Over the years, the decreasing incidence of goitres and cretinism has drawn attention away from the link that nevertheless exists between mild iodine deficiency and mental disorders. While the syndrome has now completely disappeared in the West, it’s thought that throughout the rest of the world, 2 million children a year may still be affected by it 5,6. An estimated 90% of the population of the high valleys of the Swiss Alps had goitres and 2% of them suffered from cretinism 4. As it tended to occur in locations far from the sea and at high altitudes, the expression ‘Cretin of the Alps’ came into being. Affected children failed to grow and suffered significant cognitive problems. Such cases of severe iodine deficiency used to be extremely common and were responsible for serious mental defects associated with the syndrome cretinism, the name of which is more familiar to us as a modern insult. This manifests as a goitre – an unsightly swelling at the front of the neck. In the absence of sufficient iodine, the thyroid becomes enlarged, reflecting the body’s attempt to trap more iodine. Almost 80% of the iodine absorbed by the body is captured by the thyroid gland. Iodine is primarily involved in producing two thyroid hormones – T3 and T4. Had they somehow ‘forgotten’ that several organisations such as France’s National Agency for Health & Food Safety (l’Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation) recommend pregnant women eat fish no more than twice a week? Why not instead recommend iodine supplementation, which is now well-documented? A year ago, an Australian research team showed that nine years after a child’s birth iodine supplementation had positive effects on their learning! As a result of this discovery, the researchers advised expectant mothers to eat foods rich in iodine such as fish (haddock, salmon and cod), butter, and eggs. So the long-term effects of iodine supplementation during pregnancy in this specific context are hugely significant. While excluding the risk of major neurological problems, these same slight deficiencies do affect a child’s IQ 3, as do a number of other factors such as household income, and parents’ educational status and mental health. The study’s authors were indeed surprised at how few scientists seemed interested in the impact of mild iodine deficiency, even though the very harmful effects of severe iodine deficiency are well-established. A recent British study 2 showed that even a minor deficiency in iodine during pregnancy affected brain development in the unborn child. However, it is far from uncommon to see mild deficiency, especially in pregnant women.Ī number of studies suggest that these slight deficiencies could be responsible for problems with neurological development in children. Though previously widespread, deficiency in iodine has admittedly all but disappeared in Western societies, due mainly to the addition of iodine to commercially-available salt. Iodine deficiency: mental disorders and lower IQ in children Which begs the question: why has no government yet made recommendations along these lines? However, they’re not the first to arrive at this conclusion: respected bodies such as the World Health Organisation have for several years advocated daily iodine supplementation during pregnancy.
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In addition to the health aspect, such supplementation could, the authors say, produce b>savings of £4476 per pregnancy for society. “Even a slight deficiency in iodine during pregnancy is associated with a lower IQ in the child” confirmed one of the study’s authors, Kate Jolly. This showed that the benefits of iodine supplementation by the mother equated, on average, to an additional 1.22 IQ points for the child. What convinced these scientists of the need for such iodine supplementation? Quite simply, they studied the data available in previously-published studies. 1”common problem” which leads to “delayed development in children”. It’s finally happened! A group of British scientists have publicly come out in favour of universal iodine supplementation during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
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Digestion and oro-gastro-intestinal health.