Cretinism is not only an insult, but also a disease entity distinguished in medicine. The symptoms of cretinism range from intellectual disorders to numerous somatic problems. Cretinism can reduce people's quality of life in a unique way, but on the other hand, treatment can help prevent the effects of cretinism. What are the causes of cretinism, its symptoms and how is it treated?

Cretinism(also called mischief) is the name of one of the disease entities, although today we use the word "moron" primarily to offend someone. The popularity of the word used in a pejorative sense is probably due to the fact that nowadayscretinismis rarely seen - we owe it to properly conducted screening of newborns. Cretinism can occur in patients of both sexes, but more often - even twice - it is found in girls.

The name of the problem indicates that patients experience intellectual dysfunction in its course, but they are definitely not the only symptoms of cretinism - patients with this unit also have various somatic symptoms. It is thanks to them that it is possible to recognize cretinism basically immediately after a person comes into the world - but what is the cause of this disease with an unusual sounding name?

According to statistics, cretinism occurs in 1 in 3-4 thousand live births.

Cretinism: causes

Thyroid dysfunction, or more precisely, congenital hypothyroidism, contributes to cretinism. Such a problem can be caused by hypothyroidism (especially if it is not properly treated) in a pregnant woman - during pregnancy, the child's thyroid gland produces certain amounts of hormones, but they are not sufficient and the baby somehow uses those thyroid hormones that are produced by the mother's body. . If a pregnant woman struggles with an underactive thyroid gland, not only does she have a thyroid hormone deficiency, but also her descendant - eventually the child may develop congenital hypothyroidism.

The cause of cretinism - especially in the past - was also iodine deficiency. This element is very important in the production of hormonesand for this reason, cretinism has been most often observed in mountainous regions, where iodine is the least found. Currently, congenital hypothyroidism, resulting from an insufficient amount of iodine in the body, is rarely seen - this situation is mainly due to the enrichment of the s alt we consume with iodine.

Cretinism may have one more reason - it is genetic mutations. We are talking about such abnormalities in the genetic code, which lead to disturbances in the transformation of thyroid hormones (e.g. the transformation of tyrosine into ready-made thyroid hormones) - ultimately in the patient this can lead to a reduction in the amount of thyroid hormones, the development of congenital hypothyroidism and finally to the occurrence of of cretinism.

Cretinism: symptoms

Thyroid hormones are essential for the functioning of the whole organism, therefore in the case of cretinism and the congenital hypothyroidism that leads to it, patients experience ailments from various organs. The first symptoms of this problem may appear soon after the baby is born - they can include:

  • language enlargement (macroglossia);
  • decreased activity in the child;
  • prolonged jaundice of newborns;
  • pale skin;
  • dry skin;
  • food intake problems;
  • slower digestive tract activity (manifested primarily by a tendency to constipation).

Along with the development of the patient (and in the absence of treatment of the disease), the existence of cretinism may cause more and more disorders to appear. A deficiency of thyroid hormones can lead to numerous developmental disorders, e.g. to underdevelopment of the mandible, widening of the face or to delayed and ultimately impaired tooth development. Cretinism can also result in growth disorders (resulting mainly from impaired skeletal development), the individual can also lead to disorders of sexual development, including even infertility.

It is impossible not to mention these symptoms of cretinism, which basically gave the name to this problem. We are talking about intellectual disorders - patients with untreated cretinism in the early stages of development may experience a slowing down of it, and eventually they may experience a significant degree of mental retardation.

Important

Cretinism: diagnostics

Currently, congenital hypothyroidism - which is the main pathology leading to cretinism - is diagnosed very quickly. This is at least the case in those countries where adequate research is carried outscreening of newborns to which Poland belongs. The test that can detect congenital hypothyroidism is the determination of the level of TSH (thyrotropin). A TSH result above normal in a newborn may indicate a deficiency of thyroid hormones. If this condition is confirmed, the patient is immediately treated.

Treatment of cretinism. Disease prognosis

Pharmacotherapy is used in the treatment of cretinism - patients are given preparations of the missing thyroid hormones. It is very important that congenital hypothyroidism is detected and treated as early as possible - the prognosis of patients with cretinism depends on it.

Patients with congenital hypothyroidism may have different prognosis depending on how quickly they are treated. For those children who quickly started receiving thyroid hormones and who did not develop full-blown cretinism, the prognosis is good - they do not have to develop intellectual disorders, and their life expectancy may be similar to that of other people. It is worse, however, when the treatment for some reason is started delayed and the patient develops symptoms of cretinism - most problems (including mental retardation) cannot be undone at this stage of the disease.

About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.

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