Abstract

Painful, crippling deformities in Tanzanian children from an area of endemic fluorosis are reported. Excessive fluoride ingestion in pregnant women may possibly poison and alter enzyme and hormonal systems in the fetus causing disturbances to osteoid formation and mineralization. Knock-knees, bowlegs, and saber shins develop when walking begins. Combinations of osteomalacia, osteoporosis, and osteosclerosis result in a spectrum of bone changes from an early age. Male hormones, and dietary and genetic deficiencies may aggravate individual response of actively growing bones. Some radiographic changes suggestive of rickets, hyperparathyroidism and thalassemia were observed.

• Related Studies :

  • Endemic chronic fluoride toxicity and dietary calcium deficiency interaction syndromes of metabolic bone disease and deformities in India: year 2000

    Epidemiological studies during 1963-1997 were conducted in 45,725 children exposed to high intake of endemic fluoride in the drinking water since their birth. Children with adequate (dietary calcium > 800 mg/d) and inadequate (dietary calcium < 300 mg/d) calcium nutrition and with comparable intakes of fluoride (mean 9.5 +/- 1.9

  • Endemic skeletal fluorosis in children: hypocalcemia and the presence of renal resistance to parathyroid hormone

    Although endemic skeletal fluorosis has been reported in children, hypocalcemia has not been previously noted. In a prevalence study of 260 schoolchildren living in an endemic fluorosis area in South Africa (water fluoride content 8-12 ppm), hypocalcemia was documented in 23%. Furthermore in a separate study of nine children with skeletal symptoms due to

  • Severe bone deformities in young children from vitamin D deficiency and fluorosis in Bihar-India

    A case-control study was undertaken to understand the etiopathology of the bone deformities among young children in a fluoride-affected village of the Bihar State. Two villages were selected: one village with high fluoride in drinking water (7.9 +/- 4.15 ppm), and the other village with normal levels of fluoride (0.6

  • Histomorphometric analysis of iliac crest bone biopsies in placebo-treated versus fluoride-treated subjects

    In a 4-year controlled, prospective trial, histomorphometric analysis was used to compare the tissue-level skeletal effects of fluoride therapy in 43 postmenopausal women (75 mg NaF/day) with those of 35 matching placebo subjects; all subjects received 1500 mg/day elemental calcium supplement. In addition to an initial, baseline biopsy, a second

  • Nutritional and metabolic rickets

    Nutritional rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency due to lack of exposure to sunlight. Neonatal rickets occurs only in infants born to mothers with very severe osteomalacia. Calcium deficiency alone does not cause mineralisation defects. It only causes osteoporosis and secondary hyperparathyroidism with raised plasma, 1,25 (OH)2D and osteocalcin.

• Related FAN Content :

  • Fluoride & Rickets

    One of fluoride's most well-defined effects on bone tissue is it's ability to increase the osteoid (unmineralized bone) content of bone. When bones have too much osteoid, they become soft and prone to fracture -- a condition known as osteomalacia. When osteomalacia develops during childhood, it is called "rickets." The potential for fluoride

  • Fluoride Exposure Increases Metabolic Requirement for Calcium & Vitamin D

    It is well known that individuals with nutrient deficiencies are more susceptible to fluoride toxicity, including fluoride's bone effects. As discussed in the following studies, fluoride increases the skeleton's need for calcium (and vitamin D) by increasing the amount of unmineralized tissue (osteoid) in the bone. When insufficient calcium and

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Fluoridation, Dialysis & Osteomalacia

    In the 1960s and 1970s, doctors discovered that patients receiving kidney dialysis were accumulating very high levels of fluoride in their bones and blood, and that this exposure was associated with severe forms of osteomalacia, a bone-softening disease that leads to weak bones and often excruciating bone pain. Based on