Abstract
The present study was undertaken to investigate the various health problems caused by water-borne fluoride in endemic villages of Mehsana and Banaskantha districts of Gujarat. The study revealed high levels of fluoride in serum samples of the villagers. Mottling of teeth and skeletal complications were common. Intake of fluoride caused a decrease in haemoglobin content and in the serum protein levels. Serum cholesterol levels were normal. Circulating levels of testosterone were decreased, but not significantly enough to indicate an effect on reproductive functions. The enhanced levels of serum transaminases, which are markers for liver function, indicated structural and functional changes in liver due to fluoride intake. Changes in the serum calcium, sodium and potassium levels revealed electrolyte imbalance in the fluorotic individuals. While levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and triiodothyronine (T 3 ) did not vary, • a significant increase in the thyroxine (T 4 ) levels suggested alteration in thyroid function. Thus the study revealed some harmful effects of fluoride in the soft tissue functions of the endemic population
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Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards.
Excerpts: Summary Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to establish exposure standards for contaminants in public drinking-water systems that might cause any adverse effects on human health. These standards include the maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG), the maximum contaminant level (MCL), and the secondary
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Chronic fluorosis: the disease and its anaesthetic implications..
Abstract Chronic fluorosis is a widespread disease-related to the ingestion of high levels of fluoride through water and food. Prolonged ingestion of fluoride adversely affects the teeth, bones and other organs and alters their anatomy and physiology. Fluoride excess is a risk factor in cardiovascular disease and other major diseases, including
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Fluorosis in some tribal villages of Dungarpur district of Rajasthan, India
The prevalences of dental and skeletal fluorosis were observed in fifteen tribal villages of the Dungapur district of Rajasthan where the fluoride (F) concentration in drinking waters varies from 0.3 to 10.8 ppm. At 1.40 and 6.04 ppm mean F concentrations, 25.64% and 84.43% of school children (<16 years), and
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Prevention & control of fluorosis & linked disorders: Developments in the 21st Century - Reaching out to patients in the community & hospital settings for recovery.
The review on fluorosis addresses the genesis of the disease, diagnostic protocols developed, mitigation and recovery through nutritional interventions. It reveals the structural and functional damages caused to skeletal muscle and erythrocytes, leading to clinical manifestations in fluorosis. Hormonal derangements resulting in serious abnormalities in the health of children and
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Systematic review of epidemiological and toxicological evidence on health effects of fluoride in drinking water.
Introduction Fluoride is a naturally occurring substance that is also added to drinking water, dental hygiene products, and food supplements for preventing dental caries. Concerns have been raised about several other potential health risks of fluoride. Objective To conduct a robust synthesis of evidence regarding human health risks due to exposure to fluoride
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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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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 Magnifies Impact of Repetitive Stress on Joints
Research has repeatedly found that fluoride's effect on the skeleton is most pronounced in the bones and joints that undergo the greatest strain. Indeed, both the symptoms of fluorosis (i.e., joint pain and stiffness) as well as the radiological findings (e.g., exostoses, interosseuous membrane calcification) have been found to occur earliest, and most severely, in the joints
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Fluoride Reduces Bone Strength Prior to Onset of Skeletal Fluorosis
The majority of animal studies investigating fluoride's impact on bone strength have found that fluoride has either no effect, or a detrimental effect, on bone strength. Importantly, several of the animal studies that have found fluoride reductes bone strength have reported that this reduction in strength occurs before signs of skeletal fluorosis
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