Cretinism

Cretinism is a congenital form of deficiency of thyroid hormones, retarding mental and physical growth.

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A cretin is a person affected by cretinism. This term has come to be regarded as insulting in the general population, although it is appropriate within technical settings. The word cretin is often used in a pejorative sense to mean an idiot or an ignorant peasant.

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Cretinism results from thyroid hormone deficiency. Thyroid hormones have permissive growth effects on body tissues such as muscular and neuronal tissue. A person afflicted with cretinism has severe physical and mental retardation. Often times he or she will have the physical stature of a child, when in fact the person is much older. Other symptoms may include slurred speech and movement, a protruding abdomen, and waxy skin.

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Cretinism can manifest in a number of ways. If a person is born lacking a thyroid gland he or she will be affected. Also, it can develop through iodine deficiency. For this reason, cretinism has historically been more common in areas where the soil is deficient in iodine.

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If it is treated early with thyroid hormones and trace iodine supplementation of the diet, significant improvement can be seen.

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Originally, cr?tin was an old French name for the wildmen (or woodwose) of the Alps, in french folktales. A local legend says that the last eighteen cr?tins were massacred by order of the local priest, in Voreppe, France, in the 1850s. (Source: Le Journal d'un M?decin de Campagne by Honor? de Balzac.)

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The word should not be confused with Cretan, meaning a person from the island of Crete.

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Thyroid: In anatomy, the thyroid is the largest endocrine gland in the body. It is situated on the front side of the neck at the level of C5 and T1 vertebral bodies, just below the laryngeal prominence (Adam's apple), near the thyroid cartilage over the trachea but covered by layers of skin and muscle. The t...

Hormone: A hormone (from Greek horman - "to set in motion") is a chemical messenger from one cell (or group of cells) to another. All multicellular organisms produce hormones (including plants - see article phytohormone)....

Pejorative: A word or phrase is a pejorative (occasionally misspelled perjorative) if it expresses contempt or disapproval. The adjective pejorative is synonymous with derogatory and dyslogistic (noun: dyslogism) (antonyms: meliorative, eulogistic, noun eulogism). Dyslogisms such as "pea-brain" and "bottom-feed...