Studies on sural nerve biopsies in endemic skeletal fluorosis

Sural nerve biopsies from 13 patients with radiologically confirmed skeletal fluorosis were studied for myelinated fibre densities, frequency distribution oftheir diameters, and single teased nerve fibre preparations. It was observed that most of the biopsies showed a marked reduction in myelinated fibre densities with more than half of them in:volving

Health effects of selected chemicals. 3. Cryolite (sodium aluminium fluoride)

Cryolite occurs in the nature as monoclinic crystals or in synthetic form as an amorphous powder. The natural form may be coloured reddish or brown or even black. Cryolite has a melting point >1 000 degrees C and its main use is in the production of aluminum where it forms

Prevalence of fluorosis in Pratabpura and Surajpura villages, District Ajmer (Rajasthan).

HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. In a study of 357 individuals at Pratabpura and Surajpura villages in Ajmer district, Rajasthan, where (F-) contents in water were 14.3 and 13.9 mg/l, respectively, dental fluorosis was present in 280 (83.5%). Males were slightly more (87.56%) affected than females (78.66%). Of children below 15

The pathogenesis of endemic fluorosis: Research progress in the last 5 years.

Fluorine is one of the trace elements necessary for health. It has many physiological functions, and participates in normal metabolism. However, fluorine has paradoxical effects on the body. Many studies have shown that tissues and organs of humans and animals appear to suffer different degrees of damage after long-term direct

Fluorine Intoxication: A Clinical-Hygienic Study with a Review of the Literature and Some Experimental Investigations

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 & 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.

"Pre-Skeletal" Fluorosis

As demonstrated by the studies below, skeletal fluorosis may produce adverse symptoms, including arthritic pains, clinical osteoarthritis, gastrointestinal disturbances, and bone fragility, before the classic bone change of fluorosis (i.e., osteosclerosis in the spine and pelvis) is detectable by x-ray. Relying on x-rays, therefore, to diagnosis skeletal fluorosis will invariably fail to protect those individuals who are suffering from the pre-skeletal phase of the disease. Moreover, some individuals with clinical skeletal fluorosis will not develop an increase in bone density, let alone osteosclerosis, of the spine. Thus, relying on unusual increases in spinal bone density will under-detect the rate of skeletal fluoride poisoning in a population.

Factors which increase the risk for skeletal fluorosis

The risk for developing skeletal fluorosis, and the course the disease will take, is not solely dependent on the dose of fluoride ingested. Indeed, people exposed to similar doses of fluoride may experience markedly different effects. While the wide range in individual response to fluoride is not yet fully understood, the following are some of the factors that are believed to play a role.

Fluoride & Spondylosis; Spondylitis

Among individuals with skeletal fluorosis, the fluoride-induced changes to the spine, and the accompanying symptoms, can bear a close resemblance to spondylosis and spondylitis (as well as DISH). Spondylosis is a (non-inflammatory) degenerative disease of the spine marked by bony outgrowths (spurs) which can produce nerve cord compression. Spondylitis, by contrast, is an inflammatory form of arthritis that causes inflammation in the joints between the vertebrae. Whereas spondylosis is generally asymptomatic, spondylitis generally causes significant pain and stiffness in the spine.