Analyses of relationship between geography and endemic goiter in Xinjiang
新疆地理环境与地方性甲状腺肿关系剖析

In order to understand the relationship between endemic goiter and geographical environment, the relationship between endemic goiter and geographical environment was analyzed with a group of data collected from whole endemic areas before preventing intervention in Xinjiang. During the period of Palaeozoic era, most areas of Xinjiang were ancient-sea. The ancient sea in north part of Xinjiang disappeared in the late Palaeozoic era, then two seas, South Tianshan-sea and Tuha sea, shrank to the west and east respectively and disappeared during the end of this period. During the period from Cretaceous period to middle of Tertiary period, many times marine transgressions and regressions were occurred in south-west margin of Tarim. During Neogene, the Himalayan movement let to rise of the area, and the ancient sea withered away finally. Endemic goiter among inhabitants increased as the ancient sea disappeared time from north to south in Xinjiang. No obvious correlation was found between goiter incidence and annual mean precipitation. Endemic goiter increased with the discharge at the middle reaches of the river, and the incidence among the people living in place near bed of river was higher than that observed far away from the river. On the inclined plain of the basin, the incidence of endemic goiter decreased gradually from upper part to lower place. In the area where had been transgressed by ancient sea, the goiter incidence was much higher than that in other places. Goiter incidence of people who living in the middle and remote sections of ancient marine transgression also higher than that in the initial section. The results showed that distribution of endemic goiter has a close relation with the geography factors in Xinjiang.