Fluoride Alert for Children - And Editorial - Don't Toy With Fluoride

[Guest guest]

http://campaignfortruth.com/Eclub/240804/CTM%20-%20Sunday%20Express%20on%20fluor\

ide.htm

 

The Fluoride Action Network

Dear All,

 

Well at least one British newspaper - yesterday's

Sunday Express -has taken seriously the warnings of

fluoride's possible dangers to the baby's developing

brain. The Sunday Express printed both an article -

Fluoride Alert for Children - and an editorial - Don't

Toy With Fluoride - on the matter (see below).

 

It has been my firm belief for a number of years that

the number one argument that destroys any notion that

fluoride is necessary for good teeth (or anything else

for that matter) is the very low level of fluoride in

mothers' milk. The average level is between 0.005 to

0.01 ppm in breast milk, which is up to 200 times

lower than that added to water in fluoridation

programs. If fluoride was needed for healthy teeth why

would nature have been so incompetent as to have

virtually excluded it from baby's first meal?

 

But a more important question is: how much damage are

we doing to the delicate machinery of a child's

developing brain by bottle feeding with fluoridated

tap water? This was one of the key concerns given by

Dr. Arvid Carlsson (Nobel Laureate for medicine in

2000) when he led the successful campaign against

fluoridation in Sweden in the 1970's. It is also one

of the arguments used by Dr. Vyvyan Howard, a fetal

and infant pathologist from the University of

Liverpool, who was interviewed in the Sunday Express

article.

 

Who in their right minds would take the risk of

damaging the brains of children in an effort to

protect their teeth? Please email the Sunday Express

and thank them for speaking up on this issue, their

email address: sunday.exletters.

 

Paul Connett

FAN CAMPAIGN, Bulletin #87, 19th July 2004

www.fluoridealert.org

 

 

 

Fluoride Alert for Children

by Lucy Johnston, Health Editor

 

 

 

'The problems far outweigh the possible benefits to

their teeth' Tap water could be lowering children's

intelligence, leading experts have warned.

 

Top doctors claim fluoride in drinking water can

interfere with a child's brain function. They believe

this can lower IQ levels and lead to behavioural

problems.

 

Last night, Dr Vyvian Howard, an expert in chemicals

and infant health at Liverpool University, told of his

concern. He said: " Babies are on a wet diet for the

first four months. If they drink infant formula they

get fluoride through tap water, which is toxic and can

affect brain development. We know mothers screen out

fluoride, preventing it from getting into breast milk.

This is a natural evolutionary process to protect

them. Fluoride is not safe for babies. "

 

Ten per cent of the country has fluoridated tap water

to keep teeth healthy and the Government plans to

extend coverage under a new act now passing through

Parliament. Fluoride is also added to toothpaste and

is found in tealeaves, fertilizers, pesticides and air

pollution. Doctors think there are so many sources

that children could also be overdosing.

 

Dr Peter Mansfield, a GP and director of the Good

Health Keeping service at Louth, Lincolnshire, studied

more than 100 children with behavioural problems.

 

He discovered those with high levels of fluoride in

their bodies were more likely to have developmental

and behavioural problems.

 

Once the fluoride was taken out of their diet they got

better.

 

He said: " This is very worrying. Fluoride is toxic and

could cause mental problems. It could be that

thousands of children are under performing as a

result. We had children we thought were affected by

fluoride. In some cases they were hyperactive, lacked

concentration and were unhappy all the time. We tested

them and quite clearly demonstrated that fluoride was

causing their problems. The trouble fluoridated water

is causing far outweighs the possible benefits to

children's teeth. Nothing like enough work has been

done on this and no one is checking - it's very

worrying. "

 

His findings are borne out by a Unicef-backed study of

769 schoolchildren in China. It found those with

mental retardation or low IQ levels had excess

fluoride in their systems.

 

The study concluded that the chemical makes mental

health problems worse by interfering with the central

nervous system. Another study carried out in America

found that rats behave like hyperactive children when

given a comparable amount of fluoride.

 

Some experts including Dr Howard also fear fluoride is

fuelling rising obesity levels. They think it

interferes with the body's hormone balance, especially

the thyroid gland, which controls weight gain.

 

Medical author Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield said:

" Fluoride disrupts the hormones that control the

thyroid gland. This causes an underactive thyroid

which leads to obesity, tiredness and depression. "

 

And Dr Howard said: " Fluoride was once used as a

medicine to treat thyroid over activity. "

Sunday Express, 18th July 2004

 

 

 

Don't Toy with Fluoride

 

OUR Government has the best of motives in wanting to

extend the fluoridisation of our water supply. But it

is embarking on a risky experiment which, as we report

today, some believe could lower children's

intelligence, lead to behavioural problems and cause

health problems in adults.

 

Our modern sugary diet is not only making our children

obese, it is also rotting their teeth. Toddlers as

young as two have teeth removed. One hospital in

Sheffield extracts all the milk teeth from a child

once a week on average. In Glasgow, 2,000 children

aged under five have extractions each year.

 

It is an uphill struggle to persuade people to change

their family's diets. Therefore, the Government

reasons that the best way to strengthen children's

teeth is to add fluoride to water which everyone

drinks.

 

But some experts claim the benefits of fluoride are

negligible or non-existent. Others worry that fluoride

has dangers which outweigh any benefits, particularly

in babies with underdeveloped systems.

 

The Government must not embark on what amounts to mass

medication of the population without exhaustive

studies that are carried out to the highest scientific

standards over a long period.

Sunday Express Opinion, 18th July 2004

sunday.exletters.