THE RANGE OF EFFECTIVE IODINE DOSAGE IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITER

Abstract

The normal daily requirement of the body for iodine has never been determined. Indirect evidence on the question is offered by analyses for iodine of soil, water, air and various foodstuffs as they occur in different parts of the world.¹ The foods richest in iodine are certain sea foods, but even these contain only from 0.07 to 2.4 mg. per kilogram, and most foods in the average dietary contain much less. McClendon and Williams² found that even in those districts of the United States in which the drinking water is relatively rich in iodine, it would be necessary to drink 10 liters of water daily in order to take in 0.10 mg. of the element by this means. McClendon and Hathaway³ and von Fellenberg⁴ have made valuable measurements of the ingestion and excretion of iodine in normal persons. The first observers, in a three day study of a normal subject,