Treatment of Hypothyroidism due to Iodine Deficiency Using Daily Powdered Kelp in Patients Receiving Long-term Total Enteral Nutrition

We investigated thyroid function and urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in seven patients with severe motor intellectual disabilities. All seven received total enteral nutrition (TEN) for more than three years with a daily iodine intake of less than 20 µg. They were diagnosed as hypothyroidism due to iodine deficiency (HID) because of high TSH levels (7.6-82.3 µIU/ml), lower free T4 (FT4 0.4-1.5 ng/dl), negative anti-thyroid antibodies (anti-thyroglobulin antibody, anti-thyroidal peroxidase antibody) and extremely low UIC (<25-58 µg/l) levels. We gave them 1-2 g powdered kelp (200-400 µg as iodine) once a day, which restored their thyroid function and normalized their UICs. We proposed that daily powdered kelp would be effective and safe to treat HID in patient receiving long term TEN.