Iodine deficiency, consequences for human health, prevention measures

A huge number of people all over the world are experiencing a shortage of iodine.43 million people are mentally retarded in this regard, and 655 million people are mentally retarded. People have endemic goiter. Iodine deficiency, consequences for human health, prevention measures - these problems are well known to physicians.

Iodine is a microelement that is very important for a person. Iodine enters the human body with food in the form of organic iodine. With blood, it penetrates into the organs and accumulates in the thyroid gland. It is here that up to 80% of the iodine contained in the body accumulates.

How does iodine deficiency affect the health of the population?

The thyroid gland secrete hormones daily, which take part in metabolic processes. These processes ensure the life of the human body, they allow you to quickly adapt to a lower intake from the external environment of iodine. However, chronic deficiency of iodine disrupts the mechanism of adaptation, pathologies begin to develop. The lack of selenium in the body only contributes to iodine deficiency. Selenium in soil and in food is also not enough. If there is a deficiency of iodine in combination with a deficiency of selenium, this aggravates the phenomenon of hypothyroidism. It is the deficiency of selenium that provokes fibrotic, necrotic changes in the thyroid gland.

The development of goiter is affected by:

With chronic deficiency of iodine, the thyroid gland produces less basic hormones. And also activates the secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone, the excess of which leads to hypertrophy of the thyroid gland, i.e., an increase in size, and to hyperplasia, i.e., an increase in the number of follicular cells. This all contributes to the formation of goiter. The presence of goiter for a long time was regarded as a direct clinical equivalent of iodine deficiency. The health consequences are the most negative.

If there is a lack of iodine in the body, the iodine atoms that come from the external environment form compounds with a lower iodine content. This iodine has a short half-life, but a lot of activity. As a result of adaptive changes, a diffuse goiter appears. In it, in the future, can be formed neoplasms, foci of thyroid autonomy, nodes. Diffuse goiter has a negative impact especially on pregnant women, children, adolescents.

With the increase in iodine deficiency, the number of complications of pregnancy and childbirth also increases, and the number of stillborn children and miscarriages increases. There are practically irreversible changes. The worst thing is the consequences of iodine deficiency. The child has an extreme degree of developmental delay. Children and adolescents subsequently suffer from mental retardation, both physical and intellectual development slows down.

Why is there an iodine deficiency in the human body?

The main reason is its low content in food and water. But there are other reasons:

Prevention measures.

In the production of food table salt it is iodized. The use of iodized salt for the prevention of iodine deficiency is undeniable. Iodine supplements have no taste, no specific odor. The technology of iodization is simple and accessible to any manufacturer. And the cost in this case increases by only 5-10%.In 95 countries, mandatory iodization of salt is carried out. Even such preventive measures have led to a decrease in the incidence rate. At the same time, the intellectual level of children has increased. And this is already a weighty argument, which speaks about the benefits of iodized salt.