The prevalence of endemic goitre is extremely high in certain parts of Sri Lanka where rates as high as 44% have been observed. With nearly 10 million people at risk the aetiology of endemic goitre in Sri Lanka needs to be clearly ascertained. The endemic goitre belt of Sri Lanka coincides with the wet climatic zone, indicating an apparent relationship of iodine geochemistry with climatic facto...

Iodine is an essential micronutrient for human health. Its deficiency causes a number of functional and developmental abnormalities such as goitre. The limestone region of Derbyshire, UK was goitre-endemic until it declined from the 1930s and the reason for this has escaped a conclusive explanation. The present study investigates the cause(s) of goitre in the UK-Peak District area through an as...

In the absence of maternal thyroid disease or iodine deficiency, fetal goitre is rare and usually attributable to dyshormonogenesis, for which genetic ascertainment is not always undertaken in the UK. Mechanical complications include tracheal and oesophageal compression with resultant polyhydramnios, malpresentation at delivery and neonatal respiratory distress. We report an Indian kindred in w...

In the present review paper, the following problems have been brought up: 1) types of non-toxic goitre and applied classifi cation, 2) physiological periods or states predisposing to non-toxic goitre develop-

Goitre has been declining in Italy since the 1970s and because active prophylaxis (AP) has been very limited, it has been suggested that in most places the decline was due to silent prophylaxis (SP). SP is related to the natural increase in iodine intake because of higher consumption of iodine-rich products associated with socioeconomic development. The hypothesis tested in the present study is...

Sir Robert McCarrison's work on goitre, cretinism and the thyroid, begun in the western Himalayas in 1902, generated scores of scientific publications during the following thirtyfive years.1 Though that work is often considered the start of serious studies of goitre and cretinism in South Asia, in fact the use of iodine in goitre treatment in this region was noted by Commissioner David Scott at...

A large-scale study was undertaken in the state of Kelantan, to determine the prevalence of goitre. A total of 2,450 subjects above the age of 15 years were selected from 31 localities in the state and examination for goitre was done using the technique of Perez. The state was divided into 3 areas--coastal area (area 1), inland area (area 2) and the area in between the coast and the inland area...

The prevalence of goitre in areas with mildly excessive iodine in drinking-water is still under debate. The aim of the present study was to explore the prevalence of goitre and its epidemiological characteristics in these areas using WHO criteria. To this end, three towns with a median water iodine (MWI) of 150-300 μg/l were selected randomly in Hengshui City of Hebei Province of China, and one...

This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of goitre in Isfahan, a centrally-located city in Iran, 15 years after the initiation of universal salt iodization. In total, 2,523 Isfahani adults (1,275 males, 1,248 females) aged > 20 years were selected by multi-stage cluster-sampling method. Goitre rate, serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4), thyroid peroxidase antibo...

Excessive iodine intake can cause thyroid function disorders as can be caused by iodine deficiency. There are many people residing in areas with high iodine levels in drinking-water in China. The main aim of the present study was to map the geographical distribution of drinking-water with high iodine level in China and to determine the relationship between high iodine level in drinking-water an...