Page 39 - Summer2009

The Great Iodine Debate

By Sally Fallon Morell

odine is critical to human health. It forms the basis
of thyroid hormones and plays many other roles in

I man biochemistry. While the thyroid gland contains
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the body’s highest concentration of iodine, the salivary

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ovaries and a part of the eye also concentrate iodine. In the

brain, iodine is found in the choroid plexus, the area on the

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produced, and in the substantia nigra, an area associated
with Parkinson’s disease.

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in utero and during growth can result in cretinism, a condition of severely
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RI LRGLQH RU IURP XQWUHDWHG FRQJHQLWDO GH¿FLHQF\ RI WK\URLG KRUPRQHV K\-
pothyroidism). The condition is characterized by short stature, delayed bone
maturation and puberty, infertility, neurological impairment and cognitive
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goiter, the gradual enlargement of the thyroid gland. Both conditions have
led to public health campaigns of iodine administration in many countries.
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foods.

SUMMER 2009 Wise Traditions 37