Deficiency iatrogenic

The vast majority of hypothyroid patients have thyroid gland failure (primary hypothyroidism). The causes include chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto s disease), iatrogenic hypothyroidism, iodine deficiency, enzyme defects, thyroid hypoplasia, and goitrogens. 

Somatropin extracted from cadaveric human pituitaries was used to treat growth hormone-deficient patients until several cases of the fatal degenerative neurological disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were reported in the mid-1980s. Of 267 cases of iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, 139 were caused by human cadaver-derived somatropin (SEDA-25, 479). 

Failure to include zinc in fluids for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is another example of iatrogenically induced, conditioned deficiency of zinc. A decline of plasma zinc has been observed in several patients given TPN fluids containing less than 1.25 mg of zinc daily (9,58). The decrease which occurred was probably not attributable to urinary losses. Some patients on TPN have developed a clinical picture resembling acrodermatitis enteropathica. 

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