Abstract:
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Objective: To study the associations between intakes of iodine and water chemicals
and the thyroid gland status of schoolchildren living in the coastal city of Port
Sudan.
Design: In our previous nationwide study on goitre, it was observed that the
prevalence of goitre was high in Port Sudan city despite high urinary iodine
excretion. A cross-sectional study including schoolchildren aged 6–12 years was
designed. Measurements determined the prevalence of goitre, urinary iodine
concentration and thiocyanate secretion in casual urine samples, serum levels of
thyroxine, triiodothyronine, thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroglobulin, as
well as the levels of Cl–, F–, Ca21, Mg21 and total hardness of drinking water.
Subjects: Schoolchildren (n 654) aged 6–12 years.
Setting: Port Sudan city is located at the western bank of the Red Sea. The city is
surrounded by a mountainous area known as the Red Sea Hills. It is the main sea
port in the Sudan, inhabited by ethnically and socio-economically heterogeneous
populations.
Results: The prevalence of goitre in Port Sudan was 34?86% while the median
urinary iodine concentration was 46?4mg/dl. Out of thirty-one pupils from Port
Sudan, twenty-four (77?42 %) were found to have urinary iodine concentration
greater than 30mg/dl and twelve (38?71 %) had different degrees of biochemical
hypothyroidism. Excessive concentrations of Cl–, Ca21, Mg21 and water hardness
(369?2, 116?48, 60?21 and 539?0mg/l, respectively) were detected in drinking water
samples collected from Port Sudan that exceeded levels permitted by the WHO.
Conclusions: The coastal city of Port Sudan is a goitre-endemic area. In contrast to
other Sudanese cities in which endemic goitre is related to iodine deficiency, goitre
in Port Sudan is associated with iodine excess. Water chemicals seemed to have no
effects on thyroid status. |