The Great Lakes "Goiter Belt"

 The Bright Side: A Reminder
   The clouds remain and I began thinking about how much we complain. It is time to remind ourselves that maybe things aren't so bad, or perhaps as bad as things once were. See, "The Bright Side" presented earlier in MM where I suggested that the musings of the philosopher Eric Idle can help us be a bit more positive.
  

 Given that, oddly enough, I have never gotten around to writing about goiters, I will use them to suggest that with regard to health care, things are surely better, even if you are waiting in line to get some. The picture above is from the 1930s and it is likely that the swelling around the woman's face is evidence of an enlarged thyroid gland. It is also the case that she may not have lived near a nail salon since a manicure is needed.

An Iodine Anniversary
   The lack of iodine is responsible for the enlargement of the thyroid and the diminishment of intelligence. In 1924 it was put into table salt to make up for the iodine deficiencies experienced in our area. As a salt appreciator and contrarian, I suggest we celebrate the 100th anniversary of iodized salt. 

Sources:
  As with most subjects, you have good reasons to doubt my expertise, so here is what you need to know about goiters and iodine:
"How the Arrival of Iodized Salt 100 Years Ago Changed America: On May 1,1924, the First Iodized Salt Appeared On Shelves, Quickly Solving an Iodine Deficiency Crisis that Plagued the Northern U.S. 'Goiter Belt'," Ray Cavanaugh, Washington Post, May 1, 2024.
 In the early 20th century, iodine deficiency was ravaging much of the northern United States. The region was widely known as the “goiter belt,” for the goiters — heavily swollen thyroid glands — that bulged from many residents’ necks. The issue was more than cosmetic: Iodine deficiency during pregnancy and lactation often led to children with severely diminished IQ and other permanent neurological impairments. And Michigan was at the epicenter of the crisis.The soil there didn’t have much iodine. Nor did the freshwater Great Lakes. And so the inhabitants didn’t have much iodine, either. The prevalence of iodine deficiency in the state became strikingly apparent after the outbreak of World War I. Simon Levin, the medical examiner for the draft board in Michigan’s Houghton County, observed that more than 30 percent[link] of registrants had a demonstrably enlarged thyroid, which could disqualify them from military service. In fact, it was the leading cause of medical disqualification in northern Michigan."
   If you are now interested in this subject see: "A Grain of Salt," by Howard Markel and "History of U.S. Iodine Fortification and Supplementation," by Leung, et al. 
There is some discussion about how iodine was introduced into the food supply and I would think that now both the Canadian and U.S. governments would  experience some difficulty in convincing many citizens that such a policy was warranted. 
  The photograph at the top is from, You Have Seen Their Faces, by Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White. There are many faces pictured and all of them suggest that maybe things are not so bad for us. 
For more about Caldwell, see "American Folkways and Erskine Caldwell" in MM.