FAN Bulletin 1000
 
Sept 2, 2008
 
Dear Supporter,

We celebrate our 1000th FAN bulletin with the release of a videotaped interview I had with Dr. A.K. Susheela on August 12, 2008, after the recent Toronto events. This was filmed shortly before she departed for her return trip to India. It has been uploaded to Google video.

I am sure many of you will be happy to have access to this interview because some of you ? and me included ? were very disappointed with the sound quality on the videotape of her excellent presentation at the ISFR conference, which I distributed a few days ago ( see Dr. Bruce Spittle and Dr. A.K. Susheela video).

I don’t think we can possibly underestimate the importance of what Dr. Susheela has to say. Fluoride poisoning (fluorosis) is a disease she has studied for 34 years. Like many of colleagues who came before her, her interest started with the obvious manifestations of this disease on the teeth and bones ? dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis. What she has added to this issue is the careful description and treatment of the EARLIER and REVERSIBLE manifestations of fluoride’s effects on the soft tissues. She argues convincingly that if fluoride is the cause of many common complaints (stomach pains, nausea, constipation, bloated feeling, headaches, excessive tiredness, depression, aching joints etc) and these are correctly diagnosed (based on measurement of fluoride levels in the urine and serum, and hemoglobin levels) it is very easy to cure the problem. The sources of the fluoride have to be identified and removed and the patient encouraged to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables to replenish the nutrients not being absorbed.

On the latter point, this is where Dr. Susheela has gone beyond being an effective doctor tending her patients. She has drawn on a brilliant scientific mind. With every symptom she has tried to come up with a cogent scientific explanation as to how fluoride is causing the problem. In the case of fluoride’s impacts on the gastrointestinal tract one thing we know is that once fluoride ion reaches the stomach (very low pH) it forms hydrofluoric acid which can then attack the cells of the lining. To demonstrate that this is actually happening Dr. Susheela has obtained a brilliant set of electron micrographs of the mucosal lining. These demonstrate the progressive deterioration of the cells of the lining as the level of fluoride in the water being drunk goes from low, to 1.2 ppm to 3 ppm. Two things can be seen: first, the goblet cells, which produce the mucous which facilitates the movement of the waste material through the system, are damaged and less mucous is produced. This would explain the constipation. Second, the microvilli which line the cells (and provide the huge surface area needed to efficiently absorb the nutrients that we need) are progressively damaged. At 3 ppm the cells are essentially bald.  Thus, with fluoride in the diet or in the water, it is difficult for those susceptible to this condition, to get all the nutrients they need into their bodies ? even though they may be in their diet. This would explain low hemoglobin levels and the feeling of excessive tiredness etc. It also explains why even when some anemic women are provided iron and folic acid tablets in India their hemoglobin levels do not increase and sadly, they still produce low weight babies. They are simply not able to absorb the iron.

This is not rocket science but it is beautifully elegant stuff and is enabling Dr. A.K. Susheela to help hundreds of pregnant women to increase their hemoglobin levels and have normal weight babies. That is the good news.

The bad news is that because doctors in the West have been indoctrinated by “professional” organizations like the American Dental Association, Australian Dental Association, British Dental Association, etc., into believing that ingesting fluoride is good for teeth and harmless for the rest of the body, they have never learned anything about fluoride’s toxic effects. Thus the disease of “fluorosis” goes unnoticed until the damage becomes visible (dental fluorosis) and then it is dismissed as “merely a cosmetic effect.” Consequently, fluoride is completely off the doctors’ radar screen when their patients report these common complaints. Worse still, even when patients suspect fluoride is the cause, doctors and hospitals do not have ready access to labs that could measure the fluoride in the patient’s blood or urine.

Estimates of the number of people who are being daily damaged by fluoride and going undiagnosed and untreated ranges from 1 ? 4%. With upwards of 400 million people drinking artificially fluoridated water around the world that works out to be a potential of 1 to 4 million people  being UNNECESSARILY harmed every day. What is the Hippocratic commandment again? First Do No Harm!

When your bottle fed baby won’t stop crying it may ?or may not - mean that the fluoride in the tap water used to make up the formula is attacking his or her delicate stomach and intestinal lining.

Please share this video with your doctor and ask him or her to help end this foolish, unethical ? and totally unscientific - practice of adding fluoride to our drinking water (remember 1 ppm is not small -  it is 250 times the level found in human breast milk: 1 ppm versus 0.004 ppm).  One way they can help is to sign the Professionals’ Statement calling for an end to fluoridation worldwide and another way is to discuss this issue with colleagues and at professional meetings. It is time the silent acquiescence was ended. They should also be encouraged to check out the 23 studies that link exposure to fluoride in high natural areas and lowered IQ in children - see
Tang et al., 2008.

Again, I would welcome your feedback on this videotape.

Paul Connett

PS If you appreciate the work of the Fluoride Action Network please consider making a small financial donation to help us continue our work.