In the open-air laboratory of Switzerland, an intuition was transformed into a victory for global public health. Thanks to three visionary doctors, Switzerland invented the iodization of table salt, a practice that helped defeat the scourge of cretinism in the Alps before being adopted elsewhere.
Between 1875 and 1876, as tourism began to flourish in the alpine valleys of Switzerland, the famous French geographer Elisée Reclus, returning from a trip, described some mountain inhabitants in a less than flattering manner in his work “L’histoire d’une montagne.” The quote summarizes the numerous period testimonies about cretinism.
What is cretinism? People with cretinism often exhibit developmental disorders leading to dwarfism, deafness, and mutism, along with symptoms like goiter. Severe consequences affect brain development, limiting mental capacity.
(context: Creole students can call families after shooting)
