zendell wrote:
I think most nations in Europe reject fluoridation because the scientific evidence indicates it does nothing to protect against cavities and it may cause osteoporosis, cancer, and other health problems.
Children who drink fluoridated water do have lower rates of dental decay, and this protection continues through the adult years. But having adults drink fluoridated water does not reduce cavities -their teeth are already formed, and the fluoride isn't added to the enamel.
And there are risk issues associated with fluoridation. Fluoride may also interfere with thyroid function - it is similar to Iodine.
Quote:
Probl Endokrinol (Mosk). 1985 Nov-Dec;31(6):25-9.
[Action of the body fluorine of healthy persons and thyroidopathy patients on the function of hypophyseal-thyroid the system]
[Article in Russian]
Bachinskiĭ PP, Gutsalenko OA, Naryzhniuk ND, Sidora VD, Shliakhta AI.
Altogether 123 persons were examined: 47 healthy persons, 43 patients with thyroid hyperfunction and 33 with thyroid hypofunction. It was established that prolonged consumption of drinking water with a raised fluorine content (122 +/- 5 mumol/l with the normal value of 52 +/- 5 mumol/l) by healthy persons caused tension of function of the pituitary-thyroid system that was expressed in TSH elevated production, a decrease in the T3 concentration and more intense absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid as compared to healthy persons who consumed drinking water with the normal fluorine concentration. The results led to a conclusion that excess of fluorine in drinking water was a risk factor of more rapid development of thyroid pathology. Indicators of the fluorine content in daily urine provide most of the information on changes of the fluorine amount in the body.
I live close to the coast, and there is lots of hardness, sediments, sodium, iron, chloride, chlorine, fluoride and other things in the water. We got a reverse-osmosis unit a while back, and within a few months, our cat with the severe anxiety problems became normal. Coincidence? Maybe. But he might have had a hard time balancing all the ions. Might have been something as simple as the sodium.