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Article: The iodine factor in health and evolution.
- Article from:
- The Geographical Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 American Geographical Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The medical geography of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) makes for fascinating science, but consider first its human dimensions: A baby is born as perfect as any other. During her infancy her parents gradually notice a hoarse cry, a protruding tongue, a too-large head with a sloping forehead, a slumping curve in the tiny spine. For the rest of her life, she will be physically deformed and mentally retarded, her joints will ache, her neck will be dis figured by goiter, and she may experience deafness, tremors, and other neurological disorders. For want of iodine, an otherwise healthy child has become, in proper medical terminology, a cretin,(1) afflicted by cretinism - ...