Cretinism - Symptom, Causes, Treatment of Cretinism

Cretinism

Cretinism is a situation induced by a insufficiency of thyroid hormone at birth and during minority, as a ensue of abnormal evolution of the thyroid gland about 1 in 4000 babies is impacted. Actual cretinism is a constitute of hypothyroidism, where need of thyroid gland activity, often expected to an iodine imperfection, stunts growth. Cretinism reasons very life-threatening retardation of physical and mental progress; if the situation is left untreated, progress is stunted and the physical stature progress is that of a dwarf. In addition, the skin is thick, flabby, and waxy in color, the nose is planated, the abdomen protrudes, and there is a common deliberate of movement and speech.
Cretinism (also known as congenital hypothyroidism) may not evident at birth because thyroid hormone frornt mother's blood can profit the baby before and various months after birth. The three diagnostic features of neurological endemic cretinism in its fully germinate form are highly intense mental insufficiency unitedly with squint, deaf mutism and motor spasticity with disorders of the arms and legs of a characteristic nature. Most newborn babies are consistently screened for thyroid insufficiency, which can be observed by a blood test even if there are symptoms. If the situation is not noticed at birth, symptoms will have noticed within 6 months.

Symptoms of Cretinism

Symptoms include execute growth, twined facial features, increased tongue and mental detainment. The typical:

• floppy infant
• thick, protruding tongue
• poor feeding
• choking episodes
• constipation
• prolonged jaundice
• short stature

Frequent Signs and tests:

• sutures - separated widely and a big posterior fontanelle
• extensive fontanelle and posterior fontanelle (soft spots)
• dull-appearing facial features
• dry, brittle hair and low hairline
• short, thick neck
• growth failure
• short extremities
• broad hands with short fingers
• myxedema
• hypotonia
• hoarse-sounding cry or voice

Types of Cretinism

Myxedematous Cretinism has a less ascetic degree of mental detainment than the neurological cretin. It has all the countenance of dreadfully stern hypothyroidism exhibit since premature life, as in non realised sporadic congenital hypothyroidism, life-threatening growth retardation, unfinished maturation of the features including the naso-orbital configuration, atrophy of the mandibles, intumescent features, myxedematous, thickened and dry skin, dry and infrequent hair, eyelashes and eyebrows and much delayed sexual maturation. Other signs may include inspissate skin and a protruding abdomen.

Endemic cretinism develops from a diet inadequate in iodine and has involved for more people worldwide and proceed to be a major public health difficulty in a lots of countries. Iodine is an necessary trace element, necessary mainly for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Although it is establish in many foods it is not worldwide present in all soils in adequate amounts. The soils of many another inland areas on all continents are iodine inferior, and plants and animals grown there are correspondingly deficient. Populations realistic in those areas without outside food sources are most at chance for iodine inadequacy diseases.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Cretinism

Advance diagnosis, and life long cure with thyroid hormone by mouth, afford the child a better adventure of evolving usually. Newborns analysed and treated in the first month to month and a half typically produce general intelligence. Nonattendance of thyroid hormone during beginning life afford a poor outlook in terms of mental progress. Replacement therapy with thyroxine is the common approach to treatment of hypothyroidism. Once medication begins, the blood levels of T3 and T4 are monitored to observed the values within a usual range.