NEONATAL-HYPOTHYROIDISM IN INDIA

Nutritional iodine deficiency and endemic goiter are widely prevalent in developing countries, affecting an estimated 1 billion people. Rece nt studies in India, using radioimmunoassay methods, have shown that t he incidence of neonatal hypothyroidism in endemic goiter regions is m ore than a hundredfold higher than the incidence in nonendemic regions . This knowledge has given a new momentum to the iodine prophylactic p rogram in the country, resulting in the protection of hundreds of thou sands of newborns from mental retardation.