PREVALENCE OF GOITRE

Grey River Argus, 11 August 1925, Page 3

PREVALENCE OF GOITRE

THEORIES DISCUSSED. . RADIO-ACTIVITY AND lODINE. Water from the artesian wells in Christehuieh, which give a particular ly pure supply, lias a high radium ema nation content, and Christchurch has a high incidence of goitre. The radium emanation content is from ten to twenty times greater than the radium emanation content of any samples of drinking water from any outer place in New Zealand tested up to the present time. Tim possibility of a. connection between the radio-activity and the incidence of goitre has been examined by Air M. N. Rogers, a member of the staff of the Boys’ High School, from the chemical and physical poi.it of view, but not from the medieal point of view. As iodine is present in considerable quantities in the thyroid gland, and is of fundamental importance in that gland’s functioning, Mr Rogers also examined the samples of "kristelmrch artesian water for iodine. For the radio-active examinations, ’lie water was drawn into evacuated Basks in order to prevent loss of emanation by spashing, and then was boiled for half an hour in an evacuated electroscope. Following are the results: — Radio- Incidence activity of goitre. Waltham 229 59 Timaru 0 70 West Christchurch .. 150 75 Boys’ High School .. 210 75 Girls' High Scliool ..160 75 Sydenham) 280 70 Heathcote 38 14 Woolston 84 52 The relations between the two columns of figures, Mr Rogers said in an address to th e Canterbury Bhiloscphi cal Institute last night, did not favour definite conclusions as to the theory of a radio-active causation of goitre. ±ne fact that no radium emanation was present in the Timaru drinking water gave that theory a severe knock; it showed that, whether radioactivity had an influence could not be proved by simple examinations of the drinking water. The iodine theory is that goitre results from an insufficient supply of iodine in food or in drinking water, or from other sources. Dealing with this, Mr Rogers said that in a small country like New Zealand it might be assumed that i.i different parts the kinds of foods consumed did not vary greatly, so that foreign sources of supply of iodine could hardly be responsible for the marked variation in goitre in different districts, especially in different parts of the same district. If a lnrg e number of particular localities possessed a low iodine content of the soil and drinking water, and, at the same time, a low goitre incidence, it should be necessary for the promulgators of the iodine theory to indicate (1) other sources of supply, or (2) alleviating circumstances. At the same time, if the iodin o content of either soils or waters was high, the Incidence ' of goitre to favour their hypothesis should be low.

The quantitv of iodine was found to be small in all cases examined, and a special method was devised for its estimation. This consisted essentially of boiling down about four gallons of water to a small volume, the removal of the dissolved compounds by absolute alcohol, the removal of traces of nitrites and organic matter, and distillation into starch-iodino solution. The latter was then compared colortmetricnlly with a standard solution. The results showed the following percentages of goitre in water from different places:— Goitre, lodine, Source Incidence per thousand per cent, million grams. New - Brighton .... 47 2.9 Heathcote 14 4.3 Granity 25 2.0 West Christchurch 75 .6 St Albans 59 2.2 Woolston ■ 52 1.0 East Christchurch 69 1.2 Blackball 81 1.4 Westport 46 1.0 Ch’ch tap xvater .. 63 2.2 Lyttelton 40 3.8 Those figures and other figures, Mr Rogers added, seemed to show that, chore th e iodine present was above a certain quantity, the incidence of goitre was reduced, but that other factors must be considered. They also served to show that the quite small differences in the quantity of iodine might be sufficient to make a marked differenqce in the incidence of goitre. Many more results, however, would be necessary to confirm that suggestion. T# fact t l- -” Blackball rain rater, which was several miles from the sea, possessed iodine, was unexpected, but it was known that air even over the land contained measurable quantities of iodine in organic combination, and that might supply an explanation of the fact that iodine was present in the rain water. “APPALLING FIGURES.”

“Look at those goitre figures; aren’t they awful? - ’ Dr C. C. Farr said. “Seventy-five per cent of the children in the schools are affected by goitre, A good deal of it disappears but they must be affected by its presence to some extent. Radium emanation cannot be exonerated without very good evidence that it is not guilty. One of the causes assigned in other places is filth, but that cannot be the cause in Christchurch, because we have a clean city, and there is no dirt in our artesian water.” EFFECT OF lODINE.

Dr R. R. -Milligan said that goitre was not merely an enlargement of the thyroid gland; it was an enlargement plus altered structure, degeneracy, and altered chemical constituents. It was not expected that finality in regard to causation would be reached in this generation. All that could he expected was a cla iiflcation of links in Hie chains of causation. As to the theory that a deficiency of lodine was a cause, some types of goitre—Graves's disease, for instance —were made worse by the use o£ iodine. It was known

'that goitre attacked other animals than human beings. He hail seen it in sheep in Clutha and in dogs in Christchurch. He felt that lie was on fairly good ground when he said that In the ordinary endemic goitre deficiency of iodine was at least one of the links in the chain of causation. Administration of iodine en masse to population decreased the incidence ol goitre. Whatever factors there might be in addition to iodine, the facts were by no means clear and simple. There was, for instance, the factor of sex. There was a tremendous predominance of goitre in females. VIEWS OF DOCTORS. Dr J. Guthrie said that it would be disastrous to try to apply a standard treatment to all kinds of goitre. If large doses of iodine were given in cases of hyper-thyroidism, the trouble calmed down and the activity seemed to be suddenly bridled. It was very extraordinary, but the effect was not permanent. Dr Bevan-Brown said that it had been shown by investigators that the iodine contents of the soil corresponded with the incidence of endemic goitre. lODINE FROM THE SEA. Professor R. Speight said that wells in Canterbury near the sea had more iodine than wells inland. Wells at Heathcote and New Brighton had intimate connection with the sea. The excess might be explained by contamination by sea water, as iodine decreased progressively from the sea inwards. RARE' AMONGST MAORIS. Dr Guthrie said that goitre was almost unknown amongst the Maoris; he had seen it amongst them, but it was rare. The position might be due to the Maoris’ sea-food —shell-fish and articles in that class. DANGEROUS PRACTICE. Dr C. Chilton said that there was great danger in a popular belief that goitre could be cured by a patient taking iodine. If people took iodine without knowing anything about it, | they might bring about disastrous re-1 suits. More dangerous things than 1 iodine were used without any knowledge of their :ffeets. The institute should make further investigations into the incidence of goitre in Canterbury. Dr H, G. Denham said that the subject would be discussed at the Science Congress in Dunedin in January.