Healthy arteries are flexible and elastic, allowing efficient transfer of blood and nutrients from the heart to the rest of the body. Arteriosclerosis refers to a stiffening of the arteries, including loss of elasticity. This is a slow, progressive disease that may begin early in life from damage to the inner layer of the arteries. Numerous factors can cause or contribute to this damage, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and environmental factors (e.g. smoking).

Several studies have found that those chronically exposed to fluoride are at higher risk of suffering from arteriosclerosis. For example, the elastic properties of the ascending aorta were found to be impaired in patients with mild levels of fluoride toxicity (Varol et al., 2010). It has been suggested that fluoride-induced aortosclerosis (arteriosclerosis of the aorta) may accelerate sclerosis and calcification of conducting arteries, which in turn may further aggravate other aspects of fluoride toxicity (Song et al., 1990).

Excerpts from the Scientific Literature:

“Lower [aortic strain] and [aortic distensibility] in fluorosis patients are in accordance with our findings of increasing the [systolic blood pressure] (and not the [diastolic blood pressure]) with the increasing exposure to fluoride.”
SOURCE: Amini H, et al. (2011). Drinking water fluoride and blood pressure? An environmental study. Biol Trace Elem Res 144:157-63.

“Based on the important role of inflammation in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis…we further investigated whether fluoride and (or) arsenic could induce inflammatory responses in the aorta of rabbits. In conclusion, fluoride and arsenic induce the expression of key molecules involved in cell adhesion molecules, chemokines, and proinflammatory cytokines both at mRNA and protein levels.”
SOURCE: Ma Y, et al. (2012). Inflammatory responses induced by fluoride and arsenic at toxic concentration in rabbit aorta. Arch Toxicol 86:849-56.

“Histologically, regressive degeneration, cellular infiltration, hyperemia, hemorrhages and thickening of vessel wall were noted in the heart muscle [of fluorotic rabbits].”
SOURCE: Okushi I. (1954). Experimental studies on the effects of sodium fluoride upon the heart muscle of rabbits. Abstracted from Shikoku Acta Medica 5:238-45.

“Results of this study suggest that endemic fluorosis might cause aortosclerosis [arteriosclerosis of the aorta], which greatly aggravates the course and range of sclerosis and calcification of the conducting arteries and which in turn makes fluorosis severer.”
SOURCE: Song AH, et al. (1990). Observations on fluorotic aortosclerosis by two-dimensional echocardiography. Abstracted from Endemic Diseases Bulletin 5(1): 91-94.

“The mechanism of fluoride toxicity on the cardiovascular system is complex. We think that in addition to inflammatory mechanisms, oxidative stress contributes to atherosclerosis, vascular stiffness, and myocardial cell damage. Fluoride toxicity can cause atherosclerosis at the molecular level and can also cause aortic stiffness and disturbed ventricular distensibility at the clinical level.”
SOURCE: Varol E, Varol S. (2012). Effect of fluoride toxicity on cardiovascular systems: role of oxidative stress. Arch Toxicol (Letter to the Editor), DOI 10.1007/s00204-012-0862-y.

“We found significantly low values of AS [aortic strain] and AD [aortic distensibility] and increased ASI [aortic strain index] in fluorosis patients. Therefore, we concluded that elastic properties of aorta were impaired in patients with endemic fluorosis. The fluorosis patients were not very sick. They just have mottled teeth.”
SOURCE: Varol E, et al. (2010b). Aortic elasticity is impaired in patients with endemic fluorosis. Biol Trace Elem Res 133:121-7.

“in addition to inflammatory mechanism, oxidative stress contributes to atherosclerosis, vascular stiffness, and myocardial cell damage. Fluoride toxicity can cause atherosclerosis at molecular level and can also cause aortic stiffness and disturbed ventricular distensibility at clinical level.”
SOURCE: Varol E and Varol S. (2012). Effect of fluoride toxicity on cardiovascular systems: role of oxidative stress. Arch Toxicol, Letter to the Editor, DOI 10.1007/s00204-012-0862-y

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