A major promoter of heart disease in the U.S. today could be a chemical that the government has been intentionally dumping into the water supply for decades on the premise that it prevents tooth decay. Fluoride, according to a new study published in the journal Toxicology, shows demonstrated cardiotoxic effects, which include the calcification and hardening of arteries.
Researchers from the University of Zaragoza in Spain looked at the effects of water fluoridation on the progression of vascular calcification in renal (kidney) disease. The team used real-world concentrations of fluoride as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for optimal oral health — 1.5 milligrams per liter (mg/L) — administering this amount to rats via water in the same way humans would receive it.
It was observed that, for five days, the rats, all of whom had experimental chronic kidney disease (CKD), experienced calcification of their aortic smooth muscle cells. The rats also experienced further declines in renal function as a result of exposure to fluoride, demonstrating the nephrotoxicity of this common water additive.
“[F]luoridation of drinking water… dramatically increased the incipient aortic calcification observed in rats with experimental chronic kidney disease,” wrote the authors. “[T]he WHO’s recommended concentrations in drinking water become nephrotoxic to CKD rats, thereby aggravating renal disease and making media vascular calcification significant.”
90 percent of digested fluoride is taken up by intestines and distributed throughout body
Previous research, as noted in the new study, has confirmed that 90 percent or more of digested fluoride is absorbed through the intestines and distributed throughout the body to soft tissues, calcified structures and blood plasma. At WHO-recommended doses, fluoride can still get lodged throughout the body and remain there for many years.
In healthy individuals, plasma fluoride is cleared through the dual action of calcifying tissues and expelling through the kidneys. But in those with renal disease, the kidneys are not up to the task of removing fluoride from the body, greatly amplifying both the calcification process and the advancement of renal failure.
“Since atherosclerosis involves the gradual hardening and final calcification of the arteries with a form of calcium known as hydroxylapatite, fluoride’s role in replacing hydroxyls within hydroxylapatite crystals to form fluorapatite can be considered enhancing the cardiotoxicity of these calcium deposits,” wrote Sayer Ji for GreenMedInfo.
“[This is] due to the fact that fluorapatite is less soluble than hydroxylapatite and therefore more resistant to the body’s demineralization mechanisms (or de-calcification with natural substances such as magnesium, hawthorn or vitamin K2).”
Tell your local water authority to do its homework and end water fluoridation
The time to end water fluoridation is now, as the mounting evidence couldn’t be any clearer: Fluoride is extremely toxic, especially for those with pre-existing health conditions. Even at the “low” doses considered safe by the government, fluoride can have a dramatic impact on neurological function, brain chemistry and cardiovascular performance.
This is all extensively outlined in the scientific literature, and neatly put together by groups like the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) that continue to advocate for safe, fluoride-free water: FluorideAlert.org.
Water authorities everywhere need to take note of the facts and decidedly put a stop to this outmoded and dangerous practice.
“Our findings could help to decide whether the use of fluoride to improve the dental health of the population through indiscriminate practices, such as adding it to municipal drinking water, should be reconsidered and should be replaced by a fluoridation policy based on the health status of individuals,” concluded the authors.
Article sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
http://www.greenmedinfo.com
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
http://fluoridealert.org
http://science.naturalnews.com
