INCIDENCE OF GOITRE

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 75, 24 February 1930, Page 4

INCIDENCE OF GOITRE

RESULTS OF RESEARCH. PALMERSTON NORTH AREA. "With the object of inquiring into the incidence of goitro in schoolchildren in relation to the amount of iodine in the soil and water in certain districts of the North Island, Dr. R. A. Shore, Medical Officer of Health for the Wanganui area, visited Palmerston North some time ago in the course of his investigations. With Mr R. L. Andrew, analyst at ihe Dominion Laboratory, he has now' submitted a report to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, in which the conclusions arrived at are indicated, and returns for this district are given. That there is no correlation between the iodine content of the soils and the waters in the districts examined is shown by the returns. Soil iodine at Palmerston North "s stated to be 47 parts in ten million. The significance of the potable waters examined as sources of iodine is shown by the fact that if the average amount of water consumed in actual fluid form be taken at about 2 1-3 pints a day, tho annual consumption would be about five hundred litres. According to the contents, the amount of iodine per year supplied by water in Palmerston North would bo ’1 milligram and at Foxton 7.5 milligrams. At Otaki,Levin, Shannon Foxton and Palmerston North some soils aro low and others contain moderate amounts of iodine. • The upland surface waters are low, but artesian waters at Levin and Foxton are very high in iodine. To achieve his results Dr. Whore examined 24,000 children and had an analysis taken of three hundred soils in certain well-defined parts of the North Island. # “Dr. Shore’s findings re-emphasise the goitre problem in large areas of the North Island,” writes Professor C. E. Hercus, of Dunedin, in a commentary on the work. “It is most disquieting to find that 24 per cent, of the boys and 26 per cent of the girls examined showed some degree of goitre, particularly as the area included several districts in which the incidence was very low. This striking variation in the district incidence of goitre is well shown in contrasting such towns as New Plymouth and Palmerston North.”

“The upland surface waters of the Horowhenua are similar in iodine content to those of the Wellington area,” reports Dr. Shore. “Lake Horowhenua, near Levin, is not utilised for water supplies, but the iodine is considerably higher than that of the upland surface water. This is probably due to admixture with spring water, which would possibly be similar to that of the Hokio-Levin artesian bore. The latter is a remarkable water as regards iodine content. Foxton (artesian) is a hard water, and contains a high proportion of'iodine—approximately threequarters of that found in sea water. It is little used for drinking purposes. Palmerston North supply (upland surface and artesian) has an iodine content slightly higher than the upland surface waters of the Horowhenua and Wellington districts, and higher than the artesian waters of the Hutt Valiev.”

‘Summarising the investigations, Dr. Shore stated:

Sufficient samples of soil were taken so that the result would be representative of the district. Similarly, as many schoolchildren as possible were examined in each district. The goitre incidence in schoolchildren is greater in girls than in boys. The percentage incidence in both sexes increases with age to a maximum and then definitely declines. On tho figures available, this decline in incidence appears to continue in the years beyond school life

at least as far as 19 years of age. The rate of percentage of goitre incidence is increased at or just beforo the time of puberty. The effect of puberty is more marked in girls than in boys. Generally speaking, where the iodine content of the soil is high the incidence of goitre is low, and whero the former is low the latter is high. There are, however, certain anomalies which at present cannot ho satisfactorily accounted for. Further investigational work should be done to endeavour to solve the problem of these anomalies.