Increased Flouride Levels in Drinking Water Correlated With ADHD
122 replies, posted
I saw this on a rather biased news source. However, since it linked directly to the journal I figure I will bypass the spin and just link the study.
[quote]Background Epidemiological and animal-based studies have suggested that prenatal and postnatal fluoride exposure has adverse effects on neurodevelopment. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between exposure to fluoridated water and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prevalence among children and adolescents in the United States. Methods Data on ADHD prevalence among 4-17 year olds collected in 2003, 2007 and 2011 as part of the National Survey of Children’s Health, and state water fluoridation prevalence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected between 1992 and 2008 were utilized. Results State prevalence of artificial water fluoridation in 1992 significantly positively predicted state prevalence of ADHD in 2003, 2007 and 2011, even after controlling for socioeconomic status. A multivariate regression analysis showed that after socioeconomic status was controlled each 1% increase in artificial fluoridation prevalence in 1992 was associated with approximately 67,000 to 131,000 additional ADHD diagnoses from 2003 to 2011. Overall state water fluoridation prevalence (not distinguishing between fluoridation types) was also significantly positively correlated with state prevalence of ADHD for all but one year examined. Conclusions Parents reported higher rates of medically-diagnosed ADHD in their children in states in which a greater proportion of people receive fluoridated water from public water supplies. The relationship between fluoride exposure and ADHD warrants future study. [/quote]
[url]http://www.ehjournal.net/content/14/1/17/abstract[/url]
Provisional .pdf available at the source.
Seems evidence is showing water flouridation is not nearly as beneficial as we once assumed.
Correlation means nothing. Even the authors state there needs to be more study. You cannot say that fluoridation is unsafe without more study and evidence to suggest that it isn't. A correlation, is not sufficient evidence.
These kind of journal entry's are always misconstrued by the public/media, and that's the reason we always hear [I]"X causes cancer!"[/I] one week then [I]"X cures cancer?"[/I] the next, and then everyone says scientists can't make up their mind. These kinds of journal entries mean nothing to the public.
[editline]6th March 2015[/editline]
I'm not saying there isn't a chance fluoride may increase chances of ADHD, I'm just saying this really isn't huge groundbreaking discovery.
[QUOTE=OvB;47268080]Correlation means nothing. Even the authors state there needs to be more study. You cannot say that fluoridation is unsafe without more study and evidence to suggest that it isn't. A correlation, is not sufficient evidence.
[/QUOTE]
My statement was taking into account previous studies that showed correlation between water flouridation levels and other negative effects on child development. It was a rather broad statement in light of new evidence that flouridation is not nearly as safe as we thought it was before.
And yes, a correlation means a lot. Otherwise, finding a statistical correlation would not be a noteworthy event.
[editline]5th March 2015[/editline]
The rest of the post I agree with though.
[editline]5th March 2015[/editline]
The rest of your post is, by the way, why I disregarded the news source and just posted from the journal directly. I have little interest in the media's interpretations of science. It is mostly disappointing.
[QUOTE=Scurvy;47268096]My statement was taking into account previous studies that showed correlation between water flouridation levels and other negative effects on child development. It was a rather broad statement in light of new evidence that flouridation is not nearly as safe as we thought it was before.
And yes, a correlation means a lot. Otherwise, finding a statistical correlation would not be a noteworthy event.
[editline]5th March 2015[/editline]
The rest of the post I agree with though.[/QUOTE]
Finding a statistical correlation isn't really a noteworthy event at all lol
Correlation does not equal causation. It's the first thing they teach in college level introductory science and critical thinking courses to prevent shit like this
no this is true i drank bottle water throguh my whole childhood and i never got ahdd!!
[QUOTE=OvB;47268080]Correlation means nothing. Even the authors state there needs to be more study. You cannot say that fluoridation is unsafe without more study and evidence to suggest that it isn't. A correlation, is not sufficient evidence.
These kind of journal entry's are always misconstrued by the public/media, and that's the reason we always hear [I]"X causes cancer!"[/I] one week then [I]"X cures cancer?"[/I] the next, and then everyone says scientists can't make up their mind. These kinds of journal entries mean nothing to the public.
[editline]6th March 2015[/editline]
I'm not saying there isn't a chance fluoride may increase chances of ADHD, I'm just saying this really isn't huge groundbreaking discovery.[/QUOTE]
XKCD for everything.
[IMG]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/significant.png[/IMG]
Even if there was a coorelation between two things, you have to interpret that coorelation. For instance, in areas of fluoridated water, is it possible that increase happened at the same time as the increase of ADHD [I]diagnosis[/I]? What if the levels of ADHD remained the same, but we got better at diagnosing people with ADHD, leading to a [I]purely statistical[/I] increase as opposed to an actual increase?
