CORRELATION OF GOITER, DEAFMUTISM AND MENTAL RETARDATION WITH SERUM THYROID HORMONE LEVELS IN NONCRETINOUS INHABITANTS OF A SEVERE ENDEMIC GOITER AREA IN INDIA*

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Abstract
Serum protein-bound iodine (PBI) levels were determined in 48 subjects in a native village in northeastern India, and in 35 of them butanol-extractable (BEI) levels were also determined. There was a high incidence of endemic goiter, deafness, mutism, deafmutism, mental deficiency and cretinism in the village. The selected group of inhabitants was roughly representative, although only 1 was a cretin. The mean serum PBI and BEI levels in this group were low compared to the mean values for these determinations among normal subjects in the United States. The difference between the mean values for PBI and for BEI was greater in the Indian subjects than in those residing in the United States. Among the Indian subjects: (1) those with goiter had lower mean serum PBI and BEI levels than those without goiter, (2) deaf persons had lower PBI levels than those who could hear, and (3) subjects with mental deficiency had lower PBI and BEI levels than those who were not mentally deficient.

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