Abstract
The concentrations of serum osteocalcin (OCN) and calcitonin (CTN) were determined in sixty male workers exposed to fluoride (F) at an aluminum plant in Danjiang city, and in thirty non-F exposed males of the same general age from the local market town Gaolou village of Jun county in Danjiang city (control group). The F-exposed workers were divided into two groups according to the levels of their urine and serum F: a high-F burden group (urine F>4.0 mg/L; serum F>0.20 mg/L) and a low-F burden group (2.0 mg/L<urine F ?4.0 mg/L; 0.10 mg/L<serum F ?0.20 mg/L). Compared with the control group, the concentrations of serum OCN and CTN were significantly higher in both the high-F and low-F burden groups (p<0.05). This study found for the first time that the concentrations of serum OCN and CTN increased concurrently in a F-exposed worker population. On the basis of these findings, we propose that serum OCN and CTN might be sensitive biomarkers for detecting early stages of F bone injuries.
-
-
Further observations on radiological changes of endemic food borne skeletal fluorosis
Among radiological changes in 396 cases of foodborne skeletal fluorosis, from 4 endemic areas in Guizhou, China, osteoporosis, osteomalacia and impaired bone growth were seen in addition to previously recorded findings of osteosclerosis, bone prominences, joint changes and calcification of peripheral arteries. The deformity of genu valgum, a manifestation of
-
Comparison of two village primary schools in northern Tanzania affected by fluorosis
High fluoride levels in drinking water sources are a problem throughout the East African Rift Valley and can lead to dental fluorosis (DF) and skeletal fluorosis (SF) in exposed local populations. Two villages in the Hai District of northern Tanzania in which fluoride has been identified as a problem were
-
Circulating levels of immunoreactive parathyroid hormone in endemic genu valgum
Circulating levels of immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (PTH) were estimated in fifteen normal subjects and twenty-five subjects suffering from the skeletal fluorosis, ten of whom had associated endemic genu valgum. Levels of PTH were high in all the subjects with fluorosis as compared to normals, but among fluorosis subjects, those who had endemic genu valgum had
-
Endemic fluorosis in Turkish patients: relationship with knee osteoarthritis
Fluoride excess primarily effects dental and skeletal tissues. leading to a condition known as endemic fluorosis. The radiological and clinical features of endemic fluorosis vary in different parts of the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and radiological features of endemic fluorosis in Turkish patients. Physical examination and radiological investigations were performed
-
Relations between environment and endemic fluorosis in Hohhot region, Inner Mongolia
Results are reported of a comprehensive investigation into fluoride levels in drinking water and other environmental characteristics, and their relation to endemic fluorosis, in Hohhot Region, Inner Mongolia.
Related Studies :
-
-
-
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.
-
"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.
-
Fluoride & Rheumatoid Arthritis
The symptoms of skeletal fluorosis can closely resemble rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and thus individuals with fluorosis can "easily be mistaken" as having RA. In addition, clinical research on fluoride-treated osteoporosis patients has found that fluoride exposure can exacerbate pre-existing RA, and recent research shows that the levels of fluoride found in the blood of the general population (19-57 ppb) are sufficient to effect an enzyme (15-lipoxygenase) implicated in the inflammatory process of RA.
-
Industrial Fluorosis
A highly significant relationship of exposure to fluoride was established with the frequency of back and neck surgery, fractures, symptoms of musculoskeletal disease and past history of diseases of bones and joints in the absence of the typical findings of skeletal fluorosis. Monitoring exposed workers for the early manifestations of "musculoskeletal fluorosis" is recommended prior to the development of destructive and degenerative changes of the skeleton.
Related FAN Content :
-