For a Few Pennies More - Indonesia

April 2000
Kamidi lives on the slopes of Mount Merapi in Indonesia, one of Java's most active and dangerous volcanoes. He's three foot tall and has the tell-tale signs of cretinism: low hair line, bulging eyes, stunted growth - all associated with iodine deficiency, common in volcanic areas. Twenty years ago, Dr. Djokomoelyanto, a distinguished Indonesian endocrinologist injected large numbers of cretins in the surrounding area with iodine-infused oil. Kamidi was one of his patients. Within weeks, as Prof. Djokomoelyanto recounts in this moving Life programme, the cretins started feeling more energetic and lively. Kamidi eventually even married - another, taller, cretin, who'd also been treated with the iodine-infused oil, and they had two normal children.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Journeyman
• Pictures
• Indonesia
• Java
• volcano
• iodine
• oil
• cretin
• news
• documentary
• current affairs
• journeyman
• journeyman pictures

[gadadhoon]

How hard is it to eat some seaweed once every few days?

[gadadhoon]

@Pastorofmuppets84 And why do you think this?

[mwp567]

you only need 0.2 mg a day

[fuzzypeachmonkey]

Burn, at the end the little old guy said "... and lets face it my wife isn't exactly pretty..." Man if that was me there would have been nothing but a blur as I backhanded that guy.

[zenithdave]

Pardon my conspiraloonism but isnt it convienient for world govs who would just like to have non-thinking workers doing any menial task asked of them.

This is such a big world problem but all the governments really had to do was DO FUCK ALL.

[shishihenge]

what is that liquid droppers used to test iodine level called?

[Pastorofmuppets84]

90 percent of the world is Iodine deficient. You need atleast 12.5 mg per day, and it's better to get atleast 50mg. The USDA RDA is 150 micrograms. This is far too low.

[beIshazzar]

You know, the proposed species Homo floresiensis lived on the island of Flores and share characteristics with "cretinism". They were three feet tall and critics claim that Homo floresiensis was just several cases of cretinism.

[supersmash43]

Excellent video and what a coinceidence that I am doing a chemistry project on the importance of iodine on human health or the role of various elements in biology.

[merekedeweng]

They have very limited access to proper health care. What's more nutritious food is not widely available either.

It's sad, indeed.