Relationship between Urinary Arsenic Level and Urinary Iodine, Radioiodine Uptake, TSH, FT4 Levels: Research is Based on Experimental and Control Groups

Abstract

In Bangladesh drinking water is heavily contaminated with arsenic. An estimated 50 million people
are at risk from drinking of arsenic contaminated water in Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. Millions of people
in many districts of Bangladesh are drinking ground water with arsenic concentrations above acceptable levels (0.05
mg/l) and many of them have already been diagnosed with poisoning symptoms. That is why, in this research an
attempt has been made to find the relation between arsenic levels and urinary iodine, radioiodine uptake, thyroid
stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxin (FT4) levels in Bangladeshi population. Another purpose has also been
made to find the impacts of arsenic level on simple diffuse goiters. This is a case-control analytic study. The study
was carried out at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound, in collaboration with the thyroid out patient
department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh. From our analytical
results it has been found that, only the variable radioiodine uptake at 24 hours play significant role for reducing the
arsenic level. Also, it has been found that iodine deficiency is not only the factor of causing simple diffuse goiter, but
arsenic level is also one of the most important factors of causing simple diffuse goiter in Bangladeshi population.