The dangers of Fluoride - GET IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM. NOW.

Subject: Fluoride, a crippling toxin

The Crippling Toxin You Knowingly Consume Every Day...
Posted By Dr. Mercola | August 10 2011 | 90,297 views

By The Fluoride Action Network

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The fact that fluoride can damage your bones, often quite seriously, is no
Longer in dispute. Just ask the millions of people throughout the world
Who currently suffer from skeletal fluorosis­a crippling bone disease
Caused by too much fluoride and marked by irregular bone growth and
Calcification of the joints.

Of course, it takes a high dose of fluoride to cause crippling fluorosis.

But fluoride accumulates over time, so the severity of skeletal fluorosis
Exists along a continuum, with the earlier stages produced by lower doses
And marked by more subtle symptoms, such as joint pain and stiffness.

These early symptoms, which may not be accompanied by obvious bone
Changes, are often very hard to distinguish from common forms of arthritis. And,
Indeed, researchers over the years have repeatedly cautioned that the early
Stages of skeletal fluorosis may be misdiagnosed as a form of arthritis.

In 2006, skeletal fluorosis was identified by the US National Research
Council (NRC) as an adverse effect that needs to be considered by the EPA when
Lowering the maximum safe level of fluoride in water. While case studies
In recent years have documented advanced skeletal fluorosis in the US among
High-tea drinkers, the EPA has done no serious analysis of the extent to
Which the disease may be occurring throughout the country.

While fluoridation proponents and US health authorities claim that
Clinically obvious skeletal fluorosis will only develop at prolonged exposures to
10 milligrams (mg) of fluoride per day, virtually no attention­and even
Less research­has focused on the earlier, less obvious stages of the
Disease.

The fact that fluoride exposures in the U.S. Are generally not high enough
To cause crippling fluorosis is therefore of little comfort when taking
Into account that fluoride can cause non-diagnosable joint problems well
Before the crippling stage sets in­especially in a country where 60 million
Adults suffer from some form of arthritis. As noted by Dr. Phyllis
Mullenix,

"If I was an arthritic individual, I would be eliminating every possible
Source of fluoride exposure that I could think of."

Fluoride Linked to the Development of Bone Fractures

In addition to skeletal fluorosis, the National Research Council's 2006
Landmark review of fluoride toxicity also expressed concern about _fluoride's
Ability to decrease bone strength_
(http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/EPA/nrc/press01.HTML) and _increase the risk of fractures_
(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/06/02/fluoride-part-three.aspx) . Of
Particular concern was fluoride's potential to increase hip fracture rates
In the elderly, as hip fractures often send elderly patients into a spiral
Of declining health ending in death. Based on available evidence, the NRC
Concluded that fluoride increases the rate of fracture at 4 ppm (the level
Currently considered "safe" by the EPA), and noted that fluoride may
Increase the fracture risk at levels lower than 4 ppm.

To understand fluoride's potential to damage bone structure, some basic
Information about how fluoride acts in your body may be helpful.

First, up to half of ingested fluoride accumulates in your bones, with the
Other half excreted in urine. Second, once fluoride enters your bones it
Is removed very slowly. The NRC estimates, for instance, that the
Biological half-life of fluoride in bone (the time for half of it to be removed) is
As long as 20 years. Third, most people have constant low level exposures
To fluoride, and are taking more fluoride into their bones than is being
Removed. As a result, the fluoride level in bone increases steadily with time.


Thus, whereas young people generally don't have more than a few hundred
Parts per million (ppm) fluoride in their bones, older people living in
Fluoridated areas can have several thousand ppm­a level where skeletal
Fluorosis may begin.

Fourth, the ability to excrete fluoride in urine is significantly
Decreased among individuals with impaired kidney function. This creates a
Double-whammy for the elderly, for not only do they already have high accumulated
Levels of fluoride in their bone, but – because kidney function declines with
Age – they have a reduced ability to remove the new fluoride entering
Their system.

Finally, fluoride appears to interfere with the process of bone turnover
(aka bone remodeling), wherein the mineral portion of bone is broken down by
One type of cell and rebuilt by another.

Specifically, fluoride may cause an irregular mineralization, where the
Density of trabecular bone (which comprises the majority of the spine) can
Increase at the expense of reductions in cortical bone (which comprises the
majority of the extremities). Since the integrity of cortical bone is
critical to hip strength, fluoride's ability to reduce cortical bone density has
been posited as a key mechanism explaining the link between fluoride and
hip fractures.

In the past, for example, when high doses of fluoride were given as an
experimental drug to osteoporotic patients, fluoride was consistently found to
both decrease cortical bone density and increase the rate of hip
fractures. Even when fluoride increases bone density, as it often does with
trabecular bone, it can simultaneously make your bone more brittle and subject to
fracture.

