FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 15 October 1929, Page 16

FARM AND DAIRY

lODINE AND LIFE AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT. lodine is known to most of us in the form of a tincture used as an antiseptic for wounds. It was used for this purpose by most troops in the Great War with a resulting low mortality. But valuable as it will always be for this purpose research has definitely proved that life could not normally continue "without this essential element. Small quantities of iodine are being constantly, introduced, into the human and animal body in the food consumed and it is stored and made use of by one of those mysterious glandular bodies — namely the thyroid gland. This gland situated in the front of the throat has two lobes lying one on each side of the larynx, each of which has a definite work to perform. The thyroid gland in the course of its work, which is not yet fully elucidated, takes in the iodine ingested into the body, and manufactures, by its complex machinery, a fluid which contains an active principle —very aptly called thyroxin. This compound contains two-thirds of its weight of iodine.

Thus it can be realised that if an insufficiency of iodine is taken into the body the thyroid gland, cannot perform its work because one of the essential ingredients is lacking.

lODINE AND GOITRE. And this is frequently the case. Its results can be seen any day in the street in the form of goitre which is a pathological or diseased condition directly resulting from- lack of iodine. This lack manifests itself in the enlargement of the thyroid gland. On the other hand an over active thyroid causes a disease called exopthalmic goitre which manifests itself by a curious bulging of. the eyes, wasting of the system and palpitation. This condition can be produced by excessive intake of iodine so that proper medical advice is imperative.

WHAT IT DOES. But what purpose does this secretion of the gland serve? The following statement by Dr. Barwise—Medical Officer of Derbyshire, briefly and effectively gives the answer: 1. It is necessary for effective metabolism—i.e. the constructive and destructive changes in the body and specially promotes respiratory exchanges and physical growth. 2. It promotes efficient mental development, a severe shortage before birth resulting in cretinism —stunted growth and mentality, even imbecility. 3. It is specially required in the pregnant condition both for the mother and the child. 4. It is necessary at the age of adolescence for the development of the reproductive organs particularly in the female. 5. It is needed to keep the skin and its appendages in a healthy qbndition. A dry skin and falling hair mean thyroid deficiency. 6. It is essential for efficient digestion assimilation and combustion of fats. When a shortage occurs the fat cannot be satisfactorily dealt with and it is stored in the tissues, thus causing obesity. 7. It is required for the efficient assimilation of calcium, one of the most important and bone-forming minerals. 8. It is necessary to enable the system to resist the invasion of microbes and to render’ harmless the poisons they produce. In this direction iodine in the olood performs much the same functions as it does externally as an antiseptic for •wounds. Thus the iodine in the body has many duties to perform in the economy and metabolism of life and as there is a constant loss through excretion the store must bo renewed for the efficient working of the delicate machinery. In many parts of the world there is a deficiency of iodine in tlip soil, so in the pasture, and so in the food consumed, because it must be remembered that all the food wo consume is produced from vegetation which itself comes from the soil.

lODINE AND DISEASE. It is probable that many of the diseases to which humans and animals are subject result from deficiency of iodine. Indeed it is possible that in view of the effect of the thyroid secretion on all the other similar organs the terrible scourge cancer may be caused by iodine deficiency. The story is a fascinating one and deserves more publicity than it has had. Apart from its fundamental importance to human life there are associated problems of great economic importance being investigated.

Thus the production of milk from the cow is controlled by the thyroid secretion; the efficient production of beef is affected; the yield of meat and wool from sheep is involved; a deficiency affects the growth of pigs and the size and health of the little; fowls cannot effectually produce eggs without its help. These few facts will serve to shed a little light on iodine and its effect on life.