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Iodine: Thyroid Glands
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Iodine is an essential trace element for humans. The average adult body contains between 20 and 50 mg iodine, and more than 60 percent of this is concentrated in the thyroid gland situated at the base of the neck. The rest is in thyroid hormones in the blood, ovaries and muscles. Worldwide soil distribution of iodine is extremely variable and food grown in areas of low iodine does not contain enough of the mineral to meet requirements. Such areas include a band across the middle of the USA, the Midlands and South West England, and areas of China, Continental Europe, Russia and South America.
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Iodine is an essential micronutrient in the human diet. Its most important known function is as a component of thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are produced by the thyroid gland (located at the base of the neck). Thyroid hormones play a vital role in the regulation of metabolic processes such as growth and energy expenditure. They are essential throughout childhood for normal brain and physical development. They are ... critical for normal development of the baby in the womb, so for women who plan to become pregnant, iodine intake is one of the important nutritional factors they need to take into account.
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Iodine has both beneficial and harmful effects on human health. Iodine is needed by your thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones. However, exposure to unnecessarily high levels of nonradioactive and radioactive iodine can damage the thyroid. Damage to the thyroid gland can result in effects in other parts of your body, such as your skin, lung, and reproductive organs.
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Iodine deficiency is one of the causes of goiter (hypertrophy of the thyroid gland as it tries to make more thyroid hormone in the absence of iodine). Physically, goiter appears as an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland in the neck. Other causes of goiter include autoimmune thyroiditis, excess iodine, other hormonal disorders, radiation exposure, infectious causes, or inborn errors of metabolism. Although goiter due to low iodine intake is rare in developed countries, it may occur in regions with endemic low iodine levels. To avoid iodine deficiency in the United States, table salt is enriched with iodine ("iodized" salt), and iodine is added to cattle feed and used as a dough conditioner. Iodine supplementation is generally not recommended in developed countries where sufficient iodine intake is common, and excess iodine can actually cause medical complications (including goiter).Iodine supplementation should be considered in cases of known iodine deficiency, and should be administered with medical supervision if possible.
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Iodine compounds are important in organic chemistry and very useful in medicine. The artificial radioisotope 131I, with a half-life of 8 days, has been used in treating the thyroid gland. The most common compounds are the iodides of sodium and potassium (KI) and the iodates (KIO3). Iodides, and thyroxin which contains iodine, are used internally in medicine, and as a solution of KI and iodine in alcohol is used for external wounds. Potassium iodide finds use in photography.
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Iodine is used in several compounds for a variety of medical testing. For example, it may be used in x-rays of the gallbladder or kidneys or in cardiac imaging. It is used as a diagnostic tool to examine the thyroid gland's output. A common test measures thyroid radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU). Trace amounts of radioactive iodine (I123 or I131) are used to test thyroid function. Together with blood tests, examining how much iodine is taken up by the thyroid gland helps physicians diagnose hypothyroid conditions (when the thyroid takes up too little iodine) and hyperthyroid conditions (when it takes up too much).
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Thyroid Glands