Thyroid.org: ATA Thyroid Timeline

Year	Event
2700 BC	Emperor Shen Nung's prescriptions (first published in Pen Tsao, the herbal of the Chinese pharmacopoeia, 1596) mentions the use of seaweed for the treatment of goiter
300 BC	Ayur Veda, Hindu holy text, discusses goiter.
40 BC	Pliny, Vitruvius, and Juvenal describe prevalence of goiter in the Alps and use of burnt seaweed for treatment.
138 AD	Greek physician, Soranus, mentions neck swelling following pregnancy
340	Ko-Hung, Chinese alchemist, recommends seaweed for treatment of goiter among people living in mountains
650	Sun Ssu-Mo, a Chinese physician, uses dried, powdered mollusc shells and chopped thyroid gland for the treatment of goiter
961	Abul Kasim, personal physician to Caliph El-Hakin III of Codoba, is first to describe thyroidectomy for goiter and to perform a needle biopsy of the thyroid.
1170	Roger of Salerno uses seaweed in the treatment of goiter
1200	Arnaldus de Villanova reports that marine sponges could be used to treat goiters of recent origin in the young
1475	Chinese physician, Wang Hei, recommends treatment of goiter with minced thyroid.
1500	Leonardo da Vinci is first person to recognize and draw the thryoid gland
1543	Andreas Vesalius provides first anatomic description and illustration of the thyroid gland
1563	Eustachius introduces the term "isthmus" to describe tissue connecting the two lobes of the thyroid
1602	Felix Platter gives first description of cretins (see 1754) found in Valais region of Switzerland.
1656	Thomas Wharton names gland "thyroid" after the shape of an ancient Greecian shield
1669	Albrecht van Haller describes constipation as a complication of cretinism
1754	First use of the term "cretin" in the medical literature. The term is derived from the Latin "christianus" as affected individuals are incapable of committing a sin
1789	F.E. Fodere suggests an association between goiter and cretinism
1800	Guiseppe Frajani, personal physician to the Pope, described association of palpitations, goiter, and bulging of the eyes. This triad was known as Morbus Frajani.
1811	Bernard Courtois discovers iodine by oxidizing burnt seaweed (i.e. kelp) with sulfuric acid
1813	Gay-Lussac names the vapor discovered by Courtois iodine, from the Greek word for violet
1818	Goiter reported in British Columbia
1820	AJ-Ch. Coindet concludes that iodine deficiency causes goiter and begins treatment of goiter with iodine.
1824	Alexander von Humboldt reports endemic goiter in Andes. He observes that goiter size decreases by 1/3 when an individual moves to an area where goiter is not endemic
1825	C. Parry describes exophthalmic goiter
1825	Boussingault detects iodine in the natural salt from mines in the northern Andes. Working in Bogota, he then recommends iodinated salt to prevent and treat endemic goiter
1829	LGA Lugol recommends use of aqueous solution of iodine made from KI for treatment of scrofula (a neck mass from a goiter and cervical adenopathy due to tuberculosis and lymphoma were considered identical processes)
1831	Francisco Freire-Allemao, a Brazilian physician, proposes iodine prophylaxis as a government-administered public health program, for goiter prevention.
1834	Robert Graves describes a syndrome of palpitations, goiter, and exophthalmos in three women.
1848	C. von Basedow describes exophthalmic goiter
1849	J.L. Prevost adds iodine to food and water to prevent goiter
1850	T.B. Curling describes cretinism with athyreosis
1851	A. Chatin detects iodine in freshwater plants and recommends these as prophylaxis for endemic goiter based upon his theory that goiter is due to low little iodine in drinking water
1857	B. Niepce describes enlargment of sella turcica in cretins with hypothyroidism in Switzerland
1857	Maurice Schiff successfully performs total thyroidectomies in animals
1860	R. Virchow suggests that cretinism and goiter are related
1862	A. Trousseau introduces the term "Graves disease"
1864	Baillarger reports occurrence of goiter in animals where goiter and cretinism are widespread
1867	A. von Graefe describes lid lag in thyrotoxicosis (Basedow's disease)
1873	Th. Billroth describes tetany following total thyroidectomy
1877	William Gull publishes "On a Cretinoid State Supervening in Adult Life in Women"
1882	William Ord coins term myxedema to describe middle aged women with cretinoid features
1883	J.L. Reverdin describes cretinism following thryoidectomy.
1883	Heinrich Bircher recognizes association of endemic goiter with geologic features characteristic of Quarternary glaciation
1883	E.T. Kocher calls attention to myxedema following thyroidectomy. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1909 for his work on the thyroid gland.
