Fluoride: A Pain in the Neck - Case Report

New York - October 12, 2006 -- A 52-year-old American man's
arthritic-like joint pain and immobility went away after he stopped
brushing his teeth with fluoridated toothpaste, according to a new
study in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research(1).

There's no scientific dispute that large fluoride doses cause
crippling skeletal fluorosis over time.  (See. http://www.nalgonda.org)
But, "less well-known causes of chronic fluoride toxicity include
fluoride supplements, certain teas and wine and some toothpastes,"
report researchers Kurland, et al.(1)

Skeletal fluorosis often results in  abnormal bone hardening and
thickening (osteosclerosis) with painful and impaired neck and spine
mobility, spine curvature, and/or painful lower extremities ultimately
causing crippling and incapacitation, report the researchers.

"Fluoride at any level accumulates in the body," says Paul Beeber,
President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation. "So even
water fluoridation will cause arthritic-like symptoms in susceptible
individuals which is compounded by U.S. physicians'and dentists' lack
of training to diagnose fluoride toxicity."

In this case, the only obvious fluoride exposure was toothpaste. The
patient drank no fluoridated water, tea or wine; had no occupational
fluoride exposure; did not chew tobacco, inhale snuff, cook with Teflon
pots, use fluoridated mouthwash or get fluoride treatments at
twice-yearly dentist visits. But he brushed before and after all meals
(minimum 6 times daily) with fluoridated toothpaste.

Fluoride was elevated in his serum, urine and iliac crest (bone), the
researchers report.

Within 8 months of eliminating all obvious fluoride sources, the
patient's urinary and blood fluoride levels dropped and bone function
markers showed clear cut improvement, the researchers report.

"By approximately two years after diagnosis and apparent elimination
of excess fluoride exposure, the patient had complete resolution of his
neck immobility and no longer required analgesics," the researchers
write.

Roos, et al. documents a woman whose painful swollen fingers healed
after she ceased eating fluoridated toothpaste.(2)

Whyte, et al. report a woman's fluoride-caused debilitating joint
pains disappeared when her two-gallon-a-day iced tea habit stopped.(3)

Eichmiller, et al. report a patient's leg and joint pains from a
dentist-prescribed high-concentration fluoride product.(4)

"We know US schoolchildren are fluoride-overdosed(5). What's it
doing to their bones?" asks Beeber.

Arthritis is linked to water fluoride in a Turkish study.(6)

More about skeletal fluorosis:
http://www.fluoridealert.org/s-fluorosis.htm

and arthritis
http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/bone/fluorosis/arthritis/

References:

1)   Recovery From Skeletal Fluorosis (An Enigmatic, American Case).
Journal of Bone Mineral Research. October 2, 2006, by Kurland, et a.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstra
ctPlus&list_uids=17014382&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum

(2) Osteofluorosis caused by excess use of toothpaste, Presse Med,
34:1518-20, by Roos et al November 2005

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstra
ctPlus&list_uids=16301964&query_hl=7&itool=pubmed_docsum

(3) Environ Health Perspect. 2005 August; 113(8): "Food Safety: A
Tea-Time Mystery," by Michael Szpir

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1280381

(4) Journal of the American Dental Association, "Controlling the
fluoride dosage in a patient with compromised salivary function,"
Frederick C. Eichmiller, D.D.S.; Naomi Eidelman, Ph.D.; Clifton M.
Carey, PhD., Vol. 136, page 67 -70, January 2005
http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/136/1/67

NYSCOF News Release: http://tinyurl.com/mbrmd

(5) NYSCOF News release http://tinyurl.com/mbrmd  about

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Office of
Communication,  8/25/05
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r050825.htm

(6)http://www.orgsites.com/ny/newyorkstatecoalitionopposedtofluoridation/_pgg7.php3