Evelyn B. Man(1904-1992),Maternal Hypothyroidism and Childhood Development

摘要

For much of the 20th century, one treatment for women who had sponta-neous abortions was thyroid hormone therapy. The mothers were usually not obviously hypothyroid but the claim, based on published anecdotes but not on controlled trials (there were none before the 1940s), was that these women nevertheless had a subtle degree of thyroid deficiency. The claim was not easy to confirm or deny. Tests for thyroid deficiency before the 1950s were not precise, and the diagnosis often depended on the imprecise tests available and the physician's impression. If it were true, then one had to conclude that the mother's thyroid function affected the pregnancy. But how would this happen? Perhaps maternal thyroid hormone got through the placenta and was needed for the fetus to develop, or maybe the mother's thyroid hormones were needed for the proper function of the placenta. No one knew.