Medicine Intro | Medical Research | Life & Death | Salt of the Earth | Viva la Revolution

Salt of the Earth
By Michelle Fung

___What type of salt is sitting inside your kitchen cupboard? As Dr Gary Ma understands, this simple question is crucial to our health. With a PhD in Biochemistry, Dr Ma is the Principal Scientist at the Institute of Clinical and Medical Research (ICPMR) at Westmead Hospital. He is also the Principal Scientific Consultant to the National Reference Laboratory in China. Dr Ma is obsessed with salt because he specialises in Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD). Iodine Deficiency is a leading cause of preventable intellectual impairment. An efficient way to ensure adequate iodine intake is to add it to salt, because salt is cheap and extensively used.

___I arrive in one of Dr Ma’s laboratories in time to watch him run a set of blood tests for the hospital. He warmly welcomes me, and his sense of humour is apparent when he introduces me to his colleagues as someone who is there to ensure he is doing his work properly for the day. Westmead Hospital specialises in pancreas and kidney transplants. This morning, like many other mornings, he is monitoring levels of Tacrolimis in the blood of organ recipients to make sure the body is not rejecting the new organ.

___Dr Ma takes me on a tour of the ICPMR, which he supervises. There are many laboratories in the ICPMR, each with their own speciality. Toxicology, for example, provides forensic services predominately to the police. Dr Ma describes his role here as “varied”. He was trained and is employed as a Principle Scientist, but he must also look after areas such as administration and human resources due to a lack of staff.

___Despite the demands of his job, Dr Ma obviously enjoys his work. When I comment on this, Dr Ma agrees. Although many see Biochemistry as 'boring', he absolutely loves it. My respect for Dr Ma’s work intensifies when he starts to talk passionately about the IDD work that he does in addition to his everyday job when he has the time. Adequate levels of thyroid hormones are essential for the development of the central nervous system and normal intellectual functioning. To ensure there are sufficient amounts of these hormones, the body needs iodine. Hence, the lack of iodine may cause a great variety of mental and physical disabilities. Iodine deficiency in pregnant women can result in stillborn infants or cause foetuses to develop mental deficiencies. In children and adolescents, IDD retards development, and impairment of mental functioning can occur in anyone with IDD. Extreme Iodine deficiency causes an expansion of the Thyroid Gland (in the neck), which can be observed in many of the developing nations where Dr Ma has worked.

___Dr Ma assists the Australian Centre for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ACCIDD) at Westmead Hospital in the implementation and monitoring of public health programs to fight IDD in the Asia-Pacific region. They are funded by public health organisations, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). The projects Dr Ma has been involved in aim to raise awareness of the issue and encourage the use of iodised salt. The sale of iodised salt is mandated wherever possible.

___Since commencing work in the public health sector twenty years ago, Dr Ma and his colleagues have shared great success in addressing IDD in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, particularly China and Tibet. A lot of work has been put into China over many years, and only six provinces are yet to be aided by Dr Ma and his colleagues. The most successful story has been their work in the Himalayas of Tibet. They faced enormous difficulties in raising awareness about IDD in such an undeveloped country. Dr Ma prizes the decrease of IDD in Tibet as the most rewarding project of his IDD efforts.

___There is no question that Dr Ma loves his work greatly. I asked Dr Ma what he had wanted or expected his future to hold when studying biochemistry as an undergraduate student. He had aimed to do research with his degree but somehow ended up in a totally different area, public health. His career path is a great example of the diverse opportunities open to a Science graduate.

___Dr Ma is currently assessing iodine intake and IDD issues here in Australia. A national survey indicates IDD in many states. He and his colleagues are fighting to enforce sale of iodised salt to address this problem. So perhaps it would be wise to check your cupboard now and make sure you and your family are using iodised salt. I did.

Medicine Intro | Medical Research | Life & Death | Salt of the Earth | Viva la Revolution