Articles

There is an old medical saying that just a few grains of thyroid hormone can make the difference between an idiot and an Einstein. It aptly characterizes the thyroid as a quickener of the tempo of life. All of the endocrine glands play remarkable roles in the body’s economy.

Deficiency of thyroid hormone may be due to lack of stimulation by the pituitary gland, defective hormone synthesis or impaired cellular conversion of T₄ to T₃ (often caused ...

The most damaging effect of iodine deficiency is on the developing brain, and to a lesser degree, any brain. Thyroid hormone is particularly important for myelination of the central nervous system, which is most active in the perinatal period and during fetal and early postnatal development. Numerous population studies have correlated an iodine-deficient diet with increased incidence of mental retardation. A meta-analysis of 18 studies concluded that iodine deficiency alone lowered mean IQ scores by 13.5 points (Bleichrodt and Born, ...