Yodo, Bocio y Cretinismo endémicos en la región Andina del Ecuador

An inventory of the total population of isolated rural villages of the most affected Ecuadorian Andean provinces by endemic goiter was made. In each of these villages iodine content in urine, salt and water was determined. It was conclusive that the chronic iodine deficiency is sine qua non condition for the endemic; but the severity of the endemic; but the severity of the endemic doesn’t have relationship with the magnitude of the lack, rather due to the intercourse of socio-economic and biological intercurrent deficitary factors. Even with the iodine deficiency and the intercourse of the communities located more than 3,500 m, adove sea level, did not present goiter with endemic characteristics. The severity of the endemic was determined to be correlated with: incidence of nodular goiters, in the general population in the first two decades of life, presence of big goiters, incidence of goiters mean in the relation to that in woman. All of wich is epidemiologically related to the incidence of defects that would begin appearing in endemic form in a community, and in accord to the severity would follow the following order of appearing in the endemic form in a community, and in accord to the severity would follow the following order od appearance: motor abnormalities, mental deficiency, deafmutism, deafness and mutism. Finally, a familiar tendency was clearly demonstrated so that a cretin child would be born, and no relationship, on familial level, between incidence and type of goiter and the appearance.