Environmental Chemicals That Interfere with Thyroid Hormone Activity May Cause Brain Malformation and Retardation in the Developing Fetus, According to Thyroid Journal.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K LARCHMONT, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 2003 Impaired thyroid function or thyroid hormone Thyroid hormone Any of the chemical messengers produced by the thyroid gland, including thyrocalcitonin, a polypeptide, and thyroxine and triiodothyronine, which are iodinated thyronines. See Hormone, Thyrocalcitonin, Thyroid gland, Thyroxine activity in the mother causes malformation malformation /mal·for·ma·tion/ (-for-ma´shun) 1. a type of anomaly. 2. a morphologic defect of an organ or larger region of the body, resulting from an intrinsically abnormal developmental process. of the fetal brain and brain damage that ranges from severe (cretinism cretinism (krē`tənĭz'əm), condition produced in infants and children due to lack of thyroid hormone. It usually results from a congenital defect (e.g. ) to a reduced IQ potential. Chemicals in the environment that can diminish thyroid hormone activity are an important risk factor for abnormal brain development, as explained in a series of reports in a special issue of Thyroid, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The November 2003 issue (Volume 13, Number 11) of Thyroid is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/THY. An international symposium entitled "Thyroid Hormone and Brain Development: Translating Molecular Mechanisms to Population Risk" serves as the framework for this special issue, in which leading researchers present new information and novel perspectives on the role of thyroid hormone in brain development and function. The articles focus on retinal development, the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls on thyroid status, congenital hypothyroidism, and interpreting thyroid function tests Thyroid Function Tests Definition Thyroid function tests are blood tests used to evaluate how effectively the thyroid gland is working. These tests include the thyroid-stimulating hormone test (TSH), the thyroxine test (T4), the triiodothyronine test . Guest editors Jerry Heindel, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is one of 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH),which is a component of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The Director of the NIEHS is Dr. David A. Schwartz. and the Department of Health and Human Services Noun 1. Department of Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Health and Human Services, HHS , and R. Thomas Zoeller, Ph.D., of the Department of Biology at the University of Massachusetts The system includes UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth (affiliated with Cape Cod Community College), UMass Lowell, and the UMass Medical School. It also has an online school called UMassOnline. , Amherst, present future research challenges, including the need to understand the role of thyroid hormone in brain development, the level at which diminished thyroid hormone function can have deleterious effects, and which environmental chemicals interact with the thyroid hormone system. "The realization that even mild thyroid failure can affect intellectual development has enormous implications for health care in both the developed and the developing world," says Terry F. Davies, M.D., Editor of Thyroid and Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Bone Diseases at Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine is a medical school found in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. (New York, NY). Thyroid is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. As the Official Journal of the American Thyroid Association, Thyroid publishes original papers and timely reviews that reflect the rapidly advancing changes in our understanding of thyroid physiology and pathology, from the molecular biology of the cell Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBC) is a scientific journal published monthly online and in print by the American Society for Cell Biology. MBC publishes original and scholarly research reports that contribute to the scientific understanding of the molecular basis of cell structure to clinical management of thyroid disorders. A complete table of contents and free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/THY. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and Journal of Women's Health. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsletters is available at www.liebertpub.com. |
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