History of iodine, cretinism, hypo etc

[Catseyes235]

Found this really fascinating article

Abstract

The last part of the 19th century was a period of great achievements in medicine and endocrinology. The thyroid gland evolved from being considered a rudimentary structure to an organ related to specific diseases. The singular importance of iodine became acknowledged. Graves-Basedow's disease was described. Surgical treatment evolved with extraordinary speed. Theodor Kocher observed that the clinical picture in patients after total thyroidectomy was similar to the one seen in cretinism. In 1850, the first case of hypothyroidism or myxedema was described. Less than 50 years later, effective treatment was introduced. Another 50 years later, autoimmune thyroiditis was ascertained as the most frequent cause of hypothyroidism (in areas with no iodine deficiency). This paper gives a short survey of the history of hypothyroidism and its treatment.

hindawi.com/journals/jtr/20...

It’s not too difficult and worth a read. We don’t know how lucky we are to have modern medicine!

[Catseyes235]

Most people won’t have heard of Derbyshire neck as most people get enough iodine in milk or cheese these days .like you don’t get much scurvy or rickets! Now the incidence is more down to auto-immune disease and that’s another story. Why are our bodies turning against themselves?

[nellie237]

I've seen quite a few people on this forum mention that they are taking selenium. Do you know if its still relevant today?

[helvella Administrator in reply to nellie237]

Selenium is an essential element. Several of the enzymes which are critical to thyroid hormones in our bodies include a selenium atom.

The difficulty we have is knowing whether we have enough or not.

It is rarely tested. And few foods indicate anything about selenium content.

And selenium levels vary across the UK and around the world.

Finally, excess selenium is toxic.

Some do take a selenium supplement.

I know this is a USA document but it is quite reasonable:

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/S...

[nellie237 in reply to helvella]

Thank you helvella, that answered my question perfectly - I'm a bit of a carnivore, and eating a handful of mixed nuts - might add a few more brazils though...so should be OK.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to nellie237]

nellie237

Brazil nuts will only help if they have been grown in selenium rich soil, if they haven't they wont contain any selenium. Then it depends in which area the nuts were grown in because the amount of selenium in soil varies. Eastern Amazon and Central Brazil have the highest amounts:

Selenium content in Brazil Nuts:

honey-guide.com/2012/11/19/...

The packaging needs to say "Grown in selenium rich soil" and preferably the area and possibly the amount of selenium.

Members have been kind enough to give me details of some selenium rich nuts:

Apparently Sainsburys SO organic brazil nuts contain 50mcg selenium per 30g serving of nuts

sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/pro...

and their Fairtrade ones have 75mcg selenium per 30g serving

sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/pro...

One member has said that M&S Natural Brazil Nuts say "harvested by hand in the Amazon forest and naturally high in selenium".

Also, check out Aldi's "The Foodie Market" Brazil nuts, the packaging is said to show selenium content as 79mcg per 30g serving.

Another one is 'My Garden of Eden' Brazil nuts from Home Bargains.. They say "High in Selenium and high in vitamin E" on the front of the packet and the Nutritional Information says "one serving (25g) gives 63ug of Selenium".

Too much selenium over time can cause the following:

Garlic breath

Nausea

Diarrhea

Skin rashes

Irritability

Metallic taste in the mouth

Brittle hair or nails

Loss of hair or nails

Discoloured teeth

Nervous system problems

[nellie237 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you, that is interesting. I like nuts and they can be a bit moreish.

[tattybogle]

I grew up hearing about Derbyshire Neck, in the 70's that saying was very well used in our juniour school playground(in Nottingham )as lots of our teachers came from Derbyshire , only it was ..... strong in 'th arm , an thick int 'ed, when we said it. Accompanied by gurning faces for good measure.Limestone is possibly correct Scrumbler, as were told it was to do with the sort of rock that the water goes through in Derbyshire, but as i was usually looking out of the window, daydreaming about going to Derbyshire, instead of paying attention, i've forgotten which rock was blamed.

