The Glenwood post., 1923-03-22

SIMPLE GOITER
The following data is from the
American Journal Of Public Health,
February, 1928, by DIR. o. P. Kimball,
director of the Cleveland Clinic, Cleve-
land, Ohio:
"Simple goiter is the easiest known
disease to prevent"
The most important step toward the
prevention of any chronic disease is
the proper education of the people as
whole. It is not sufficient for ply
sicians alone to know the great danger
of unchecked progress for months or
for years Of any chronic disease like
tuberculosis or goiter. If progress to-
ward prevention is to be made, every
body must know what to do and why
to do it.
Considering the thousands of years
during which goiter has troubled the
human race, the development of meth.
cd of prevention has been slow, but
nothing now is more hopeful than pre-
vention of simple goiter.
Simple or endemic goiter is one of
the most insidious diseases which at
tacks men and animals Those who
live by the sea coasts fortunately have
no need to be concerned; and before
the days of extensive travel those who
lived in endemic goiter districts grew
so accustomed to the presence Of goiter
that they considered it a natural and
normal development. The most noted
of these endemic goiter districts are:
The Alpine mountain region of Eu.
| rope; the Himalayan mountain region
of Asia; the Plateau regions Of west
ern China; the Andes region of South
America; in North America, the entire
region of the Great Lakes; the basin
of the st. Lawrence and that portion
of the United States and Canada known
as the Pacific Northwest There are
certain localities in these districts in
British Columbia and Alberta and
Southern Alaska where all the domes
tic animals have goiter; it was very
difficult to raise young animals such
as calves, lambs and pigs. Since 1918
the disease has been controlled by tn,
addition of small amount of iodine tt
the food and drink.
l. Iodine is necessary for norma
thyroid function.
2. The per cent of iodine present il
individuals is variable, but there mus
be a constant minimum percentage
!; which is necessary for the maintinanc
of normal colloid gland structure Thi
can best be explained by describin,
what happens to individuals who hav
! no thyroid gland or in whom its MOI
NAL function has ceased. When a ch l
is born without a thyroid gland, or wit
t insufficient gland tissue, it canno
grow or develop like n normal chill
but becomes a dwarf. 1t may neve
walk, probably will not be able to tai
and is sure to be very dull mentally
not an idiot. The thyroid gland play
its most important part in norm;
e growth and development during ad,
r lescence. The two preeminent period
of goiter development which bear n d
: rect relation to physiological develo,
ment are adolescence, and pregnanc,
Q Work was started in 1916 in TIL
+ schools of Akron, Orio, and continue
through to 1920. The method of pr,
4 vention used was the giving of iodin
= In drinking water for two weeks eac
s spring and fall. Approximately hal
. of ten thousand girls examined durin
the three years elected to take tn
j. treatment. Of tlrose taking the trea
ment, no single normal girl develope
i thyroid although two girls in very poe
, health did develop golfers. In l91
the findings on the work in Ohio wer
r sent to Zurich, Switzerland. At tina
time 100 per cent of the children wer
goiterous. Our findings and sugge.
hons were accepted-that a few mill
grams of iodine given weekly for
year would produce optimum effects.
| The preparation given in Switze,
land was made much moro palatabl
than that used in Ohio, the results wer
5 amazing; in one district goiter anon
, school children had fallen from 81.
per cent in 1918 to 1871 per cent i,