Summary
The phrase 'essential 'element' is often incorrectly used to describe the nutrients we need, but can aptly be applied to iodine - without it we would suffer severe developmental problems. Iodine is a key component of thyroid hormones, responsible for the regulation of our metabolism. And yet most of us have no idea how much we need, nor where it comes from.
In her research, Margaret Rayman, Professor of Nutritional Medicine at Surrey University, has found pregnant women in particular are at risk of iodine deficiency - and there's a lack of iodine in what many consider healthy diets.
As well as looking at contemporary issues with iodine, Margaret explores the legacy of past iodine deficiency - the word cretin, was coined to describe someone living in the Alps with such a condition. We learn why you might find iodine in British milk - but not necessarily elsewhere in the world, and we discuss the consequences of exposure to radioactive iodine isotopes - both good and bad.
Picture: Pregnant woman with milk, Credit: Arief-Juwono/Getty Images
Transcript
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| 0:40.0 | Thomas Prosser 1741. The bronchosial or Darby, is a tumor arising on the fore part of the neck. |
| 0:45.0 | It generally occupies the whole front of the neck as the whole thyroid gland is here generally enlarged. |
| 0:52.0 | It's very common in many counties in England, Derbyshire especially, |
| 0:56.3 | where from its frequency it has the name, Darby Neck. I've been informed by a gentleman from |
| 1:01.9 | Duffield in Derbyshire that there were near 50 poor girls afflicted with it in that small village. |
| 1:07.0 | Dr William Webb, |
| 1:14.4 | Webb, 1886. |
| 1:15.9 | I have a family in my recollection at this moment, consisting of a man and his wife having a large |
| 1:21.1 | fibrous goiter. Both are of average mental capacity. They have some sharp |
| 1:26.1 | children and also two Cretin women, their offspring. These latter, in age between 20 and 35, are stunted in growth and have but limited powers of |
| 1:36.0 | understanding. |
| 1:37.4 | They sit from morning till night, nursing a doll or other toy and comporting themselves as very little children do, but with only a |
| 1:46.0 | fractional part of their intelligence. |
| 1:51.4 | These historical accounts are describing the effects of a lack of iodine in the diet. |
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