Abstract
For the past 45 years, there has been a great deal of debate regarding the health issues surrounding the fluoridation of public water supplies. In order to assess the association between fluoridation and hip fracture, we identified 129 counties across the United States considered to be exposed to public water fluoridation and 194 counties without exposure. Data from the Health Care Financing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs were used to calculate the incidence of hip fracture among white persons, aged 65 years or older, in fluoridated and nonfluoridated counties. There was a small statistically significant positive association between fracture rates and fluoridation. The relative risk (95% confidence interval) of fracture in fluoridated counties compared to nonfluoridated counties was 1.08 (1.06 to 1.10) for women and 1.17 (1.13 to 1.22) for men. As comparisons were made at the grouped level, it may be inappropriate at this time to draw inferences at the individual level. The relationship observed at the county level needs to be duplicated at the individual level with more precise measures of fluoride exposure.
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Water fluoridation and hip fracture
In a recent article in THE JOURNAL, Jacobsen et al (1) demonstrated a positive ecologic association between hip fracture discharge rates in the United States and fluoride content in water supplies. In a similar study, we recently reported the ecological association of discharge rates for hip fracture and water fluoride
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Fluoride and fractures: an ecological fallacy.
Fluoridation of public water to prevent dental caries has been advocated for more than a half century in the UK and USA, and the benefits of optimum fluoridation for oral health have been affirmed by the US Public Health Service.1 In addition to the beneficial effects on teeth, fluoride ingestion
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Effects of fluoridated drinking water on bone mass and fractures: the study of osteoporotic fractures
To determine if optimal fluoridation of public water supplies influences bone mass and fractures, we studied 2076 non-black women, all aged > or = 65 years recruited into the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures at the Pittsburgh clinic. Information on fluoride exposure was limited to community water supplies. The variable used
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Exposure to natural fluoride in well water and hip fracture: a cohort analysis in Finland
In the retrospective cohort study based on record linkage, the authors studied a cohort of persons born in 1900-1930 (n = 144,627), who had lived in the same rural location at least from 1967 to 1980. Estimates for fluoride concentrations (median, 0.1 mg/liter; maximum, 2.4 mg/liter) in well water in
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Fluoride-induced fractures: relation to osteogenic effect
The possible effects of fluoride in inducing fractures were studied in 61 patients treated with sodium fluoride (NaF), 40-60 mg daily in combination with calcium and vitamin D. Nine patients developed the fluoride-(F) related lower extremity pain syndrome. Four other patients had stress fractures associated with trauma. Seven of the
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Mechanisms by which fluoride may reduce bone strength
Based on a large body of animal and human research, it is now known that fluoride ingestion can reduce bone strength and increase the rate of fracture. There are several plausible mechanisms by which fluoride can reduce bone strength. As discussed below, these mechanisms include: Reduction in Cortical Bone Density De-bonding of
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The Relationship Between Fluoride, Bone Density, and Bone Strength
Although fluoride has generally been found to reduce the bone density of cortical bone, it is well documented that fluoride can increase the density of trabecular bone (aka cancellous bone). Trabecular bone is the primary bone of the spine, whereas cortical bone is the primary bone of the legs and arms. While increases in
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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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Fluoride & Spontaneous Hip Fractures in Osteoporosis Patients
Due to its ability to increase vertebral bone mass, fluoride has been used as an experimental treatment for osteoporosis (doses > 20 mg/day). Fluoride treatment, however, proved far more harmful than beneficial. Not only was fluoride therapy shown to increase fracture rates among the treated patients, it was also found to
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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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