Thyroid health of Buddhist monks and nuns in Putuo Mountain of China

Objective To explore the factors affecting the thy roid health of Buddhist monks and nuns living in Putuo Mounta in.Methods The subjects were asked to fill in a questionnaire on thyroid health and to receive aphysical examination with a B modeultrasonic thyroid scan.The levels of serum triodo thyronine(TT₃),thy roxine(TT₄),thyroid stmiulating horm one(TSH)and urinary iodine were also examined.Results A total of 294 Buddhists were investig ated.Ninety three (31.6%)subjects were found with variousultra sonic abnormalities including 49(16.7%)cases of nodes,35(11.9%) cases of cysts,and 9(3.0%)cases of thy roid enlargement.The median of urineiod ine(NUI)for the subjects was 271.7 μg/L.The ultrasonic abnormality ratio of Buddhists who were old than 50 years or residing in Putuo Mounta in fro more than 8 years was significantly higher than that of others(χ²=17.27,P<0.01;χ²=8 14,P<0.05,respectively).But the urinary iodine level of Buddhists with ultrasonic thyroid abnormality had no significant difference from others (P>0.05).Conclusion There may be some environmental factors affecting the thyroid health of the Buddists in Putuo Mountain.Physical examination should be conducted among the Buddhists to diagnose thyroid diseases early.