Australia and New Zealand may be on the other side of the globe from the U.S. and Europe, but the lessons being learned "Down Under" about cycling between iodine deficiency and sufficiency -- and back again -- have application globally, particularly in those areas which smugly assume their previous success in salt iodization have "solved" the IDD problem. The December Endocrine News of the American Thyroid Association tells this instructive tale on pages 16-17.

"Recounting Australia’s unusual experience at a symposium held by the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in September, Creswell Eastman, M.B.B.S., M.D., noted that Australia unwittingly began dosing people with sufficient iodine last century in an “accidental public health triumph.” Dr. Eastman is regional coordinator Asia Pacific and vice chairman of the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD), and a professor at the University of Sydney Medical School."

And continuing:

"Although the United States has been iodine sufficient for several decades, concerns remain that pregnant women do not receive enough, according to (ICCIDD board member) Dr. (Elizabeth) Pearce. The effects of iodine deficiency are most worrisome in pregnant women and their babies, with even a mild lack linked to lower intelligence in the children. Dr. Pearce believes iodine strategies used in Australia and Europe could be applied in the United States."