Editing Congenital iodine deficiency syndrome (section)

==Terminology==
The term ''cretin'' was originally used to describe a person affected by this condition, but, as with words such as ''[[Spastic (word)|spastic]]'' and ''[[lunatic]]'', it underwent [[pejoration]] and is now considered derogatory and inappropriate.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Taylor|first1=Robert B.|title=White Coat Tales: Medicine's Heroes, Heritage, and Misadventures|date=2008|publisher=Springer|location=New York|isbn=978-0-387-73080-6|page=83|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNLk6ArybNoC&q=cretin%20cretinism%20pejorative&pg=PA83}}</ref> ''Cretin'' became a medical term in the 18th century, from an [[Occitan language|Occitan]] and an [[Alps|Alpine]] [[French language|French]] expression, prevalent in a region where persons with such a condition were especially common (see below); it saw wide medical use in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and was a "tick box" category on Victorian-era census forms in the UK. The term spread more widely in popular English as a markedly derogatory term for a person who behaves stupidly. Because of its pejorative connotations in popular speech, current usage among health care professionals has abandoned the noun "cretin" referring to a person. The noun ''cretinism'', referring to the condition, still occurs in medical literature and textbooks but its use is waning.<!--Lit searches in PubMed and other databases bear out this fact. ICD-10 provides an example of the nosologic categorization at E00.9 with "Approximate Synonyms: congenital iodine deficiency syndrome, endemic cretinism".-->{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The etymology of ''cretin'' is uncertain. Several hypotheses exist. The most common derivation provided in English dictionaries is from the Alpine French dialect pronunciation of the word ''Chrétien'' ("(a) [[Christians|Christian]]"), which was a greeting there. According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', the translation of the French term into "human creature" implies that the label "Christian" is a reminder of the humanity of the affected, in contrast to brute beasts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50053852 |title=cretin |work=Oxford English Dictionary |access-date=11 December 2005 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Other sources suggest that ''Christian'' describes the person's "Christ-like" inability to sin, stemming, in such cases, from an incapacity to distinguish right from wrong.<ref>{{cite web | last = Brockett | first = Linus P | url = http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/lib/docs/1385.htm | title = Cretins And Idiots | work = [[The Atlantic Monthly]] | date = Feb 1858 | access-date = 11 December 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Robbins and Cotran – Pathologic basis of disease 8/E | location = Philadelphia, PA | publisher = Sauders Elsevier | year = 2004 }}</ref>

Other speculative etymologies have been offered:
* From ''creta'', Latin for ''chalk'', because of the [[pallor]] of those affected.
* From ''cretira'', [[Graubünden|Grison]]-[[Romansh language|Romanche]] ''creature'', from Latin ''creatus''.
* From ''cretine'', French for ''alluvium'' (soil deposited by flowing water), an allusion to the condition's suspected origin in inadequate soil.<ref>{{cite book | first = VC | last = Medvei | title = The History of Clinical Endocrinology | location = Pearl River, New York | publisher = Parthenon Publishing Group | year = 1993 }}</ref>