Abstract

146 patients with bone fluorosis were collected from endemic areas (100 from Yangyuan county of Hebei province and 46 from Beijing suburbs). X-rays of the chest, spinal column, pelvis, elbow, forearm, knee joint and leg bones were taken in every case. The drinking water fluorine content was also determined. All patients were followed up once a year for 3 years. Our investigation revealed that in different areas with similar drinking water fluorine content, X-ray findings of bone fluorosis were significantly different. Some cases presented mainly rarefaction whereas others had mainly malacia. For further research into this problem, we observed the principal X-ray changes of bone fluorosis and its pathologic basis.

• Related Studies :

  • Nutritional and metabolic rickets

    Nutritional rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency due to lack of exposure to sunlight. Neonatal rickets occurs only in infants born to mothers with very severe osteomalacia. Calcium deficiency alone does not cause mineralisation defects. It only causes osteoporosis and secondary hyperparathyroidism with raised plasma, 1,25 (OH)2D and osteocalcin.

  • Further observations on radiological changes of endemic food borne skeletal fluorosis

    Among radiological changes in 396 cases of foodborne skeletal fluorosis, from 4 endemic areas in Guizhou, China, osteoporosis, osteomalacia and impaired bone growth were seen in addition to previously recorded findings of osteosclerosis, bone prominences, joint changes and calcification of peripheral arteries. The deformity of genu valgum, a manifestation of

  • Vitamin D deficiency, rickets, and fluorosis in India

    Data on the vitamin D status of the populations in a tropical country like India have seldom been documented. Vitamin D deficiency is presumed to be rare. Population studied by the author and others in the country has proved otherwise. Studies were carried out to document the dietary habits, serum

  • Endemic skeletal fluorosis in children: hypocalcemia and the presence of renal resistance to parathyroid hormone

    Although endemic skeletal fluorosis has been reported in children, hypocalcemia has not been previously noted. In a prevalence study of 260 schoolchildren living in an endemic fluorosis area in South Africa (water fluoride content 8-12 ppm), hypocalcemia was documented in 23%. Furthermore in a separate study of nine children with skeletal symptoms due to

  • Fluoridation and bone disease in renal patients

    About the Authors: William J Johnson, director of the Mayo Artificial Kidney Center and professor of medicine with the Division of Nephrology at the Mayo Clinic, has been involved in the study of calcium and phosphorus metabolism and renal osteodystrophy, potassium metabolism, and uremic neuropathy. He is past chairman of the Minnesota

• Related FAN Content :

  • Similarities between Skeletal Fluorosis and Renal Osteodystrophy

    It is quite possible, and indeed likely, that some kidney patients diagnosed with renal osteodystrophy are either suffering from skeletal fluorosis or their condition is being complicated/exacerbated by fluoride exposure.

  • Fluoride & Osteoarthritis

    While the osteoarthritic effects that occurred from fluoride exposure were once considered to be limited to those with skeletal fluorosis, recent research shows that fluoride can cause osteoarthritis in the absence of traditionally defined fluorosis. Conventional methods used for detecting skeletal fluorosis, therefore, will fail to detect the full range of people suffering from fluoride-induced osteoarthritis.

  • Skeletal Fluorosis: The Misdiagnosis Problem

    It is a virtual certainty that there are individuals in the general population unknowingly suffering from some form of skeletal fluorosis as a result of a doctor's failure to consider fluoride as a cause of their symptoms. Proof that this is the case can be found in the following case reports of skeletal fluorosis written by doctors in the U.S. and other western countries. As can be seen, a consistent feature of these reports is that fluorosis patients--even those with crippling skeletal fluorosis--are misdiagnosed for years by multiple teams of doctors who routinely fail to consider fluoride as a possible cause of their disease.

  • Fluoride & Osteomalacia

    One of fluoride's most well-defined effects on bone tissue is it's ability to increase the osteoid content of bone. Osteoid is unmineralized bone tissue. When bones have too much of it, they become soft and prone to fracture -- a condition known as osteomalacia. As shown below, fluoride has repeatedly been

  • Variability in Radiographic Appearance of Skeletal Fluorosis

    Osteosclerosis (dense bone) is the bone change typically associated with skeletal fluorosis, particularly in the axial skeleton (spine, pelvis, and ribs). Research shows, however, that skeletal fluorosis produces a spectrum of bone changes, including osteomalacia, osteoporosis, exostoses, changes resulting from secondary hyperparathyroidism, and combinations thereof. Although the reason for this radiographic variability is not yet fully understood, it is believed to relate to the dose of fluoride consumed, the individual's nutritional status, exposure to aluminum, genetic susceptibility, presence of kidney disease, and area of the skeleton examined.