Iodine deficiency is still endemic in Switzerland
Schmid, M.; Schulthess, C.; Bürgi, H.; Studer, H.
Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift 110(36): 1290-1295
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-7672 PMID: 7444413 Document Number: 163577
Validity of estimating iodine per g creatinine in random urine samples was tested by calculating mean for 6 consecutive 4-h samples obtained from 11 healthy persons and comparing with true 24-h value. Of all individual values, including the low ones obtained at night, 83% were within plus or minus 30% of true mean value. In a field study, a single urine sample was obtained from a random group of 770 men or women, healthy and not on diet or diuretic medication, mostly from the Bern area. Mean I value was 93.3 mu g/g creatinine, being slightly higher for women than men. Over 20% of samples contained less than 60 mu g/g. Supply of I was considered inadequate, markedly so in 1 in 5 among the group tested. Low ioduria was correlated significantly with low natriuria in both sexes. Decline in salt intake to about 6 g per person daily contributed to deficiency of dietary I; proposal to increase the amount of I added to salt was supported.