Abstract
A study was made of an area of endemic fluorosis based on the relation between detection rate or incidence, classification and severity of skeletal fluorosis, and sex-age distribution. The results show that Minzhu Town of Longli County is a moderate and typical epidemic area of endemic fluorosis resulting from coal-burning pollution in Guizhou Province, China. Five features characterize skeletal fluorosis of the residents: (1) Osteosclerosis is significantly more prevalent than osteoporosis. (2) No mixed type of skeletal fluorosis and no osteomalacia were found in the subjects examined. (3) No cases with moderate or severe osteoporosis were found. (4) The severity of osteosclerosis in females was significantly milder than in males. (5) The rate of osteoporosis caused by fluoride in females showed no difference from that in males. These observations provide new parameters for assessing collective conditions of epidemic regions of endemic fluorosis resulting from coal-burning pollution.
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Screening vs. individual detection of industrial fluorosis: a decision analysis model
In preventive medicine and occupational health, decision-makers face uncertainty, divergent opinions, and varying needs. In the Swiss aluminum industry, screening for industrial fluorosis illustrates how decision analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis can provide rational and explicit models of decision-making in such contexts. Data on fluoride-exposed potroom workers are used to compare
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[Fluorotic cervical spinal cord disease].
Skeletal fluorosis was reported as a disease endemic to an area in the Madras Presidency of Indian in 1937 and prior to this, it was known as an occasional disease. There are two endemic areas in India, one in Punjab and the other in Andhra Pradesh State. This disease is also endemic
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Effect of fluoride on osteoclast formation at various levels of receptor activator of nuclear factor Kappa-B ligand (RANKL).
Receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) acting on osteoblasts is an essential cytokine for osteoclast formation. Recent studies have shown that fluoride (F) can stimulate RANKL expression of osteoblasts. However, the effect of F under various levels of RANKL on osteoclast formation is not clear. In this study,
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Why do penguins not develop skeletal fluorosis?
Despite having an exceptionally high fluorine (F) concentration in their bones (up to 9000 µg/g in the present study), radiographs of mature Ade?lie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) do not show any symptoms of skeletal fluorosis. In this research, a series of chemical fractionation and speciation analyses for F gave a tentative
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Ancient and recent evidence of endemic fluorosis in the Naples area
Endemic fluorosis induced by high concentrations of natural fluoride in groundwater and soils is a major health problem in several countries, particularly in volcanic areas. The early stages of skeletal fluorosis, a chronic metabolic bone and joint disease rarely considered in palaeopathological diagnoses, are often misdiagnosed in endemic areas. In
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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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"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: 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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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
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