Iodine is an essential trace element; the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodotyronine contain iodine. In areas where there is little iodine in the diet—typically remote inland areas where no marine foods are eaten—iodine deficiency gives rise to goitre, so called endemic goitre.
Iodine deficiency is particularly common in the Western Pacific, South-East Asia and Africa. Iodine deficiency is also associated with poverty. In many (but not all) such areas, this is now prevented by the addition of small amounts of iodine to table salt in form of sodium iodide, potassium iodide, potassium iodate—this product is known as iodized salt.
Iodine deficiency is the leading cause of mental retardation, producing typical reductions in IQ of 10 to 15 IQ points. It has been speculated that deficiency of iodine and other micronutrients may be a possible factor in observed differences in IQ between ethnic groups: see race and intelligence for a further discussion of this controversial issue.
In a not widely accepted theory, geographer Jeremy Dobson has suggested that Neandertals exhibit characteristics similar to modern humans with iodine deficiency, or cretinism.
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