title: [Study on the iodine nutrition and iodine deficiency disorders status in pasturing areas of Tibet-a non-epidemic area of iodine deficiency disorders in serious iodine deficiency district].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the status of iodine nutrition and iodine deficiency disorders in the pasturing areas and agricultural regions in Tibet.
  
  
  METHODS
  30 families were selected respectively in pastoral Dangxiong county and agricultural Qushui county of Lasa. Drinking water and edible salt were collected for testing the iodine contents. In each type of the following populations including children aged 8 - 10, women of child-bearing age and male adults, 50 subjects were randomly sampled to examine their urinary iodine contents. Among them, 50 children and 50 women were randomly selected for goiter examination by palpation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Water iodine content was less than 2 µg/L, both in pasturing area and in agricultural areas. There was no iodized salt used in the families of pasturing areas, while 90% people consumed iodized salt in agricultural areas. The median of urinary iodine in pasturing area was 50.2 µg/L, significantly lower than that of agricultural area (193.2 µg/L). However, the goiter rate of children and women in pasturing area was significantly lower than that in agricultural area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although iodine intake of populations in pasturing area of Tibet was severely deficient, there was no epidemic of Iodine Deficiency Disorders. This phenomenon noticed by the researchers deserved further investigation.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory for Iodine Deficiency Disorders, Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: DU
authors.forename: Su-Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiu-Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hai-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shu-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Cangjue
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nima
authors.forename: Sangbu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Danzeng
authors.forename: Guang-Xiu
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Zhuang
mesh_terms: D006042:Goiter / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007454:Iodides; D007455:Iodine / Q000172:deficiency; D009752:Nutritional Status; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D007454:Iodides; D007455:Iodine