Abstract
1. Fifty six aluminum smelter workers with 10 to 43 years’ occupational exposure, and who had been previously studied medically, were re-x-rayed. Average urinary fluoride concentrations since 1960 were estimated to range from 2.78 mg/liter preshift and 7.71 mg/liter postshift. 2. Roentgenographic studies in 1960-66 and 1974 failed to reveal any evidence of fluoride associated bony change. 3. Although these workers represent a self-selected group, their magnitude and duration of exposure far outweighs any other group working at present or in the past at this plant. The implication that they have uniformly self-selected as fluoride resistant individuals is improbable. 4. These data indicate that group post-shift ur a long period is not associated with enhanced risk of bony fluorosis. If preshift urinary fluoride concentrations are less than 4 mg/l, the same results appears to apply.
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Endemic fluorosis in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. II Identification of risk factors associated with occupational exposure to fluoride.
SUMMARY: The city of San Luis Potosi (SLP), Mexico, is located in an area where drinking water contains excessive quantities of natural fluoride. Also in this city is located a small industry that produces hydrofluoric acid. In order to investigate both routes of exposure to fluoride (industrial air and drinking
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Downregulation of miR-4755-5p promotes fluoride-induced osteoblast activation via tageting Cyclin D1.
Background Endemic fluorosis remains a major public health issue in many countries. Fluoride can cause abnormalities in osteoblast proliferation and activation, leading to skeletal fluorosis. However, its detailed molecular mechanism remains unclear. Based on a previous study, the aim of this study is to explore the role of miRNA in osteoblast
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Occupational skeletal fluorosis
Conclusion Four cases of skeletal fluorosis are described in individuals who had been working in an aluminum plant for periods up to 12 yens. Two patients exhibited radiological changes indicative of the first stage of the disease and two of the second stage. All patients exhibited backache, pains in arms and
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A national cross-sectional study on effects of fluoride-safe water supply on the prevalence of fluorosis in China
OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of provided fluoride-safe drinking-water for the prevention and control of endemic fluorosis in China. DESIGN: A national cross-sectional study in China. SETTING: In 1985, randomly selected villages in 27 provinces (or cities and municipalities) in 5 geographic areas all over China. PARTICIPANTS: Involved 81 786 children aged from
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Skeletal Fluorosis: An Unusual Manifestation of Computer Cleaner Inhalant Abuse.
Skeletal fluorosis is a metabolic bone disease caused by accumulation of fluoride and is generally associated with chronic exposure to fluoride-contaminated groundwater, a phenomenon endemic to developing countries. Whereas elevated water fluoride concentrations do not constitute a public health issue in the United States, emergence of skeletal fluorosis as a
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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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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.
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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.
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