Abstract

A cross-sectional survey of 18,621 adults of both sexes living in rural tribal areas of the Dungarpur and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan, India was conducted to correlate the prevalence of osteo-dental fluorosis with nutritional status, living habits, and occupation. The mean fluoride (F) concentration in drinking water sources ranged from 1.0 to 6.1 ppm. Among subjects with poor nutrition, the prevalence of dental fluorosis rose to 61.6% and skeletal fluorosis to 23.9%. A high incidence of fluorosis was also observed in subjects using substances such as alcohol, betel nuts, citrus fruits, edible ghee or fat, tea, and tobacco. The highest incidence of dental (90.1%) and skeletal ( 60.8%) fluorosis was observed in alcohol or beverage users and the lowest (30.8% an d 8.9%) in the citrus fruits users, respectively. Subjects with different occupations exhibited a variable incidence of dental and skeletal fluorosis. Labourers showed the highest incidence of dental and skeletal fluorosis (63.1% and 26.2%), followed by farmers (61.2% and 21.8%), housewives (57.1% and 13.2%), businessmen (54.2% and 14.4%), students (54.2% and 9.5%), and servicemen (51.5% and 15.9% ), respectively. These data pertaining to the relationship of osteo-dental fluorosis with nutritional status, living habits, and occupation were statistically analysed and found to exhibit highly positive correlations. Possible causes for differences in the incidence of fluorosis in relation to nutritional status, habits , and occupation are discussed.

• Related Studies :

  • Epidemiological, clinical, and biochemical study of endemic dental and skeletal fluorosis in Punjab

    The incidence of dental fluorosis in 46,000 children in the Punjab was assessed and compared with the fluoride content of their water supplies. Ten villages were selected for more detailed studies of skeletal as well as dental fluorosis. Factors other than the fluoride content of the drinking water which were found to influence

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Exposure to fluoride in smelter workers in a primary aluminum industry in India

    BACKGROUND: Fluoride is used increasingly in a variety of industries in India. Emission of fluoride dust and fumes from the smelters of primary aluminum producing industries is dissipated in the work environment and poses occupational health hazards. OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of health complaints and its association with fluoride level

• Related FAN Content :

  • Kidney Patients Are at Increased Risk of Fluoride Poisoning

    It is well established that individuals with kidney disease are susceptible to suffering bone damage and other ill effects from low levels of fluoride exposure. Kidney patients are at elevated risk because when kidneys are damaged they are unable to efficiently excrete fluoride from the body. As a result, kidney patients

  • 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

  • Nutrient Deficiencies Enhance Fluoride Toxicity

    It has been known since the 1930s that poor nutrition enhances the toxicity of fluoride. As discussed below, nutrient deficiencies have been specifically linked to increased susceptibility to fluoride-induced tooth damage (dental fluorosis), bone damage (osteomalacia), neurotoxicity (reduced intelligence), and mutagenicity. The nutrients of primary importance appear to be calcium,

  • 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.

  • 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.