|
Prenatal iodine and Low Thyroid considerations in pregnancy:
Despite its being critical to normal neurocognitive
development, only 51% of US prenatal
multivitamin brands contain any iodine, and in a number of randomly
selected brands, the actual dose of iodine contained in the supplements
did not match values on the labeling, a study finds. Low thyroid function might be related to low iodine intake. A Danish study finds low thyroid can cause the fetal malposition of posterior presentation, as well as other serious complications.
February
25, 2009 — The prenatal supplement report appears as correspondence in the February 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Susan Jeffrey reports on Medscape Medical News.
The NEJM report states the importance of Iodine. "Normal thyroid function in fetuses and breast-fed infants, which is dependent on sufficient maternal dietary intake of iodine, is crucial for normal neurocognitive development.1 Children of mothers with severe iodine deficiency may have cretinism. Iodine deficiency affects more than 2.2 billion persons (38% of the world's population) and is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation worldwide.2 Even mild iodine deficiency may have adverse effects on the cognitive function of children.1"
From Jeffrey's article:
Normal thyroid function in fetuses and breast-fed infants is crucial
for normal neurocognitive development and depends on sufficient dietary
intake of iodine, the researchers, with corresponding author Elizabeth
N Pearce, MD, from Boston University Medical Center, in Massachusetts,
write.
Iodine deficiency affects more than 2.2 billion persons, or 38% of
the world's population, and is the leading cause of preventable mental
retardation. In the United States, National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) data suggest that iodine intake among women
of child-bearing age has decreased by more than half, and a subset may
have mild iodine deficiency. "Even mild iodine deficiency may have
adverse effects on the cognitive function of children," the authors
write.
The Institute of Medicine recommends a daily iodine intake of 220 µg
during pregnancy and 290 µg during lactation. For the World Health
Organization, those recommended values are 250 µg for both pregnant and
lactating women.
The American Thyroid Association has recommended that women receive
prenatal vitamins containing 150 µg of iodine daily for both pregnant
and lactating women...
"The measured iodine content of multivitamins with kelp as the
iodine source was extremely variable and often did not match labeled
values," Dr. Pearce said in a statement issued by the American Thyroid
Association. "Prenatal multivitamins containing potassium iodine were a
more reliable source."
..."Manufacturers of prenatal multivitamins in the United States should
be encouraged to use only potassium iodide, to maintain consistency in
labeling, and to ensure that these vitamins contain 150 µg of
supplemental daily iodine by including at least 197 µg of potassium
iodide per daily dose, as recommended by the American Thyroid
Association," the authors conclude.
N Engl J Med. 2009;360:939-940. See the full article....
This finding doesn't mean that kelp isn't a source of iodine, only that potassium iodine is more reliably measured for use in vitamin form. Sprinkling kelp on popcorn, adding it to hotdishes, meats and brown rice are ways to enhance meals with more iodine. Kelp also helps remove heavy metals, such as lead, safely from the body. Standard Process is a vitamin company that sells only through licensed health practitioners. Seek out Standard Process; perhaps your Chiropractor has this quality iodine for sale at his or her office.
The bottom line: Pregnant women need iodine for thyroid function and fetuses need iodine for healthy brain function.
......
12-23-09 From the BBC online news reporting on a study in Clinical Endocrinology
Low hormone levels in pregnancy linked to hard birth
"Too little of the
hormone thyroxine is already known to complicate pregnancy, increasing
the risk of miscarriage, premature birth and pre-eclampsia.
Now a Dutch team has found...
Babies were more often positioned wrongly, making labour more difficult.
Although still head down, the babies tended to face the wrong way - towards their mother's back rather than stomach.
Not
only are these labours generally longer and harder, they are also more
likely to end in an assisted delivery with forceps, ventouse or a
Caesarean.
The researchers from the University of Tilburg believe the hormone
problem is so common - affecting about one in 10 pregnancies - a blood
test for it should become a routine part of the antenatal check.
In
their study of nearly 1,000 apparently healthy mums-to-be, lower levels
of thyroxine at 36 weeks of pregnancy was strongly linked to abnormal
positioning of the baby's head and risk of assisted delivery.
Professor Victor Pop and his team believe the relative lack of hormone might stop the unborn child moving as well as it should.
This means that instead of getting into the optimal position for labour, the baby is stuck in a more awkward one....
Professor
John Lazarus, an expert in endocrinology at Cardiff University School
of Medicine, said the link found was not necessarily causal.
"However it does highlight the importance of checking thyroid hormone levels in pregnancy.""
|
