Regionaal Reuma Centrum Z.O. Brabant, Máxima
Medisch Centrum, Ds. Th. Fliednerstraat 1, 5631 BM, Postbus 90052, 5600
PD Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Recent reports
of the World Health Organization show iodine deficiency to be a
worldwide occurring health problem. As iodine status is based on median
urinary iodine excretion, even in countries regarded as iodine
sufficient, a considerable part of the population may be iodine
deficient. Iodine is a key element in the synthesis of thyroid hormones
and as a consequence, severe iodine deficiency results in
hypothyroidism, goiter, and cretinism with the well known biochemical
alterations. However, it is also known that iodine deficiency may give
rise to clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism without abnormality of
thyroid hormone values. This led us to the hypothesis that iodine
deficiency may give rise to subtle impairment of thyroid function
leading to clinical syndromes resembling hypothyroidism or diseases
that have been associated with the occurrence of hypothyroidism. We
describe several clinical conditions possibly linked to iodine
deficiency, a connection that has not been made thus far. In this paper
we will focus on the relationship between iodine deficiency and
obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), psychiatric
disorders, fibromyalgia, and malignancies