Children and Symptems and Causes of Goiter

Children, whose diet lack iodine, may show signs of goiter, when they are reach adolescence. A physician, of course, should check on any suspected case of thyroid disturbance. Tests are not simple; several may be needed, especially when a disturbance is relatively mild. One frequently employed test is the basal metabolism, which records the amount of oxygen used. In hyperthyroidism, the amount is increased; in hypothyroidism, it is decreased. 

Another test uses radioactive iodine as a tracer. Severity of thedisease can be established by the amount of the iodine taken up by the thyroid; an underactive gland will take up less, an overactive one more. The protein-bound iodine (PBI) test involves an examination of the blood taken from a vein to determine whether the amount of PBI normally produced in the body is elevated as in hyperthyroidism or low as in the opposite condition.

Thyroid tumors occur. Most are benign, or harmless; some are malignant. Surgery is the usual procedure in cases of thyroid cancer but radiation is sometimes used, particularly if the malignancy has begun to spread. The Parathyroid Glands These tiny glands, usually found in clusters of four, are embedded near the thyroid base. They are so much smaller than the thyroid that before surgeons were certain of their presence they were sometimes re- moved with the thyroid when excision of the latter was necessary. The location and significance of the parathyroid are well known today, and there is little danger of accidental removal. 

The hormone of the parathyroid, called parathormone, has much to do with the balance in the body, and the excretion in the urine, of calcium and phosphorus which are derived from milk and other foods and are necessary for bone growth and maintenance. If the parathyroids become underactive, the calcium level in the blood falls and muscles develop painful spasms, called tetany. In severe cases, convulsion and death may result.

 Administration of parathyroid hormone, or certain synthetic compounds with similar actions, or a potent vitamin 0 preparation, will usually keep calcium output normal and stop the spasms. Feeding calcium is helpful in such cases. Hyperparathyroidism, caused by tumors, can deplete the bones of calcium and may cause kidney stone formation as well. Some patients have duodenal ulcer. A rare disorder, hyperparathyroidism is curable if diagnosed early. 

MYXEDEMA-SIMPLE GOITER-Pregnant women

MYXEDEMA

 In this condition produced by thyroid under functioning, the patient is sluggish physically and mentally, cannot stand the cold, sometimes develops a tongue so large and thick that it sticks out of the mouth. Treatment, by administration of thyroid hormone, usually brings marked improvement. Some babies are born with thyroid deficiency. 

Any child who seems to be developing too slowly-for example, in following objects with his eyes or holding his head erect-should be checked by a physician for thyroid deficiency. The earlier such a child is treated, the better the chances for normal development.

SIMPLE GOITER

 To function normally, the thyroid must have iodine. Lacking sufficient iodine, it cannot produce the normal quantity of hormone. In an effort to compensate, the gland enlarges until a noticeable lump may appear in the throat. The swelling, or goiter, may become large enough to interfere with breathing or swallowing. 

Thyroid hormoneconsists of about 65 percent iodine, but the amount of iodine needed in food to avoid goiter is small. Iodized table salt-an amount no more than ordinarily used with meals-is enough, even in areas where the soil is completely lacking in natural iodine. Too much iodine may cause a skin eruption. 

Although consuming iodine does not cute a simple goiter, it will prevent one and will stop an existing goiter from enlarging further. Anyone with even a small goiter should have medical attention for it. 

It is especially important for expectant mothers who live in regions such as the Rocky Mountain States, the Great Lakes Basin, and the Upper Mississippi River Valley, where the soil is lacking in iodine, to follow doctor's orders about the amount of iodine they need. Insufficient iodine in the diet may cause a mother to produce a child with thyroid deficiency.

However, most pregnant women develop a slight enlargement of the thyroid, and this should cause no undue worry. 

FADS AND FALLACIES, Vitamins nutrition, fish and celery for body health and prevention of diseases

According to Food and Drug Administration studies involving regular market basket sampling, foods available at ordinary groceries and supermarkets contain ample quantities of vitamins. Many food additives are now in use. Times and distances involved in getting products from farm to consumer are often great, and additives are used by processors to maintain quality. In some cases, they are used to improve quality or add some advantage not found in the natural state. Thus, some foods are fortified with vitamins and minerals.

Flavoring agents may be employed to add taste appeal. Preservatives have to be used for some foods that would otherwise be spoiled by organisms or would undergo undesirable chemical changes before use. Emulsifiers may be added to bakery goods to achieve fineness of grain; and stabilizers and thickeners, such as pectin and vegetable gums, may be used for maintaining texture and body. A federal food additives law requires that additives be tested and proved safe for consumption before they may be used. Much remains to be learned about additives-and much, too, about safe use of pesticides, but on a realistic basis, with a growing population, we need both additives and pesticides and must learn to use them to best advantage.

FADS AND FALLACIES

 Perhaps no other area of human concern is as surrounded with fads and fallacies as nutrition. We have had blacks trap molasses and wheat germ offered as virtual panaceas and, more recently, vinegar and honey. Although no food has any special health virtue all its own, it would be hard to find any that at some time or other has not been touted as such. Do oysters, raw eggs, lean meat, and olives increase a man's potency?

Hardly, they have their nutrient values but confer no special potency benefits. Are fish and celery brain foods? The idea could have arisen because brain and nerve tissue are rich in phosphorus, and fish provides phosphorus-containing materials. But so do meat, poultry, milk, and eggs. And celery, it turns out, has relatively little phosphorus. 

Are white eggs healthier than brown? The fact is that the breed of hen determines eggshell color, and color has nothing to do with nutritive value. Some magical powers once attributed to foods have been explained by scientific research. For example, lemons and limes were once considered panaceas for scurvy; it is their vitamin C content, of course, which did the work. Rice polishing was indeed fine for preventing beriberi, but solely because of their vitamin B1 content. 

Goiter was once treated with sea sponge, and the seeming magic stemmed not from something unique about sponge, but from its content of iodine. Food myths arise, too, from distortions of scientific fact. Thus, carrots considered to be good for the eyes.

They are-in cases of vitamin A deficiency. The yellow pigment of carrots, carotene, is converted by low body into vitamin A, which is needed to produce a pigment for the retina of the eye. Incidentally, carotene is plentiful, too, in green vegetables where the yellow color is masked by chlorophyll. Food fads and fallacies might be amusing were it not for the danger that they can interfere with the selection of a proper diet.