2024-11-14
7 分钟The Economist. Hello, this is Alok Jha,
host of Babbage, our weekly podcast on science and technology.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
We've chosen an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist.
Please do have a listen.
A century ago, much of northern America was known as the Goethe Belt.
In some regions,
anywhere from 26% to 70% of school-age children had the characteristic neck swellings or goiters caused by an enlargement of the thyroid gland.
After trials showed that supplements of iodine could prevent goiter,
iodized salt was rolled out commercially in 1924, starting in grocery stores in Michigan.
By the 1940s, the goiter belt had vanished.
The beneficial effects of iodine are not purely cosmetic.
Without enough iodine,
the thyroid is unable to produce hormones which regulate the body's metabolism and are crucial for brain development.
This can result in metabolic disorders, delayed development and cognitive impairment.
For growing children and pregnant women especially,
iodine deficiency can have lasting consequences.
In today's America, changing diets, a lack of public health education,
and complacency mean that iodine deficiency may once again be on the rise.
These problems are long-simmering ones.