Abstract
Clinical and radiological investigations were performed for 2,258 aluminum workers exposed to fluoride for an average of 17.6 yr (standard deviation = 7.6). Changes in bone and joints were presented in detail in three groups: (1) exposed up to 5 yr (135 cases), (2) exposed from 6-32 yr (1,463 cases), and (3) retired workers (660 cases). A semiquantitative assessment of early fluorosis was introduced. A 20.2% incidence of fluorosis was found, but, according to Roholm, only 1.05% was in stage I. The disease was mainly in the pre-stages of O and OI. A close relationship between the occurrence of fluorosis and the time and degree of fluoride exposure was found. The difficulties in diagnosing skeletal fluorosis result from the questionable sensitivity of the x-ray techniques and from the nonspecificity of the associated symptoms. A quantitative method to assess osteosclerosis and bone structure alteration is needed.
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Enduring fluoride health hazard for the Vesuvius area population: the case of AD 79 Herculaneum
BACKGROUND: The study of ancient skeletal pathologies can be adopted as a key tool in assessing and tracing several diseases from past to present times. Skeletal fluorosis, a chronic metabolic bone and joint disease causing excessive ossification and joint ankylosis, has been only rarely considered in differential diagnoses of palaeopathological
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Screening vs. individual detection of industrial fluorosis: a decision analysis model
In preventive medicine and occupational health, decision-makers face uncertainty, divergent opinions, and varying needs. In the Swiss aluminum industry, screening for industrial fluorosis illustrates how decision analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis can provide rational and explicit models of decision-making in such contexts. Data on fluoride-exposed potroom workers are used to compare
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X-Ray analysis of 80 patients with severe endemic fluorosis caused by coal burning
Radiographs of 80 patients with severe endemic fluorosis of coal-burning type [CBEF] - 49 males and 31 females aged 30 to 70 years - were analysed to examine the changes to the bone substance, peripheral structure of bone, and joints. The changes to bone substance were: 1) osteosclerosis type, 62
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Ancient and recent evidence of endemic fluorosis in the Naples area
Endemic fluorosis induced by high concentrations of natural fluoride in groundwater and soils is a major health problem in several countries, particularly in volcanic areas. The early stages of skeletal fluorosis, a chronic metabolic bone and joint disease rarely considered in palaeopathological diagnoses, are often misdiagnosed in endemic areas. In
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Comparison of rheumatoid (ankylosing) spondylitis and crippling fluorosis
(1) Fluoride concentrations were determined for autopsy samples of rib, sacrum, ilium, vertebra, adhering soft tissue, and rib marrow from a patient suffering from rheumatoid (ankylosing) spondylitis of 10 years’ duration. The fluoride concentrations were not increased above normal levels. In this case, the increased bone density seen in this
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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.
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"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.
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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.
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Fluoride Content of Tea
Tea, particularly tea drinks made with lower quality older leaves, contain high levels of fluoride. Because of these high levels, research has found that individuals who drink large amounts of tea can develop skeletal fluorosis -- a painful bone disease caused by excessive fluoride intake. Since skeletal fluorosis is often misdiagnosed by
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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.
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