title: Prevention of autoimmune hypothyroidism by modifying iodine intake and the use of tobacco and alcohol is manoeuvring between Scylla and Charybdis.
abstract: Although autoimmune hypothyroidism has generally been considered to be a disease that mainly develops because of genetic aberrations and for which adjustment of environment would bring about but slight risk modification, this understanding is increasingly appearing to be incorrect. We describe how iodine intake, smoking cessation and alcohol intake are all strong modifiers of risk that, combined, may influence risk by a factor of up to 30. Unfortunately, promotion of an environment leading to substantial lowering of the risk of autoimmune hypothyroidism (i.e. improvement of dietary iodine deficiency, decrease or cessation of smoking, and moderate alcohol intake) is not incorporated within current public health promoting programs. Nevertheless, it is increasingly becoming evident that knowledge of the importance of these factors for disease development is likely to assist in the planning of health promotion programs, while it will surely also be of value in the care of individual patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Aalborg Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark. peter.laurberg@rn.dk
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laurberg
authors.forename: Stig
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Inge Bülow
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carlé
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D004032:Diet; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007455:Iodine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000172:deficiency; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013695:Temperance; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007455:Iodine