Thyroid hormone is an essential hormone that affects many aspects of your body. If you are pregnant and have too little or too much thyroid hormone, it can affect the fetus and its brain development.

Severe iodine deficiency causes cretinism, a condition marked by mental retardation and stunted growth. Iodine is naturally found in seafood, dairy products, eggs, and iodized salt. Ensuring ...

Another, more serious, irreversible condition commonly caused by iodine deficiency is congenital iodine deficiency syndrome, also known as cretinism. It happens when a fetus doesn't get enough ...

"She was about this tall," said Banerji, gesturing around three feet, "had the classical face of cretinism and was intellectually delayed — severe, severe intellectual deficits." She says it's ...