Iodine Deficiency And Brain Damage

By Ohuh Sunday Nwami

According to WHO in 1994, iodine deficiency is considered to be the world common cause of preventable brain damage in the world. Iodine deficiency arises from inadequate intake of iodine from the diet which occurs when an individual lives in an environment in which the soil where the plants grow is deficient of the nutrient. Iodine is always deficient in hilly and/or mountainous areas; soil that is experiencing leaching; areas of heavy rainfall, etc. Iodine is an essential element for human and animal development because it is a constituent of the thyroid hormones, thyroxin (T4), and triodo-thyroidine (T3). Every human being is a function of derivation from the mother when in the uterus, hence, a potential mother who is iodine-deficient has a high rate of giving birth to deformed baby or a baby that will develop with a high risk of mental retardation. The cycle goes thus: the formation of cells of the brain occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy (i.e. the first three months of pregnancy).

A potential mother whose nutritional status is to be questioned and has low iodine status before conception may permanently handicap the baby mentally. When the number of cells formed in the brain, which are required for the management of information are incomplete, the child is at disadvantage already because this is what precipitates mental retardation. The continuous deficiency of iodine during pregnancy in the late first trimester aggravates the disadvantage. In other words, preventable brain damage has been traced to originate from the womb (Hetzel and Mano 1989). A mild iodine deficiency can cause a significiant loss of learning ability as well as other symptoms such as goitre (an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland). In its severe form, iodine deficiency causes cretinism, stillbirth and miscarriage, and increases infant mortality (Delange 1994, 1999). An affected child has a high risk of dropping from school as a result of poor academic performance, the child also develops into a low productive adult with low creativity too.

Inadequate intake of iodine leads to loss of intellectual capacity in new born babies. A meta-analysis of 18 studies concluded that iodine deficiency alone lowers intelligent quotients (IQ) (Bleichrodt and Born, 1994). The consequences of iodine deficiency are thus immeasurable in terms of losses associated with it. The secret behind mental retardation is illustrated below. For example, if a particular person needed 200 million cells in the brain to function optimally at adulthood, and during the cell formation in the womb as a result of poor nutritional status of the mother, the person had only 200 million or less, then such is prone to mental retardation. Nevertheless as one grows, some of the cells degenerate, it is possible for the person to remain only 150 million cells at adulthood; with less than 150 million cells, the already stored information has to be deleted, this leads to blanking. The stored information and proper processing of new information may be hindered. And the more the age progresses the more the cells degenerate, this sets in dementia (mental retardation) which is an irreversible reaction, hence the need to prevent it before conception.

Therefore, cells must be formed in excess in the brain so as to function optimally at adult age, such that normal range will be maintained after cell degeneration. Noticing the debilitating effect of iodine deficiency, which also affects growth and development in human and animal population, which can be prevented by correction of the deficiency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’ Fund (UNICEF) recommended Universal Salt Iodisation as a safe, cost-effective and sustainable strategy to ensure sufficient intake of iodine by all individuals (UNICEF/WHO, 1994). Salt iodisation involves the fortification of commonly consumed salt with iodine so that iodine can be available to every household. About 70% of the households in the developing countries have been reported having access to iodised salt, while in Nigeria it is about 97% households (NDHS 20030).

In Nigeria, because of quick disappearance of iodine from salt as a result of long storage and exposure to the sunlight, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) stopped the packaging of salt in 50kg bags and directed all salt industries to package the commodity in small bags so that every household can easily finish it in time and get in good time another sack with significant iodine content. The public should be aware of iodised salt exposed to sunlight in the market; some of these bags of salt have lost virtually all the iodine content, because iodine sublimes in the presence of heat (i.e. it turns to gas and evaporates). Therefore, purchasing salt that is well kept in a cool dry place is recommended. Households should also avoid exposing salt to sunlight and damp areas in the kitchen, so that the benefit of Universal Salt Iodisation (USI) will not be forteited. Potential mothers should endeavour to ascertain their nutritional and iodine status before conception so as to lay a solid foundation for the incoming baby.

Onuh writes from University of Ibadan.