1886	Pierre Marie describes the characteristic tremor of hyperthyroidism
1888	Rogowitsch observes pituitary hyperplasia in rabbits following thyroidectomy
1891	F.D. von Recklinghausen reports on the occurrence of osteoporosis in hyperthyroidism
1891	Victor Horsley, using monkeys, shows that myxedema, cretinism, and post-thyroidectomy cachexia are all due to a deficiency of thyroid function.
1891	G.R. Murray introduces the use the thyroid extract to treat myxedema
1895	Aldolf Magnus Levy describes the influence of the thyroid on the basal metabolic rate
1896	E. Drechsel discovers first iodine-containing protein, "gorgonin", in the axial skeleton of coral.
1896	Eugen Baumann discovers iodine as a natural constituent of the thyroid and names it "iodothyrin".
1896	F. de Quervain describes subacute granulomatous thyroiditis
1896	B. Riedel publishes first description of chronic, fibrous thyroiditis.
1897	Pendred descirbes association of goiter with deaf-mutism.
1898	W. Osler publishes case reports of sporadic cretinism, some of whom had a family history of goiter.
1898	von Notthalt describes thryotoxicosis factitia and suggests that excess thyroid hormone produces Graves disease.
1905	F. de Quervain describes subacute granulomatous thyroiditis
1905	Robert Abbe treats Graves disease by implanting radium into the patient's goiter
1907	H.L. Wheeler and G.S. Jamieson show that gorgonia, from coral, is diiodotyrosine.
1907	David Marine publishes that iodine is necessary for thyroid function.
1907	David Marine recommends treating Graves disease with iodine
1910	Charles H. Mayo introduces term "hyperthyroidism" to describe the clinical conditions of primary exophthalmic goiter, toxic adenoma, and adenomatous goiter with hyperthyroidism.
1911	D. Marine and C.H. Lenhart describe hyperthyroidism due to Graves disease and concomitant functioning thyroid
1911	Henry Plummer from the Mayo Clinic distinguishes exophthalmic goiter from adenomatous goiter
1912	Kocher coins term Jod Basedow for iodine overdosage.
1912	J.F. Gudernatsch observes that thyroid extract has a specific effect on accelerating the differentiation (metamorphosis) in amphibian larva.
1912	A. Seidell and F. Fenger describe the seasonal variation in thyroid iodine content.
1913	Massachusetts General Hospital establishes Thyroid Unit under the direction of J.H. Means.
1914	H. Hashimoto publishes 4 cases of a thyroid disorder characterized by a diffuse lymphocytic infiltration and fibrosis of the gland.
1915	E.A. Kendall isolates thyroxine, a name he creates from a contraction of the term "thyroxindole".
1916	Phillip E. Smith and Bennet M. Allen independently report that hypophysectomized tadpoles show thyroid involution and do not undergo metamorphosis.
1916	H. Hunziker proposes that endemic goiter is due to regional iodine deficiency, which in turn was the result of abundent precipitation in the mountains and alluvial loss of soluble iodine salts.
1917	M. Seymour in Boston reports on the use of x-rays to treat Graves disease.
1917	thyroxine introduced into commercial distribution in the United States for $350 per gram.
1920	Marine and Kimball successfully use iodine prophylaxis to prevent ovine and porcine athyreosis and trout goiter.
1923	P.E. Smith and I.P. Smith show that bovine pituitary extracts could stimulate the thyroid of a hypopituitary tadpole.
1924	H.S. Plummer at the Mayo Clinic report on the pre-operative use of iodine for the treatment of Graves disease.
1924	George Hevesy introduces concept of radioactive tracers for the study of metabolic pathways. He receives Nobel Prize for this work in 1943.
