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Iodine deficiency is a lack of the trace element iodine, an essential nutrient in the diet.It may result in metabolic problems such as goiter, sometimes as an endemic goiter as well as congenital iodine deficiency syndrome due to untreated congenital hypothyroidism, which results in developmental delays and other health problems.
Congenital iodine deficiency syndrome (CIDS), also called cretinism, [2] is a medical condition present at birth marked by impaired physical and mental development, due to insufficient thyroid hormone production (hypothyroidism) often caused by insufficient dietary iodine during pregnancy.
The word "cretinism" is an old term for the state of mental and physical retardation resulting from untreated congenital hypothyroidism, usually due to iodine deficiency from birth because of low iodine levels in the soil and local food sources. The term, like so many other 19th century medical terms, acquired pejorative connotations as it ...
Hypothyroidism is common in pregnancy with an estimated prevalence of 2-3% and 0.3-0.5% for subclinical and overt hypothyroidism respectively. [8] Endemic iodine deficiency accounts for most hypothyroidism in pregnant women worldwide while chronic autoimmune thyroiditis is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in iodine sufficient parts of the world.
Iodine levels are frequently too low in pregnant women, and iodine is necessary for normal thyroid function and mental development of the fetus, even cretinism. Pregnant women should take prenatal vitamins containing iodine. [10] Vitamin D levels vary with exposure to sunlight. While it was assumed that supplementation was necessary only in ...
During pregnancy, the thyroid gland must produce 50% more thyroid hormone to provide enough thyroid hormone for the developing fetus and the expectant mother. [28] In pregnancy, free thyroxine levels may be lower than anticipated due to increased binding to thyroid binding globulin and decreased binding to albumin.
Women with a high pre-pregnancy weight are classified as overweight or obese, defined as having a BMI of 25 or above. [3] Women with BMI between 25 and 29.9 are in the overweight category and should gain between 7.0 and 11.5 kilograms in total, corresponding to approximately 0.28 kilogram each week during the second and third trimesters. [3]
At 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy, the baby's thyroid begins to work on its own. But the baby still depends on the mother for iodine, which the thyroid uses to make thyroid hormone. Pregnant women need about 250 micrograms (mcg) of iodine a day. Some women might not get all the iodine they need through the foods they eat or prenatal vitamins ...