What Does Achike Udenwa Want?
By Basil Fejukwu

The Nigerian media can be very fascinating at times, especially with its liberal nature. The hallmark of a robust academic tradition is the freedom to disagree, but within the limits of decency. This same characteristic is easily discernible each day one opens the pages of the Nigerian newspapers. Right from the colonial times, the media has always been engaging adversarial when occasion demands. The anti-colonial struggle which led to the Nigeria’s independence was largely fought on the pages of newspapers with the likes of the reverred Ernest Okoli, Nnamdi Azikiwe, MCK Ajuluchukwu leading the way. Again, it is on record that the resistance to military dictatorship in Nigeria between 1984 and 1999 was largely championed by the media with General Sani Abacha being the last of such despots. But that is not to say that sections of the media do not, sometimes, engage in activities which border on reaction. To every ten progressive write-ups in the newspapers, be sure that there will be one or two that are reactionary.

On this note, I was not disappointed last week going through two leading Nigerian dailies of Sunday, May 4 (the Vanguard and the Daily Independent). Of interest to me were the seemingly contrasting reports of the two influential publications. In the Sunday Vanguard, a respected columnist, Dr. Dele Sobowale, did a piece which is like a fore-taste of his own assessment of the 36 governors in the last one year. In the said article, he then proceeds to list a few governors who, in his own opinion, have performed creditably during the period under review. In the South-east zone, he listed Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State as one of the few exemplars who have matched action with rhetoric in the last twelve months. In fact, he likened Ohakim to the Napoleon of Igboland. If Ohakim is today described in such superlative terms, it is perhaps, in recognition of his remarkable success in the governorship elections of 2007. From being an under-dog, the man from Okigwe senatorial district posted a stunning upset. Before the elections, the political landscape of Imo was full of contenders who could be described as men of “timber and calibre”. But like the proverbial David with a slingshot, Ohakim downed the Goliath. Thus, he emerged the giant-killer.

Well, though I may have one or two reservations about Ohakim with regards to the implementation of one of his otherwise laudable policies in Imo, I quite concur that on every other yardstick, Sobowale is right on target as regards his plaudits for Ohakim as a man of action who, within twelve months, has done a few great things in my beloved home state, Imo State. But if the tone of the Vanguard piece was celebratory, not so with a report featured by the Daily Independent. In the story, statements were copiously attributed to former Imo Governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, which tended to belittle Ohakim’s feat in the 2007 elections. Simply put, the immediate past governor of Imo tried to claim glory for the emergence of Ohakim in the said elections. This is what I found a bit absurd because both belong to different political parties (the former is PDP and the latter PPA). But the truth Udenwa did not admit was that he failed as the leader of PDP in Imo and also failed as the state chief executive officer. How are the mighties fallen! Isn’t it a shame that despite being incumbent, PDP could not organise acceptable primary elections. The details of the party primaries that ended in a fiasco are too well-known to warrant a recap here. But it is suffice to say that the chaotic outcome of the PDP primaries is, by no means, a compliment to Udenwa.

Indeed, maybe we should forgive the former governor because he appears ignorant of the dire implications of his words. It is akin to a self-indictment. As if that is not ridiculous enough, Udenwa now claims to have had “a deal” with the PPA’s candidate to “cross over to PDP” after his victory. This story is hardly new, though. We heard it in the past, especially shortly after the change of guard in Imo last year. The rumour-mongers had it then that it was a matter of weeks - if not days - before the new helmsman would cross over to the ruling party. Such projection was quite easy to rationalise in view of the reality on the ground then. The state assembly was dominated by PDP. So, it was quite easy to imagine that sheer survivalist instincts would compel the new governor to do “what is needful”. In response, the Ohakim camp had denied the story and even challenged its peddlers to show proof of such an agreement. To date, no one has come forward to disprove the Ohakim camp. In the circumstance, one is, therefore, persuaded to believe that all these stories about “a secret pact” are nothing but the machination of mischief-makers or those envious of the visible achievements of the Ohakim administration in the last twelve months. Truly, success has many fathers.

Hon. Basil Fejukwu wrote from Owerri.