Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether geographic area or water fluoride were related to the occurrence of fractures among the elderly in the United States. We used a 5% sample of the white U.S. Medicare population, aged 65 to 89 years during the period 1986-1990, to identify fractures of the hip, proximal humerus, distal forearm, and ankle. The association of geographic region and fluoridation status with fracture rates was assessed using Poisson regression. We found that rates of hip fracture were generally lower in the northern regions of the United States and higher in the southern regions. For fractures of the distal forearm and proximal humerus, lower rates were found in the Western states, and higher rates in the East. No discernible geographic pattern was found for ankle fractures. Adjustment for water fluoridation did not influence these results. Independent of geographic effects, men in fluoridated areas had modestly higher rates of fractures of the distal forearm and proximal humerus than did men in nonfluoridated areas; no such differences were observed among women, nor for fractures of the hip or ankle among either men or women. In conclusion, our data suggest that fractures of the distal forearm and proximal humerus have etiologic determinants distinct from those of fractures of the hip or ankle.

• Related Studies :

  • Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) study of endemic skeletal fluorosis in a village of Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh, India

    A comparative study of bone mineral density (BMD) and bone fracture was conducted in a fluorotic and a nonfluorotic area of the Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh, India. BMD measured by dual X- ray absorptiometry (DXA) of L2–L4 vertebrae, femoral neck, hip, and whole body was significantly higher by 112%, 43%,

  • [Generalized osteopathy with pathological fractures in a patient with long-term exposure to fluorine-containing plastics].

    In a 68-year-old man with a painful syndrome of the lower extremities which began at the age of 64 years, workup revealed a generalized osteopathy with sclerosis of the axial skeleton and osteopenia at the extremities associated with pathologic fractures. The occupational history showed exposure to several synthetics such as

  • Well water fluoride, dental fluorosis, bone fractures in the Guadiana Valley of Mexico

    In the Guadiana Valley (the city of Durango and its surroundings in northwestern Mexico), the drinking water supply comes from underground wells and is characterized by a high content of fluoride. In this study, a quantitative assessment of dental fluorosis was made in the school age (6-12 years) and adult

  • Effects of dialysate calcium and fluoride on bone disease during regular hemodialysis

    A previous study indicated that, in patients maintained by hemodialysis, clinically and roentgenographically apparent bone disease appeared almost exclusively when the dialystate calcium concentration was less than 5.7 mg per 100 ml. In the present study, bone biopsy specimens from the iliac crest were studied at the beginning and end

  • Fluorosis as a probable factor in metabolic bone disease in captive New Zealand native frogs (Leiopelma species)

    This report describes the investigations into the cause and treatment of metabolic bone disease (MBD) in captive native New Zealand frogs (Leiopelma spp.) and the role of fluoride in the disease. MBD was diagnosed in Leiopelma archeyi and Leiopelma hochstetteri in 2008 at three institutions: Auckland Zoo, Hamilton Zoo, and

• Related FAN Content :

  • Fluoride & Spontaneous Hip Fractures in Osteoporosis Patients

    Due to its ability to increase vertebral bone mass, fluoride has been used as an experimental treatment for osteoporosis (doses > 20 mg/day). Fluoride treatment, however, proved far more harmful than beneficial. Not only was fluoride therapy shown to increase fracture rates among the treated patients, it was also found to

  • Clinical Trials: Fluoride Treatment & Bone Fracture in Osteoporosis Patients

    Due to its ability to increase bone mass, fluoride has been used as an experimental treatment for osteoporosis. The results, however, have generally been disastrous. Rather than prevent bone fractures in osteoporosis patients, fluoride therapy (at doses of 20-34 mg/day) was repeatedly found to increase fracture rates. One of the most

  • Fluoride Reduces Bone Strength Prior to Onset of Skeletal Fluorosis

    The majority of animal studies investigating fluoride's impact on bone strength have found that fluoride has either no effect, or a detrimental effect, on bone strength. Importantly, several of the animal studies that have found fluoride reductes bone strength have reported that this reduction in strength occurs before signs of skeletal fluorosis

  • Fluoride in Water & Bone Fracture

    Current epidemiological evidence indicates that the margin of safety between the level of fluoride in water that does, and does not, increase the risk of fracture is insufficiently large to protect all members of society from fluoride-induced damage to bone.

  • Fluoride Content of Bone Impairs Bone Quality

      Water Fluoridation Increases the Fluoride Content of Bone "Fluoride analyses of the cadaver material from Kuopio revealed that fluoridation of drinking water increases the fluoride concentration in bone. In some individual cases the amount of fluoride in trabecular bone may rise to relatively high levels, notably in patients with impaired renal