Causes of thyroid problems
In parts of the world where iodine is scarce essential for the production of thyroxine, in the diet, the thyroid gland can become enlarged resulting in the swollen necks of endemic goitre.
Thyroxine is critical to the regulation of metabolism and growth throughout the animal kingdom. For example, in amphibians, the administration of thyroid blocking agents such as propiltioracil, prevents the tadpoles turn into frogs, on the contrary, administration of thyroxine initiates metamorphosis.
In humans, children born with thyroid hormone deficiency will not grow well and brain development can be seriously injured in a clumsy brain known as cretinism. Routine tests done on newborn children in many countries to determine the deficiency of thyroid hormones, this is done by analyzing a small drop of blood, sometimes taken from the umbilical cord, which can also be used to test for phenylketonuria and other metabolic diseases of genetic etiology. Children with thyroid hormone deficiency can be easily treated with supplements of synthetic thyroxine, which allows normal growth and development.
Because the thyroid takes extreme concentrations selectively what is a relatively small, are very sensitive to the effects of various radioactive isotopes of iodine produced by nuclear fission. In case of accidental releases into the environment large quantities of such material could be blocked, in theory, take the thyroid radioactive iodine radioactive iodine is not eating as iodine tablets. While biological researchers spend their time creating compounds such pills, preventive measures in most of the world does not provide for the storage of the tablets before an accident, nor do they provide an adequate distribution later, one of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster was the increase thyroid cancer in the years subsequent to the accident.