Recent Studies Shed New Light on Fluoridation and Bone Density/Fracture

Whether water fluoridation can lead to high enough levels of fluoride in
bones to cause the type of alterations that can weaken them, remains an
unresolved question. About 20 epidemiological studies have tried to find out,
with mostly mixed results. Some of the studies suggest that fluoridated
water, at 1 ppm, can increase the risk of fractures, whereas others have
found no effect.

University of Toronto Study First in Humans to Show Fluoride and Fracture
Connection1

An important recent study from a team at the University of Toronto tried a
different approach. Instead of looking at the rate of fractures in people
exposed to varying amounts of fluoride, it used samples of actual bone
from people undergoing hip replacement to see whether the fluoride
concentration in bone correlated with the mechanical strength of the tissue.

This type of study had previously been done on laboratory animals (where
increased concentrations of fluoride have been correlated with decreased
strength), but never in humans.

The Toronto study was completed in 2001 but not published until 2010. The
number of subjects in the study was small, with only 92 people, so the
results were not definitive and the authors themselves do not draw any firm
conclusions. Yet when the results are examined carefully, there is clear
evidence that the people with higher levels of fluoride in their skeleton had
weaker bones, by several different measurements of bone quality.

This lends further support to the concept that fluoride, like osteoporosis
drugs, does make your bones denser, but may actually make them weaker and
more susceptible to fracture.

The most straightforward measurement of strength was the amount of
compression force the sample could withstand before breaking, which is called the
Ultimate Compressive Stress. The people with the highest levels of fluoride
in their bone had their sampled bone tissue break under about 50 percent
less stress than those with the lowest levels of fluoride. This result was
statistically significant.

University of Iowa Study2

Another recent study, from the University of Iowa, suggests that
fluoridated water might be causing subtle bone changes in young people, long before
the bone fluoride concentration reaches the high levels in later life3. In
the study, several types of bone mineral density measurements were
periodically made among a group of children during the first 11 years of their
life. Simultaneously, the children's fluoride intake was also being monitored.
When the authors (led by a pro-fluoridationist dentist who owes his
voluminous research funding to the pro-fluoridation NIH), checked to see if there
was any association between fluoride intake and bone density, they
concluded there was no effect to be worried about.

For, while they found a slight reduction in bone density among girls, they
found a slight increase in density among the boys.

However, lost in the authors' discussion, was the important fact that the
alteration in bone density among the girls mirrored the changes that have
been found in high-dose clinical studies. Namely, when the highest-exposed
girls were compared with the lowest-exposed girls, the highest-exposed girls
had reductions in bone density in cortical-rich bone (e.g. hip), but not
in trabecular-rich bone (e.g. spine). These reductions were statistically
significant after 8.5 years of life, and remained very close to significant
after 11 years.

The fact that this same pattern has been consistently observed in high
dose clinical studies, suggests that this was not merely a random finding, but
could well represent a similar, albeit subtler, fluoride effect on bone.

While the authors never discussed this possibility, they did note in
closing (without any explanation), that they plan to do further research on how
low-level fluoride intake may be related to "trabecular versus cortical
bone component outcomes." In the meantime, however, anyone reading the
abstract to the study will be forgiven for having the impression that their data
gives fluoride a "clean bill of health."

Millions are Likely at Risk for Bone Fractures from Fluoride

Simply finding that water fluoridation may be sufficient to cause changes
in bone remodeling at both old and young ages is worrying. However, when
these two recent studies are seen in the light of earlier work, the concern
is heightened. In one of the best bone fracture studies on adults to date4
, it was found that hip fracture rates increased steadily starting from
the lowest fluoride level examined, which was similar to what many Americans
are getting from fluoridated water.

In children, one of the only studies ever conducted on children looked at
fracture rates among Mexican youths in relation to dental fluorosis, a
developmental disorder of the growing teeth caused by too much fluoride. The
study, led by Alarcon-Herrera, and published in 2001, found that bone
fracture rates rose sharply with increasing severity of dental fluorosis, and that
the risk was heightened even among children with "mild" fluorosis.

In the US today, _roughly 40 percent of all children have dental
fluorosis_
(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/05/breaking-news-us-finally-admits-too-much-fluoride-in-the-water.aspx) , with millions
having "mild" fluorosis" and thousands having the more severe stages. No U.S.
study however, has yet attempted to investigate fractures in children as a
function of fluorosis.

Despite the fact that 170 million Americans now drink fluoridated water
every day, we continue to have little understanding on how the consequent
contamination of our food and water with fluoride is affecting bone health.

While we know that fluoride at high doses clearly harms bone, and while
there are several worrying indications that similar harm is occurring at the
lower levels that Americans regularly ingest, the absence of competent
research by U.S. health authorities has enabled many basic, fundamental
questions to remain unanswered. Until researchers feel free to report adverse
findings on fluoride without fear of losing their funding, this situation is
likely to persist, to the possible peril of millions of American's bone
health.

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath
Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA
Vaccines - _http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/_
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