Abstract
In June of 2011, the Puyehue–Cordon Caulle volcanic eruption deposited large amounts of ashes in Chile and Argentina. Although ashes were initially considered innoxious based on water leachates, we found clinical cases of fluoride intoxication in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and domestic herbivores in Argentina. The diagnosis was corroborated by high bone fluoride concentrations. The dynamics of temporal accumulation of fluoride suggested an average increase of 1,000 ppm per year of fluoride in the bone. However, a few deer had fluoride levels, suggesting an accumulation rate of about 3,700 ppm per year. Via recent sampling of deer, we now confirm that bone levels have reached up to 10,396 ppm of fluoride after about 28 months of exposure. Tephra across various sites averaged 548 ppm of fluoride, and due to dry conditions and eolic redeposition of ashes particularly east of the continental divide, clinical fluorosis is expected to continue to intensify. The described impact will reverberate through several aspects of the ecology of the deer, including effects on population dynamics, morbidity, predation susceptibility, as well as other components of the ecosystem, including other herbivores, scavengers, and plant communities.
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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.
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Osteoporosis--an early radiographic sign of endemic fluorosis.
Radiological investigation of skeletal fluorosis was carried out among the inhabitants from two areas where the fluoride content of water was high, using both conventional radiography and radiographic measurements of bone mineral content (BMC). Of 139 cases in the first group, 68 presented bone abnormalities while 21 of 54 cases in the
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Dose-response relationship between skeletal fluorosis and fluoride in brick-tea
The dose-response relationship between fluoride in brick-tea and the prevalence of skeletal fluorosis (SF) in adults was studied to determine a safe upper limit for fluoride intake from brick-tea. In brick-tea drinking endemic fluorosis areas of the Tibetan pastoral areas of Sichuan province, cluster sampling was conducted of residents above age
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Ossification of the transverse atlantal ligament associated with fluorosis: a report of two cases and review of the literature
STUDY DESIGN: Two cases of ossification of the transverse atlantal ligament (OTAL) are reported, and the literature is reviewed. OBJECTIVE: To report two cases of OTAL, which share fluorosis as a possible etiologic link. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: OTAL, a rare phenomenon, may cause upper cervical canal stenosis and spastic quadriparesis. However,
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Total hip arthroplasty for the treatment of severe hip osteoarthritis due to fluorosis
BACKGROUND: Now, total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the effective methods for the treatment of severe hip osteoarthritis due to fluorosis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the strategies and efficacy of THA for the treatment of severe hip osteoarthritis due to fluorosis. METHODS: A total of five cases with severe hip osteoarthritis due
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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 & 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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Skeletal Fluorosis in the U.S.
Although there has been a notable absence of systematic studies on skeletal fluorosis in the U.S., the available evidence indicates that the consumption of artificially fluoridated water is likely to cause skeletal fluorosis and other forms of bone disease in people with kidney disease and other vulnerable populations.
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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.
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