nutritional disorders
Iodine Deficiency
Symptoms and Signs of Iodine Deficiency
In mild or moderate iodine deficiency, the thyroid gland, influenced by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), hypertrophies to concentrate iodide in itself, resulting in colloid goiter. Usually, patients remain euthyroid; however, severe iodine deficiency in adults may cause Hypothyroidism (endemic myxedema). It can decrease fertility and increase risk of stillbirth, spontaneous abortion, and prenatal and infant mortality. Severe maternal iodine deficiency retards fetal growth and brain development, sometimes resulting in birth defects, and, in infants, causes congenital hypothyroidism, which may include intellectual disability, deaf-mutism, difficulty walking, short stature, and sometimes hypothyroidism (cretinism). 