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.
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Radiological criteria of industrial fluorosis
The bone radiographs of 43 potroom workers in an aluminium factory, on whom the diagnosis of industrial fluorosis had been confirmed by bone biopsy, are compared with radiographs from 18 control subjects. A higher frequency of ossification of ligament, tendon, and muscle attachments is observed among the fluoride exposed subjects.
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Diagnosis of endemic skeletal fluorois: clinical examination vs. X-rays.
Objective: To compare the diagnosis of endemic skeletal fluorosis by means of clinical examination to diagnosis by x-ray, in order to provide a foundation for revising standards of clinical diagnosis for endemic osteofluorosis. Method: The study was carried out using existing data. The fluoride levels of 15 villages in the Qianan
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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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Changes in basic metabolic elements associated with the degeneration and ossification of ligamenta flava
OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between levels of basic metabolic elements and degeneration and ossification of the ligamentum flavum (LF). SUBJECTS: Fourteen consecutive patients with degenerative lumbar stenosis, 11 with ossification of the thoracic ligamenta flava, and 11 control subjects. METHODS: The basic elements of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), zinc
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Mus musculus bone fluoride concentration as a useful biomarker for risk assessment of skeletal fluorosis in volcanic areas.
Fluoride is often found in elevated concentrations in volcanic areas due to the release of magmatic fluorine as hydrogen fluorine through volcanic degassing. The exposure to high levels of fluoride can affect the processes of bone formation and resorption causing skeletal fluorosis, a pathology that can easily be mistaken for
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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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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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"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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Skeletal Fluorosis Causes Bones to be Brittle & Prone to Fracture
It has been known since as the early as the 1930s that patients with skeletal fluorosis have bone that is more brittle and prone to fracture. More recently, however, researchers have found that fluoride can reduce bone strength before the onset of skeletal fluorosis. Included below are some of the
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Fluoride & Osteopetrosis
One of the most common radiological findings in skeletal fluorosis is osteosclerosis - a hardening of bones with a blurring of the trabecular structure. In advanced cases, the osteosclerotic form of fluorosis may closely resemble the appearance of osteopetrosis, a "marble bone" disease in which the bones are dense, but fragile and prone to fracture.
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