Guest guest Posted November 13, 2003 Report Share Posted November 13, 2003 Thu, 13 Nov 2003 01:05:14 -0500 HSI - Jenny Thompson The Art of Subtraction The Art of Subtraction Health Sciences Institute e-Alert November 13, 2003 ************************************************************** Dear Reader, It's fluoride time again. The fluoridation of public water is a controversy I return to every few months, just to keep it on the burner, so to speak. This is an important health issue that affects virtually everyone who lives in or near any large population center in the U.S. And it's a subject that always prompts a surprised response from those who haven't yet heard that fluoride contains dangerous toxins, even though it's added to the water supplies in thousands of communities. Fortunately there are ways to avoid fluoride intake. And believe it or not, avoiding fluoride just might make your teeth healthier. But is there a way to remove fluoride buildup from your body? Good question. But difficult to answer. ---------------------------- Binding molecule ---------------------------- I recently received this e-mail from an HSI member named Owen: " Fluoride is a toxin which accumulates in the bones and glands over a lifetime. It makes bones brittle, and has been linked to the plague of hip-fractures which effectively end the lives of 350,000 elderly Americans each year. " I've been taking good care of myself for decades, but I drank tap water when I was a young man. There's bound to be fluoride in my bones, unless the clean living of the last 26 years has removed it. That's what I want to know: are there foods or supplements which effectively remove fluoride from bones and glands? " Unfortunately, the answer to Owen's question appears to be, " No. " So far, anyway. I asked HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., about the possibility of chelating fluoride accumulation from the body, and he pointed out that fluoride has an unusually strong binding molecule. This is part of the reason why many water filters are ineffective in extracting fluoride. Dr. Spreen says, " It's well known that fluoride is difficult to remove from water with conventional water filters. Much of the chlorine can be removed using a good carbon filter, but fluoride will not come with it. " I wish I had better news for Owen and all the rest of us who gulped unfiltered tap water for many years. Dr. Spreen told me he'll continue to review his research sources to try and find a natural way to chelate fluoride. In the meantime, this gives us an even greater incentive to avoid further fluoride intake. ---------------------------- Cumberland Blues ---------------------------- In a Daily Dose e-letter titled " Fighting Back Against Fluoride " (10/31/03), William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., featured the small town of Cumberland, Maryland, where the citizens adopted a charter provision in the 1960s to reject fluoridation of their water. But in 2000, a city referendum overruled the provision. Now that the tap water of Cumberland is fluoridated, many residents continue to fight the reversal of their charter provision in court. In Dr. Douglass' typical, straightforward style, he gets to the heart of the fluoride debate with this barb: " But even if fluoride in the drinking water meant an absolute guarantee of never having to go the dentist again, EVER, you shouldn't consume it. Why? Because cavities can't kill you, but fluoride can. " Here's a quick rundown of a few of fluoride's potential dangers: * A number of studies have linked fluoride to as many as 10,000 cancer deaths each year, with a high incidence of bone cancer among men exposed to fluoride * In animal trials, fluoride has been shown to enhance the brain's absorption of aluminum (the toxin shown to contribute to Alzheimer's disease) * Several osteoporosis studies have associated hip fractures with fluoride intake And add to all of this the irony that when too much fluoride is consumed, teeth can become discolored and crumble. And how can you tell when you're getting too much? You can't! As Dr. Spreen stated in a previous fluoride e-Alert, " Whether you are pro or con in the fluoride controversy, there is one simple problem that nobody can dispute: You can't control the dose. " ---------------------------- Land of the free ---------------------------- Usually when the government interferes with our healthcare choices, it's done by forbidding or restricting access. With fluoride it's the opposite; your freedom of choice is compromised when your local government puts a chemical in your water " for your own good. " So every time you drink from a faucet, you're being medicated without your consent. Or - in the case of the citizens of Cumberland, MD - against your expressed wishes. Want to hear some truly radical thinking? Many countries throughout the world have rejected water fluoridation programs based on the idea that health treatments should be a personal choice, not mandated by the government. Meanwhile, tooth decay trends tracked by the World Health Organization from 1970 to the present show that the incidence of decayed, missing, or filled teeth has been steadily in decline with each passing year in the U.S., France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Iceland, and Greece. Better oral hygiene and improved dentistry are the most likely reasons for this upswing in dental health. But it certainly can't be attributed to the fluoride. Because