’s National Natural Science Foundation.
I mention this fact because it stands in rather stark contrast to the experience of US scientists who have also attempted to investigate fluoride’s impact on the brain.
The most notable example, of course, is the experience of Dr. Phyllis Mullenix, former chair of Toxicology at the prestigious Dental Forsythe Center. Ever since publishing her findings (in 1995) indicating neurotoxic effects of fluoride in rats, Mullenix was not only fired from her job, she has been unable to receive any money from government sources to continue her research. (Chris Bryson discusses Dr. Mullenix’s experience in great detail in his new book The Fluoride Deception from Seven Stories Press, May 2004).
Hopefully, however, with more and more research on fluoride and brain coming in from overseas and being published in western journals, some independent US scientists will become emboldened to start investigating the issue themselves, and will find ways of securing the funds to do so.
In the mean time, it is encouraging to know that there are scientists such as Dr. Guan in China and Sweden, actively researching fluoride’s neurotoxicity and publishing their findings. They are no doubt well ahead of the curve.
ADDENDUM: The Growing Body of Evidence that Fluoride Damages the Brain
Included below are excerpts from recent studies investigating fluoride’s impact onthe brain.
The studies are organized into 3 categories:
- Animal Studies from Dr. Guan & Colleagues
- Animal Studies from other research teams
- HUMAN Studies
1) Animal Studies from Dr. Guan & Colleagues
“Recently, we have detected the alterations of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in rat brains and PC12 cells affected by fluoride toxicity… [O]xidative stress, including protein oxidation of the receptors and lipid peroxidation in cellular membrane, might be a mechanism of the deficit of the receptors.”
SOURCE: Shan KR, Qi XL, Long YG, Wang YN, Nordberg A, Guan ZZ. (2004). Decreased nicotinic receptors in PC12 cells and rat brains influenced by fluoride toxicity—a mechanism relating to a damage at the level in post-transcription of the receptor genes. Toxicology200: 169–177.
“These findings suggest that selective decreases in the number of nAChRs may play an important role in the mechanism(s) by which fluoride causes dysfunction of the central nervous system.”
SOURCE: Chen J, Shan KR, Long YG, Wang YN, Nordberg A, Guan ZZ. (2003). Selective decreases of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in PC12 cells exposed to fluoride. Toxicology 183: 235-42.
“In order to investigate the molecular mechanism(s) underlying brain dysfunction caused by chronic fluorosis, neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the brain of rats receiving either 30 or 100 ppm fluoride in their drinking water for 7 months were analyzed in the present study employing ligand binding and Western blotting… Since nAChRs play major roles in cognitive processes such as learning and memory, the decrease in the number of nAChRs caused by fluoride toxicity may be an important factor in the mechanism of brain dysfunction in the disorder.”
SOURCE: Long YG, Wang YN, Chen J, Jiang SF, Nordberg A, Guan ZZ. (2002). Chronic fluoride toxicity decreases the number of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in rat brain. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 24:751-7.
“Over uptake of fluoride for a long term could cause potential increase in the level of oxidative stress in the brain tissue.”
SOURCE: Shao Q, Wang Y, Guan Z. (2000). [Influence of free radical inducer on the level of oxidative stress in brain of rats with fluorosis]. Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi 34:330-2.
“The results demonstrate that the contents of phospholipid and ubiquinone are modified in brains affected by chronic fluorosis and these changes of membrane lipids could be involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.”
SOURCE: Guan ZZ, Wang YN, Xiao KQ, Dai DY, Chen YH, Liu JL, Sindelar P, Dallner G. (1998). Influence of chronic fluorosis on membrane lipids in rat brain. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 20: 537-542.
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