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That was a fascinating read - there’s even a great villain in Eugene Bircher (not to get into politics, but he definitely seems to have trailblazer the “right wing populist attacks successful public health measures” strategy).
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How come that the disease wasn't widespread earlier?
I am always flabbergasted when people question incredibly effective public health initiatives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goitre#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodized_salt#In_public_health_... > Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects two billion people and is the leading preventable cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities.[1][2] According to public health experts, iodisation of salt may be the w…
I don't question the initiative.
The article just read like it was some strange illness that affected Switzers around a certain time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How come that the disease wasn't widespread earlier?
I think it was. We just don’t think about it because we’ve defeated it completely by putting iodine in the most popular spice, and also people in the past were afflicted by all sorts of horrible illnesses. It doesn’t stand out from the noise of the past being generally a mess.
The article just read like there were some unusual strange things going on around 1900 in Switzerland.
I wonder if this was at least a factor in Switzerland remaining neutral in both world wars. If a significant portion of your military age men are unfit for military duty due to goiters, that would certainly affect your ability to conduct a war.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are the arguments used against iodised salt? Where would they get their iodine?
Some people dislike the flavor of iodized salt. But what would you expect from future cretins?
I am increasingly convinced that the "thyroid hormones" T1, T2, T3, and T4 are simply a place to store iodine. When iodine is needed somewhere in the body it can be taken from T4, converting it to T3. But it's not the case that "T3 is the active form" as you'll read in the literature, it's that the removed iodine is the active or useful thing. Changing the ratio of T3/T4 does cause a change in TSH (thyroid stimulatin…
> Some things with interesting iodine research: skin cancer, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, asthma, polycystic ovaries, fibrocystic breast disease, other cancers. But yeah, it cures goiter... When I search for breast cancer and iodine, I find links that suggest iodine may help prevent that disease - and Japan’s low rate of the condition is potentially related to high consumption of iodine. Are you saying that all th…
That was a fascinating read - there’s even a great villain in Eugene Bircher (not to get into politics, but he definitely seems to have trailblazer the “right wing populist attacks successful public health measures” strategy).
My first thought when Bircher's political, and other, actiobs where mentioned in the article, was: Why am I not surprised?
Lovely article. It reminds me of the relationship of scurvy and Vitamin C. Despite scurvy being largely understood around 1750 the knowledge was forgotten or replaced with wrong theories as late as 1911. https://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm
I think, outside Europe, this afflicted lots of places away from the coast, right? Like the middle part of the US. I’ve always wondered if the iodine in the air is part of the allure of the seaside. Coastal areas of course have produced a huge number of successful countries. Most of that must be the trade and logistics advantages. I wonder if getting the iodine right out of the air was another hidden major advantage…