1926	McClendon reports that the iodine concentration in rainwater and in drinking water decreases as one travels from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes.
1927	Harington determines chemical structure of thyroxine.
1928	Harington and Barger synthesize thyroxine.
1930	A. Chesney, T. Clawson, and B. Webster show that vegetables can cause goiter by showing that rabbits fed cabbage develop enlarged thyroids.
1931	L. Loeb and R. Bassett extract and purify TSH from bovine pituitaries.
1932	Naffziger introduces orbital decompression for the the treatment of exophthalmos.
1935	Roy O. Greep demonstrates that pituitary TSH differs from LH and FSH.
1936	Marine describes cyanide goiter.
1936	Barker identifies goiter as a complication of thiocyanate treatment of hypertension.
1941	J.H. Means and S. Hertz come up with the idea of using radioactive iodine to study thyroid physiology and pathology.
1942	Radioactive iodine used for the treatment of Graves disease by Dr. S. Herz in Boston.
1943	Kennedy observes that thiourea is goitrogenic
1946	A. Astwood used thiourea and thiouracil for the medical treatment of Graves disease.
1947	Cope, Rawson, and McArthur report first use of radioactive iodine to demonstrate a "hot" thyroid nodule
1948	H. Pemberton sends letter to The Lancet describing his eponymous sign for a substernal goiter.
1948	T. Tempka, J. Aleksandrowicz, M. Till publish the use of fine needle thyroid biopsy as a diagnostic method
1949	R.G. Hoskins describes negative feedback of thyroid on pituritary, a mechanism which he termed "servo (feedback) mechanism".
1949	J. Wolff and I. Chaikoff describe the regulatory effects of inorganic iodine on the thyroid.
1949	Jones, Kornfeld, McLaughlin and Anderson synthesize methimazole.
1950	J.B. Stanbury describes first case of a genetic abnormality of thyroid hormone synthesis.
1951	B. Duffy and P. Fitzgerald call attention to thyroid cancer in children following head and neck irradiation.
1952	Lawson, Rimington, and Searle synthesize carbimazole.
1954	J. Gross and R. Pitt-Rivers isolate and synthesize T3.
1954	J.B. Stanbury, J.B. Wyngaarden, and A. Godley describe use of perchlorate in treatment of hyperthyroidism.
1954	J.B. Stanbury provides definitive proof of Jod Basedown in course of treating endemic goiter in Menduza, Argentena.
1956	Goldschmidt, a Norweigen geochemist, identifies Quarternary glaciation as cause of iodine deficiency in soil.
1956	Roitt and Doniach demonstrate autoantibodies in Hashimoto's disease.
1959	J.B. Hazard, W.A. Hawk, and G. Crile identify medullary thyroid cancer as a distinct entity.
1960	Adams, Purves, and McKenzie discover LATS in the serum of Graves disease patients.
1963	D.H. Copp, A.G.F. Davidson, and B. A. Cheney provide first description of calcitonin.
1965	S. Berson and R. Yalow develop radioimmunoassay procedure, and R. Yalow receives Nobel Prize for this work in 1977.
1965	E.D. Williams reports 17 cases of cancer of the thyroid and pheochromocytoma.
1966	R.F. Rohner, J.T. Prior, and J.H. Sipple describe the first cases of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2.
1969	Neonatal screening for congenital metabolic disease introduced in Switzerland.
1970	A. Schally identifies TRH and receives Noble Prize for this work in 1977.
1970	L. Braverman, S. Ingbar, and K. Sterling discover T4 to T3 conversion.
1972	S. Berens, J. Wolff, D. Murphy show that the thyroid concentrates lithium.
1974	S. Refetoff and L. DeGroot identify thyroid hormone resistance.
1979	T.H. Liao and J. Pierce obtain first ultrapure TSH preparation and then demonstrate that TSH shares a common alpha subunit with LH and FSH.
1998	Recombinant human TSH approved for clinical use in the United States

(updated July 2008)

Thyroid Timeline

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