Abstract

Two illustrative cases of patients with skeletal fluorosis and classic radiographic changes are presented. One patient demonstrated a progressive paraparesis, while the other was diagnosed incidentally on routine radiographs. A review of the literature, treatment, and histologic findings are presented.

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  • An uncommon presentation of fluorosis

    A 70 years old farmer from Yemen was referred as a case of osteoarthritis of both knees for preoperative rehabilitation procedures. Six years before he developed progressive skeletal stiffness. By 70 years he became dependent for ambulation and many other self-care activities. He showed quadriparesis resulting from compression of spinal cord

  • The effect of fluoride on bone

    Conclusions Although it is well known that the ingestion of high levels of fluoride can give rise to severe lesions in the skeletal tissues, such effects have never been found radiographically in persons using a water supply, containing less than 4 p.p.m fluorlde throughout life. A histological study of thirty ribs taken

  • Bone and joint pathology in fluoride-exposed workers

    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),

  • Involvement of Bmal1 and circadian clock signaling in chondrogenic differentiation of ATDC5 cells by fluoride.

    Highlights Fluoride inhibited chondrocyte viability and delayed chondrocyte differentiation. Fluoride disrupted the circadian clock signaling pathway in ATDC5 cells. Overexpression of Bmal1 reversed the delayed chondrogenic differentiation induced by fluoride. Skeletal fluorosis causes growth plate impairment and growth retardation during bone development. However, the mechanism of how fluoride impairs chondrocyte

  • On the association of fluorosis with degenerative-dystrophic lesions of the skeleton in workers engaged in electrolytic departments of aluminum plants

    Workers of electrolytic departments at the Novokuznetsk aluminum plant were found to suffer not only from fluorosis (28.2) per cent), but also from degenerative-dystrophic affection of the skeleton (87.7 per cent). The workers of a control group who were not exposed to a chronic action of fluorine compounds the degenerative-dystrophic

• Related FAN Content :

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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