GOITRE PREVENTION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 283, 3 December 1935, Page 8

GOITRE PREVENTION

USB OF lODINE IN SALT. i S U EMU UN TA EL E PR( )BL EM. i ” Goitre could become a rarity in a ■ generation if we really set ourselves to eliminate it," said Dr. C. E. Hercus jn an address to the Dunedin branch of tile loyal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children. “Man iia> been wrangling about the cause of goitre since it was first described some _’OOU years before Christ, but in spite of all the conflict of opinion there is general unanimity that the problem of prevention is a comparatively simple "ne and that if our existing knowledge a could be effectively applied goitre mig.it become a rarity iu a generation. ’ ’ Dr. Hercus impi*essed on his audience the necessity for an adequate iodine content in the diet. He urged that women and children particularly should use iodised salt for all purposes and supplement it by the addition of fish or some seaweed preparation. Forms of Goitre. h had to- be recognised, said Dr. : [ Hercus, that there were various forms . J "l goitre, the principal types being the . J so-t ailed simple goitre, though this . j name was really a misnomer, for the ■ effects on the individual and the race , were by no means simple. There was - variety known as toxic, or | poisonous, goitre, where the individual i affected was frequently very’ ill and . j presented a characteristic train of ’ * symptoms which might, in some cases, ; be recognised by the layman. It was • this type of goitre alone, that was ecn--1 sidered -at the recent British Medical • Association conference in Melbourne and concerning wnieli Sir Thomas Dunhill had st; :< I that the case was as .• yet unknown. “There are many theories as to the • causation < i toxic gqitre, but few tacts,” added Dr. Hercus, “although , vtc do know that it. affects women . miiun n.orc commonly than men and that it is common in the third decade oi hfc. Although there is general .•.giucmt-i't that the best treatment of this type of goitre vs by removing part 01. the thyroid gland, there is no •r.tr.inty that this gland is the primary ami essential factor in the causation of the symptoms. The excessive anmiints of secretion which arc being poured out by the gland in toxic goitre ;.rc probaniy dee to the action of some factor external to the gland itself. We know, l>r t-;ample, that the master I gin ml ol the body, the pituitary, Avbicli [:• situate.l at tiif- Kase of the brain, 1 peiy- an important part in ( < -ntrulling I i'i • il;yr"nl as do ether glands, such , c.s the suprarena. glands. Inter-relation of Glands. “The whole chapter which is at s pn-M-nt being unfolded with regard to ihe inter-relationship of these glands ••f the body is one oi the most fascinating chapter* in modern physiology, 1 '.'i-.; the speaker. “The essential fact, however, that concerns us here is that this form of goitre is much more pre- . a lent m New' Zealand than in Great Britain or Auntialia. It is also a fact that the districts c-f New Zealand which show a high incidence of simple > goitre show also a high incidence of . j toxic goitre. This is a most significant . ’ finding, and suggests that whatever t i may be the cause of toxic goitre it ..operates inc-re readily on an enlarged 1 gland than on n normal one. and m* ! dicates also that prophylactic mea- . ' sures <1 signed to juevent simple goitre . : would also reduce the amount c-f toxic goitre in this community. If we preI vent the one. we reduce the other/'