20 SEPTEMBER 2008, Page 24

Village cretins

Sir: The disease and deformity described by William Clarke (Letters, 13 September) were most likely the result of chronic iodine deficiency common in southern Europe, especially the Alps. It was not unusual in the 19th century for the inhabitants of whole villages to be affected by cretinism — small stature, the inability to walk and severe learning difficulty. Artificially adding traces of iodine to food such as salt resolved the problem in the last century. However, the term cretin persisted as a term of abuse for someone stupid.

Dr Timothy C. Dowd

Knayton, North Yorkshire