Excerpt:

Summary

Chronic fluorosis alters bone structure, leads to odd exostosis, to osseous appositions, to ossification of ligaments and tendons and their insertions. This can cause pain and discomfort. Radiological examination usually leads to the correct diagnosis; the most constant changes were found in films of elbows and forearms. Such films may be useful in the diagnosis of industrial fluorosis and perhaps for detecting undesirable effects of prolonged fluoride therapy. It seems clear that manifestations of fluorosis in adults appear only after prolonged exposure at high dosage. If signs of fluorosis are present, they may lead to symptoms of the osteoarticular system. Therapy with high dosage fluoride should be monitored carefully.

Print PDF

• Related Studies :

  • The therapeutic effect of acupuncture for treatment of joint pain of skeletal fluorosis

    Objective: To observe the clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture for joint pain of skeletal fluorosis. Methods: Ninety-six patients with skeletal fluorosis joint pain were randomly allocated to filiform needle group(33 cases), heat needle group (32 cases) and caltrate group(31 cases); the clinical therapeutic effects of three groups were measured by visual

  • Experimental fluorosis in rats: NaF induced changes of bone and bone marrow

    The results of our experiments suggest that increased doses of NaF cause more extensive osteosclerosis due to the decrease in number and/or activity of osteoclasts. Therefore oateosclerosis is caused primarily, not by increased bone formation but, by the inhibition of bone resorption. This view is supported by the fact that

  • [Two cases of skeletal fluorosis in the hand].

    Skeletal fluorosis is well known, particularly in the spine, pelvis and forearm. However, the hand may also be involved. The authors report two cases of this site in endemic areas in Senegal, after ingestion of large amounts of fluoride in the water. Fluorosis consisted of deforming metacarpal and phalangeal osteoperiotitis in one case

  • Total hip arthroplasty for the treatment of severe hip osteoarthritis due to fluorosis

    BACKGROUND: Now, total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the effective methods for the treatment of severe hip osteoarthritis due to fluorosis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the strategies and efficacy of THA for the treatment of severe hip osteoarthritis due to fluorosis. METHODS: A total of five cases with severe hip osteoarthritis due to

  • Radiological modifications of the skeletal system among aluminum smelter workers: A 15 year retrospective study

    Previously by the time skeletal fluorosis among aluminum smelter workers due to high fluoride exposure was diagnosed numerous cases of bone fluorosis had already reached stages II and III according to Roholm. Today, as a result of improved working conditions and continuous health care, the picture has changed. This paper

• Related FAN Content :

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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