Human Development and the Thyroid Gland:Relation to Endemic Cretinism

Differentiation of cellular structure and function is the basis for the development of complex organisms; its biochemical foundation is one of the central problems of contemporary biology. More than half a century ago, Gudernatsch demonstrated the role of the thyroid in the metamorphosis of the tadpole into a frog, and showed for the first time that a normal metabolite is indispensable for fulfillment of the scenario of vertebrate maturation. Since then an extensive literature has accumulated which considers the role of the thyroid in animal and especially human development. Nowhere is this role more striking than in cretinism, a term applied to idiocy and physical retardation generally assumed to arise from insufficient thyroid hormone in fetal or neonatal life. A small group of physicians met at the Institute of Human Biology in Goroka, New Guinea, in January 1971 to consider the nature and prevention of those varieties of cretinism which occur in association with endemic goiter and which are grouped under the term endemic cretinism. Curiously, for centuries this disorder has occupied a distinctive niche under the panoply of mental retardation, and yet it has defied the kind of formal definition which would permit unequivocal ascertainment in individual cases. Indeed, the pathogenesis and even its relationship to the thyroid have remained obscure and controversial. The Goroka meeting was successful in resolving some of the conflicting information regarding the various clinical manifestations of cretinism and in underlining the effectiveness of prophylactic use of iodine in preventing its appearance. The need for additional information from a broader spectrum of medical scientists was apparent. The present monograph, comprising the proceedings of a conference on endemic cretinism and the thyroid in human development, is a direct extension of the Goroka conference. The symposium was sponsored by The Kroc Foundation and took place January 1972 at their headquarters - the J & R Double Arch Ranch of the Founder, Ray A. Kroc, in the Santa Ynez Valley of California. The initial papers were concerned with descriptions of endemic cretinism by investigators who have had direct experience with field studies in various parts of the world. Reports were presented from Andean South America, the Himalayas, New Guinea, Switzerland, Italy, and Central Africa. Resolution of some of the seemingly conflicting information was achieved. The conference then addressed the proble

שנה

1972

שפה

English

הוצאה

Springer

מהדורות

1

עמודים

518

ISBN

9780306390302

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata