Abstract

Fluorosis from brick-tea was discovered during the last decade in western and northern parts of China. Dental fluorosis has a high prevalence among children in these brick-tea endemic areas, but skeletal fluorosis does not normally become apparent until adulthood. In July 2002 we examined 132 primary school children, age 8 to 13 years, in a low-fluoride-water area of Naqu County, Tibet, and found that 111 of the children (84.1%) had dental fluorosis from drinking traditional brick-tea. Among these 111 children, 96 (86.5%) were found by radiological examination to have developmental skeletal abnormalities in the wrist. We view these findings as warning signs of early-stage skeletal fluorosis indicating that dental fluorosis in children should be considered more than a matter of cosmetic concern.

• Related Studies :

  • Chronic endemic fluorosis (with bone affections) in the Punjab.

    First Page of Study Since the investigation of Black an,d McKay in 1916 into the problem of mottled enamel, and the definite association of this anomaly with the fluorine content of drinking waters by Churchill (1931, 1932), the matter of fluorine intoxication has been studied in detail by different workers in

  • Incidence of fluorosis and urinary fluoride concentration are not always positively correlated with drinking water fluoride level.

    The aim of this study was to assess the effect of fluoride on human health, focusing on the incidence of fluorosis, urinary fluoride concentration and fluoride level in drinking water in three fluoride-affected villages of Birbhum district, West Bengal, India. In one village urinary fluoride concentration was very high along

  • 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

  • Fluoride toxicosis in immature herbivorous domestic animals living in low fluoride water endemic areas of Rajasthan, India: An observational survey

    Susceptibility to fluoride toxicosis in the form of osteo-dental fluorosis was observed among 435 immature herbivorous domestic animals living in areas with less than 1.5 ppm fluoride in the drinking water. These animals included 78 buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis), 89 cattle (Bos taurus), 30 donkeys (Equus asinus), 21 horses (Equus caballus),

  • Health risk in children to fluoride exposure in a typical endemic fluorosis area on Loess Plateau, north China, in the last decade

    Highlights Fluoride concentrations were 0.55 mg L-1 in 3427 water consumption points in Shanxi Province. Health risks were assessed for children consumers regarding fluoride exposure. Approximately 10%, 1.3% and 0.06% children are at risk for dental decay, dental and skeletal fluorosis, respectively. The fluoride concentrations were being decreased significantly from

• Related FAN Content :

  • Skeletal Fluorosis in the U.S.

    Although there has been a notable absence of systematic studies on skeletal fluorosis in the U.S., the available evidence indicates that the consumption of artificially fluoridated water is likely to cause skeletal fluorosis and other forms of bone disease in people with kidney disease and other vulnerable populations.

  • "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.

  • Tea Intake Is a Risk Factor for Skeletal Fluorosis

    A number of recent studies have found that heavy tea drinkers can develop skeletal fluorosis - a bone disease caused by excessive intake of fluoride.

  • Estimated "Threshold" Doses for Skeletal Fluorosis

    For over 40 years health authorities stated that in order to develop crippling skeletal fluorosis, one would need to ingest between 20 and 80 mg of fluoride per day for at least 10 or 20 years. This belief, however, which played an instrumental role in shaping current fluoride policies, is now acknowledged by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and other US health authorities to be incorrect.