> Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Deborah Harrell wrote:
<snip> > > And the lack of iodine is potentially > > devastating, with mental retardation of varying > > degrees the result of prenatal/infantile > deficiency. > > [I believe that "cretinism" was the former term > >for these unfortunate children; don't have the time > >right now but ought to look that up.] > My handy dictionary tells me that cretinism is > caused by a deficiency of > thyroid hormone during prenatal development. (Not > sure just how this > ties in with iodine, and my uncle is no longer alive > to explain it to me....) <snip> Doggonit, now I have to respond before I've done my cogitating! ;) http://www.sph.emory.edu/PAMM/iodine.htm "Endemic goiter and cretinism associated with iodine deficiency have been depicted in paintings and statues since earliest times (55). Only during the past decade, however, have iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) been recognized as the leading cause worldwide of intellectual impairment (36, 69). Development of the central nervous system for normal intellectual functioning depends on an adequate supply of thyroid hormones which require iodine for biosynthesis (21). "Endemic cretinism is the most severe manifestation of the lack of maternal and fetal thyroid hormone arising from severe dietary iodine deficiency (63). "Hallmarks include mental retardation, pyramidal neurological signs in an upper limb distribution, extrapyramidal signs, and a characteristic gait related to the neurological disorder, as well as joint laxity and deformity. "Squinting of the eyes, deafness, and persistence of primitive brain reflexes are frequently noted (33). In some populations, there are additional manifestations of endemic cretinism resulting from continuing postnatal thyroid hormone deficiency: severe stunting of growth, skeletal retardation, and sexual immaturity (14). A prevalence of cretinism as high as 3 to 15 % may be found in severely affected rural populations, imposing a major social and economic burden on the community (14, 33, 62). "Mild iodine deficiency has been reported to reduce intelligence quotients (I.Q.) by 10-15% (15, 25, 81) and cause increased rates of stillbirths, perinatal mortality, and infant mortality (36, 54). There is good evidence from community-based assessments and iodine intervention trials that IDD can leave entire populations with below average intelligence and irnpaired motor functions. Iodine prophylaxis given before or during pregnancy has resulted in improved cognitive functioning in offspring in Ecuador (25-27, 81). Iodine supplementation given to school-age children can improve performance on tests of intellectual functioning (5, 21)." Further links, including to the articles footnoted, are at the bottom of the site page. And in another thread crossover, here is one man's theory that Neanderthal's were actually iodine-deficient humans: http://www.sph.emory.edu/PAMM/NEWS/news1.htm "In a study already drawing the fire of controversy, an American geographer has pointed out evidence suggesting, in his view, that little more than the amount of iodine in their diets may have been responsible for the physical differences between Neanderthals and modern humans and that this might solve the mystery of what happened to the Neanderthals. "According to this interpretation, the skeletons of Neanderthals bear signs of physical deformities and possibly impaired mental health, which could be a result of iodine-deficient diets. This condition may explain why they were so rapidly and completely replaced by modern humans in Europe about 30,000 years ago. It may even mean that Neanderthals could actually have been anatomically modern humans who were pathologically altered by iodine-deficiency diseases, like cretinism... "...These are the provocative ideas of Dr. Jerome E. Dobson, a geographer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee, who crossed into the territory of paleontology and the minefield of Neanderthal studies while examining geographic questions about differences between coastal and inland populations. His analysis is to appear this month in Geographical Review, the journal of the American Geographical Society. "I compared Neanderthal and cretin morphology and ultimately concluded that Neanderthals were iodine-deficient," Dobson said last week. "Paleontologists who specialize in Neanderthal research have raised sharp objections. Dobson's conclusions, they contend, are a stretch based on highly circumstantial evidence and at odds with evolutionary biology. But some anthropologists and other geographers said that the data seemed impressive and that the interpretations should be taken seriously... "...Although the addition of iodine to table salt has all but eliminated goiter and cretinism in developed countries, the World Health Organization estimates that 750 million people suffer from goiter and that 5.7 million are cretins. About 30 percent of the world's population is at risk of iodine-deficiency diseases, especially people isolated from the principal sources of dietary iodine like saltwater fish, shellfish and seaweed. "It occurred to Dr. Dobson that Neanderthals mainly lived in such areas in interior Europe during the ice ages. So he set about examining some of the 300 Neanderthal skeletons in museum collections and comparing them with medical descriptions of cretinism and with 17 cretin skeletons at collections in Basel, Switzerland, and Philadelphia. "In both the skeletal examinations and the medical literature, Dr. Dobson was struck by the conspicuous similarities in the overall body proportions, skulls and individual bones of Neanderthals and cretins. Many of the cretins had bulging brow ridges much like those common to Neanderthals. They also seemed to suffer many of the degenerative joint diseases of the jaw, spinal column and hip that afflicted Neanderthals. "Indeed, Neanderthal skeletons resemble cretins far more closely than they resemble healthy modern humans," Dobson wrote in the journal article. "Conversely, cretin skeletons resemble Neanderthals more closely than they resemble healthy modern humans..." Debbi Cave Paintings Maru __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover
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