A study in Danish adults over the period 1997–2016 reports a 50% reduction in thyrotoxicosis caused by multinodular toxic goiter, solitary toxic adenoma or Graves disease after the introduction of mandatory salt iodization. During the same period, there was no significant increase in overt hypothyroidism.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Zimmermann, M. B. & Boelaert, K. Iodine deficiency and thyroid disorders. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 3, 286–295 (2015).
Utiger, R. D. Iodine nutrition—more is better. N. Engl. J. Med. 354, 2819–2821 (2006).
Petersen, M. et al. Thyrotoxicosis after iodine fortification. A 21-year Danish population-based study. Clin. Endocrinol. 89, 360–366 (2018).
Petersen, M. et al. Increased incidence rate of hypothyroidism after iodine fortification in Denmark: a 20-year prospective population-based study. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 104, 1833–1840 (2019).
Petersen, M. et al. Changes in subtypes of overt thyrotoxicosis and hypothyroidism following iodine fortification. Clin. Endocrinol. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.14072 (2019).
Zimmermann, M. B. & Andersson, M. Assessment of iodine nutrition in populations: past, present, and future. Nutr. Rev. 70, 553–536 (2012).
Krohn, K., et al. Molecular pathogenesis of euthyroid and toxic multinodular goiter. Endocr. Rev. 26, 504–524 (2005).
Pedersen, I. B. et al. Increase in incidence of hyperthyroidism predominantly occurs in young people after iodine fortification of salt in Denmark. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 91, 3830–34 (2006).
Bürgi, H., Kohler, M. & Morselli, B. Thyrotoxicosis incidence in Switzerland and benefit of improved iodine supply. Lancet 352, 1034 (1998).
Völzke, H. et al. How do we improve the impact of iodine deficiency disorders prevention in Europe and beyond? Eur. Thyroid J. 7, 193–200 (2018).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zimmermann, M.B. Salt iodization halves risk of thyrotoxicosis in Denmark. Nat Rev Endocrinol 15, 632–633 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0261-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0261-z
