of the thyroid gland, and, sufficiently enlarged at this period to be readily palpable. It is not surprising therefore, to find a marked increase in the incidence of goitre in both sexes as puberty approaches. The marked diminution in the size of the goitres, whirl! is more clearly marked in males, in the post-pubertv period is clearly indicated. While this dihrinution in the incidence of goitre and in the size oi the persisting goitres is a gratifying feature of the results of the examination of these children, unfortunately there is abundant evidence that a large number of the goitres persist, many to give trouble later in life. CAUSE. Within recent years a theory has been put forward—namely that goitre is not due to anything which is in the water, but to a lack of something in the water or the soil or the foodstuffs grown with that soil and water, namely, to a deficiency of iodine. lodine is invariably present in thyroxin, and iodine has been found to be the only drug which lias any consistent success in the treatment of goitre. In the Great Lakes Basin of America, an endemic goitre area, where goitre was so bad that it threatened the sheepraising industry, it was noticed that sheep free from goitre introduced into this endemic area, as long as they had access to certain salt-licks, remained free from goitre, and so did lambs. These salt-licks, when analysed, proved to he rich in iodine. In a recent investigation in New Zealand among children it was found that the great difference between the incidence of goitre in a low-iodine area and high-iod-ine area is too significant to he a mere coincidence and it was concluded that the amount of iodine available does apparently exercise a predominating influence on the incidence of goitre.

PI? EVENT! OX. Thus it i.s evident that whether or not iodine deficiency is the whole cause of endemic goitre, it plays a very largo part. This being the case it is the custom to recommend the use of iodized salt for all cases of goitre found among school children during medical inspection. The intensive propaganda carried out in Canterbury for the past ten years, resulting not only in the earlier remedial but in general preventive measures such as a wide use of iodized salt, i.s now having a beneficial effect. Since 1920 the total number of norma] thyroids has in Christchurch, Timaru and Ashburton increased thirteen j er cent to twenty-five per cent. The improvement manifested in th" K e figures is due to an all-round improvement, but is chiefly manifest in the small medium and large goitres—this is, in the more serious types.

Two points, however, must he made clear. The first is the minute quantity of iodine needful for the prevention of goitre in a normal thyroid. It is less than the equivalent of three drmd

sago grains a year. So minute is the needful quantity that it has been estimated that two oysters every day will keep goitre away ; but an ounce of kelp is even better.” In the second place, while iodine in small doses will prevent goitre in individuals with normal thyroids, and is known to act I'.-'eofirinl]y iii numberless cases o'’ children with enlarged thyroids, it is n :m 1 v i file to recoin mend its use in-nVci’iipin-itoly and without medical advice. 'this is especially true of adults ".ith diseased thyroids, who should take iodine or any other drug only under the direction of a physician.