Effect of Potassium Iodate on Endemic Goitre and Protein-Bound Iodine Levels in School-Children

INCAP Studies of Endemic Goiter and its Prevention

“…Our inquiries stimulated the World Health Organization (WHO) to sponsor laboratory studies in England [10,11] and India [12] that showed that the iodine was released from potassium iodate by hydrolysis at the normal pH of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract. The protein-bound iodine levels of the Guatemalan children at the end of the study did not differ significantly among any of the groups [9].…”

“…Salvador, modified from Scrimshaw et al [9], showing the impact of treatment by potassium iodine and potassium iodate persuading the government of Guatemala to require the iodation of all salt for human consumption and establish a control process within the health department to monitor it. Arroyave was successful in enlisting the cooperation of the salt manufacturers and in helping them secure the necessary equipment.…”

“…Adela Cabezas, head of the nutrition field team of the Ministry of Health of El Salvador, did the clinical examinations for the survey in El Salvador. For the iodate comparisons in El Salvador, we each independently examined every child for the iodide/ iodate trials in El Salvador described above [8,9]. The classification system used by Dr. Kimball was to assign category 3 to individuals with large goiters visible at a distance, category 2 to those readily visible with the head in normal position, category 1 to those that were judged to be more than three to four times enlarged, and category 0 or normal for those less enlarged.…”

“…To explore the possible use of potassium iodate, we implemented a study of schoolchildren in the rural villages of Opico and Tonicatepeque, in El Salvador, and Ciudad Vieja and Santa María de Jesús, in Guatemala [8,9]. The children were given one tablet per week, equivalent to the iodation of salt at a level of 1 part of iodine in 10,000 parts of salt, either as potassium iodide (4.5 g) or potassium iodate (8.5 g), or as an identicalappearing placebo [9].…”

“…The children were given one tablet per week, equivalent to the iodation of salt at a level of 1 part of iodine in 10,000 parts of salt, either as potassium iodide (4.5 g) or potassium iodate (8.5 g), or as an identicalappearing placebo [9]. The results for El Salvador are shown in figure 1.…”