Today is World Thyroid Day around the world. This day was established in 2009 at the initiative of the European Thyroid Association, which studies issues related to the thyroid gland and its diseases.
According to medical statistics, up to a third of the entire population of the planet suffers from thyroid diseases. A decrease in the function of 
this organ develops in 2% of people and 8% of people over 60 years old, nodular formations are detected in almost 30%. It is noted that goiter – enlargement of the thyroid gland – is often found in people living in regions of iodine deficiency. Thyroid hypertrophy affects 10-30% of the world’s population.
Meanwhile, most of the diseases of this important organ (“thyroid gland” produces hormones involved in the regulation of metabolism and cell growth) are currently considered curable. As far as diseases caused by iodine deficiency are concerned, they are quite preventable – for example, with the help of programs of universal iodization of table salt, which is in place in many countries of the world.
It should be noted that despite the fact that thyroid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyroid diseases are treated, it is easier to prevent than to get rid of. The latter concerns diseases associated with iodine deficiency in the diet. Iodine deficiency, contrary to popular notions, leads not only to an increase in the size of the thyroid gland, but, affecting the body of a pregnant woman, can lead to irreversible changes in the fetal nervous system, the extreme manifestation of which is cretinism, accompanied by severe mental retardation.