[Catseyes235 in reply to tattybogle]

Don’t think the rock theory stands as limestone is in lots of places S. Wales, Cornwall, Yorkshire Dales etc. Less sea fish consumed historically. Possibly less milk from cows grazing on rich grass. We are after all talking of around 200 years ago when diets very different.

[tattybogle in reply to Catseyes235]

Goitre was not just found in Derbyshire, it was also found in cornwall, yorkshire etc , maybe people are just quicker to think of insulting terms for people from derbyshire .... !There's an interesting1891 map in that link in Scrumblers first reply, which shows the areas with goitre to be similar to goegraphic carbonate rock areas ,

[Miffie]

Derbyshire neck isn’t a term I have come across much. Not surprising for a Scot. I read a lot on hypothyroidism in the university library in the 196Os but don’t recall coming across the term. I have seen it a couple of times since then.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Miffie]

From a Scottish perspective, this paper might be of interest - even the half-page that is accessible!

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10...

[Miffie in reply to helvella]

Thank you!

[Catseyes235 in reply to helvella]

Shame such articles are not available in full. Good Scots education to the fore - father and grandfather went to Edinburgh Uni so I’m biased.

[madge1979 in reply to helvella]

Thank you , from a Scotswoman..Mx🌹

[Catseyes235 in reply to Miffie]

I’m from Scotland! Even then was told to eat my fish.

[Miffie in reply to Catseyes235]

We had fish twice a week after moving from Dumbartonshire to Morayshire when I was about ten. The fish was so fresh it was fabulous. I too believe in a Scots education.

[tattybogle]

that's much too close to Mansfield for comfort We had a name for folk that came from there too , but it's too rude to publicise.

[tattybogle]

"Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim," ! What a brilliant name

[tattybogle]

To give you a clue , the Nottingham kid's name for Mansfield is 'trogtown'

[Barb1949 in reply to tattybogle]

Loving this thread. I grew up in Somercotes, Derbyshire, walking distance to South Normanton. I moved to Kirkby in Ashfield when I was 20. I grew up with the saying Derbyshire born Derbyshire bred, strong int arm and thick int ed. We also used it for Yorkshire folk. Kings Mill was my local hospital, I had three of my children there. We referred to Mansfield folk a troglodites because there were a number of cave dwellings, still in use, in the 50's/60's. My parents were from Jacksdale, Notts and Aberdeen. I now live in Scotland and visit Derbys/Notts about 5 or 6 times a year as I have numerous relatives still there. I have discovered that my maternal grandmother had hypo and since I was diagnosed with Myxoedema coma my mother and my sister have also been diagnosed with hypo. And my granddaughter is hyper with Graves.

[tattybogle in reply to Barb1949]

Ah that explains the 'troglodite' bit , i didn't know about the caves there, Nottingham has loads too under the city streets, and under the castle rock.

i thought we were basing the Trog description more on the behaviour in Mansfield pubs..... apologies to anyone from Mansfield

[nellie237]

Thanks Srumbler, I'm going to add brazil nuts to my shopping .

[tattybogle]

Best wait till after dinner to tell 'im, ... i think Troglodites are a good shot with a Swede.

[Barb1949 in reply to tattybogle]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[nellie237]

🤣😂🤣

[Barb1949]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 but not everyone lived in the caves. You can still see the remains of the caves if you go to Mansfield! 😀

[Catseyes235]

Sadly not so true. Old school friend taught for years straight from school and there was creeping detrimental change. At one school inspection she was told her classroom was ‘too quiet’. She had slight deafness herself but how someone could make a negative out of a positive??

[madge1979]

.... to be sure , to be sure Mx🌹

[Miffie]

As newly qualified teachers we were advised we woukd jump a lay band if we chose to teach in Scotland. I didn’t but my husband serving in the RAF meant we saw life in many others parts.