Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Endemic goiter occurs frequently in iodine deficient areas. Our past medical survey revealed that goiter was endemic in Xinjiang, Northwestern China, because, several elderly Uygur subjects had goiter. In the present study, several medical parameters were compared between subjects with and those without goiter.

Methods: Elderly Uygur (age, 65–70 years n=99) and very old Uygur subjects (age, >90 years n=111) were hospitalized, requested to provide blood and urine samples, and underwent 24 h-ambulatoly blood pressure monitoring. Goiter was not identified in Hun and Kazakh participants.

Results: No subjects had any symptoms attributable to abnormal thyroid function. The goiters identified ranged in size from that of the walnuts to the fist. Body mass index of the subjects with goiter (GO+) was slightly but significantly lower than that of the subjects without goiter (GO−). There were no significant differences in blood pressure, heart rate, urinary catecholamine levels, insulin sensitivity, and serum levels of free thyroxin, thyroid stimulating hormone, triglycerides, or low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, between GO+ and GO− participants. The prevalence of goiter in women was 6 times that of men. The iodine content in the salt extracted from the study area was 0 parts per million (ppm) while in that obtained from the market was 29.1 ppm.

Conclusion: The results suggest that prevalence of goiter in Uygur might have been caused by intake of iodine-free salt. Individuals with goiter would live safely and come today. The higher prevalence of goiter among women suggests that hormones might play a role in the development of thyroid disease.