out of all of those countries, only one adds fluoride to the public water supply: the United States. ---------------------------- Water, water everywhere... ---------------------------- There are basically two ways to avoid the fluoride that comes out of your tap: You can drink bottled water, or find a reliable water filter that actually removes fluoride. But that's easier said than done. To read more details about filters and bottled water, see the e-Alerts " Bad to the Bone " (4/29/03), and " Don't Fill 'er Up " (2/13/03); both available on our web site at www.hsibalitmore.com. Dr. Douglass has been one of the most outspoken voices in the fight against fluoride for decades. Recently, he consulted with a company to create a water filter specifically built to remove fluoride from your drinking water. For more information on the filter Dr. Douglass helped design, follow the link below. http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/600SCTDF/W600DB98/home.cfm When your local government offers a one-size-fits- all " medication " for the general public, just say NO. ************************************************************** To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/freecopy.html Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. ************************************************************** ... and another thing We've got a real soap opera going here. And it's getting nasty. In several recent e-Alerts (see " Crashing the Market " 10/20/03) I told you about the launch of Crestor, the new cholesterol-lowering statin drug, manufactured by AstraZeneca (AZ). The execs at AZ have devoted millions to the worldwide promotion of Crestor, hoping to carve out a large slice of the statin market dominated by Lipitor, which generated $8 billion for Pfizer last year. When you've got a market where a single brand can gross $8 billion in a year, it's not surprising to see a dog-eat-dog atmosphere emerge. To say the least. Two weeks ago, the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet featured an editorial that roundly criticized AZ for rushing Crestor to market when the drug's safety is still very much in question (according to Lancet editor Richard Horton). AstraZeneca CEO Tom McKillop fired back with a blistering letter (published in the following issue of The Lancet) that defended Crestor's safety record in clinical trials, and called Horton's comments a " flawed and incorrect editorial. " Showing restraint, McKillop didn't mention that The Lancet might be considered something less than an impartial observer of the Crestor/Lipitor competition. Just two weeks before the Crestor-bashing editorial appeared, Pfizer sponsored an entire issue of The Lancet. And can you guess what appeared on both the front AND back covers of that issue? Two ads for Lipitor. The questions about Crestor's safety are not new and have created headaches for AZ for more than a year now. But the widely-reported " Statin War " (as The Lancet referred to it) is giving Crestor more free publicity than AZ execs ever dreamed of. And in the midst of this most recent skirmish, we've also had an insightful glimpse into the relationship between powerful drug companies and high-profile medical journals. As a friend of mine used to say: " Stand back and let the big dogs eat. " To Your Good Health, and... Go Ravens! Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute ************************************************************** Sources: " Fighting Back Against Fluoride " William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., Daily Dose, 10/31/03, realhealthnews.com " How does the government help big industry get rid of millions of tons of toxic waste? Easy. They add it to your drinking water! " William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., realhealthnews.com " Tooth Decay Trends: Fluoridated Vs. Unfluoridated Countries " Fluoride Action Network, fluoridealert.org " The Statin Wars: Why AstraZeneca Must Retreat " Editorial, The Lancet, v. 362, no. 9393, 10/25/03, thelancet.com " The Statin Wars " Correspondence, The Lancet, v. 362, no. 9394, 11/1/03, thelancet.com " AstraZeneca Slammed over Crestor " Reuters, 10/23/03, reuters.co.uk " Lancet Hit in Drugs Row " Paul Durman, The Times of London, 10/26/03, timesonline.com Copyright ©1997-2003 by www.hsibaltimore.com, L.L.C. The e-Alert may not be posted on commercial sites without written permission. ************************************************************** Before you hit reply to send us a question or request, please visit here http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/questions.html ************************************************************** If you'd like to participate in the HSI Forum, search past e-Alerts and products or you're an HSI member and would like to search past articles, visit http://www.hsibaltimore.com ************************************************************** To learn more about HSI, call (203) 699-4416 or visit http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/HSI/WHSID618/home.cfm. ************************************************************** To manage your e-mail subscription, use our web interface at: http://www.agoramail.net/Home.cfm?List=hsiweb Or to end your e-mail subscription, send a blank e-mail to: hsiweb_unsub To cancel or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Order Processing Center Attn: Customer Service P.O. 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