This is another case of Margarine Consumption/Divorce
This is all just guesswork, but I'd say diagnosis of ADHD has increased because of greater understanding of the disorder coupled with gradually improving access to healthcare. Fluoride in water has increased because of improving human knowledge of the same kind.
Correlation doesn't imply causation. Fluoride has been in the water supply for decades, and ever since then people have claimed to makes us dumber, etc. Truth is, there is no actual proof of this. Want to see another "link" I could make between things? Just because things correlate doesn't mean anything.
[img]http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ScreenHunter_04-Jan.-07-23.11.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=OvB;47268080]Correlation means nothing. Even the authors state there needs to be more study. You cannot say that fluoridation is unsafe without more study and evidence to suggest that it isn't. A correlation, is not sufficient evidence.[/QUOTE]
And of course, let us never forget that correlation does not equal causation.
[QUOTE=killerteacup;47268115]Finding a statistical correlation isn't really a noteworthy event at all lol[/QUOTE]
Other than the fact that it may show that something in modern society is contributing to ADD?
I mean, come on, it may not prove that fluoride causes ADHD, but if some states have significantly higher incidence of ADHD and it appears to have an artificial cause then that's a big deal. It may not be the fluoride, but if we can rule out methodological problems (do some states have higher rates of ADHD reporting as opposed to diagnosis?), then there's [I]something[/I] doing it and that's worth researching.
Fluoride water tastes like shit either way, the well water we use tastes awesome, and no fracking plants nearby yet so it's still pretty good.
There is less fluoride added to drinking water than there is already naturally present in many locations. This means that clearly these locations should have a higher relative population with ADHD than other locations, but I see no evidence of it.
Still, do we need to add Fluoride to the water? We have tooth paste with Fluoride and it's OK, it touches teeth and then we spit that shit out.
With Fluoride in water we just ingest this, it barely touches teeth and instead goes into our body.
You add fluoride to the water?
We filter it out
[QUOTE=Fourier;47270488]Still, do we need to add Fluoride to the water? We have tooth paste with Fluoride and it's OK, it touches teeth and then we spit that shit out.
With Fluoride in water we just ingest this, it barely touches teeth and instead goes into our body.[/QUOTE]
That's the point. With toothpaste it only touches your teeth once, if it's in your body it's present in small amounts in your saliva and it bonds to teeth and makes them stronger and more resistant to decay.
Regardless if fluoride causes autism or not, it still shouldn't be in drinking water.
Flouride does not reduce impurities nor clean the water. Thus it's an unneeded additive and should not be put into the water.
If someone wants to take fluoride for their teeth, let them add it to their own water, instead of forcing it on everyone.
[editline]6th March 2015[/editline]
It's illegal in sweden, thankfully.
There is a correlation between cars and deaths too.
Reminds me of another claim about water fluoridation...
[img]http://depletedcranium.com/general_ripper_quote.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=Rust666;47270693]Regardless if fluoride causes autism or not, it still shouldn't be in drinking water.
Flouride does not reduce impurities nor clean the water. Thus it's an unneeded additive and should not be put into the water.
If someone wants to take fluoride for their teeth, let them add it to their own water, instead of forcing it on everyone.
[editline]6th March 2015[/editline]
It's illegal in sweden, thankfully.[/QUOTE]
Loads of other things are added to the water besides fluoride you know.
[QUOTE=Deng;47271615]Loads of other things are added to the water besides fluoride you know.[/QUOTE]
What's your point? I know that. My point was that fluoride should not be added to water, as this is a fluoride-specific thread.
[QUOTE=Rust666;47270693]Regardless if fluoride causes autism or not, it still shouldn't be in drinking water.
Flouride does not reduce impurities nor clean the water. Thus it's an unneeded additive and should not be put into the water.
If someone wants to take fluoride for their teeth, let them add it to their own water, instead of forcing it on everyone.
[editline]6th March 2015[/editline]
It's illegal in sweden, thankfully.[/QUOTE]
You can't just say let them add it to their own water. Fluoride helps with tooth decay and asking a family, especially a poor family that may not have the education to know how to properly clean teeth without fluoride, to add the right amount of fluoride is simply too much to be expected. Fluoride in water is one of the most important health advancements, it allows people to decrease the chance of having tooth decay passively.
[QUOTE=Rust666;47270693]Regardless if fluoride causes autism or not, it still shouldn't be in drinking water.
Flouride does not reduce impurities nor clean the water. Thus it's an unneeded additive and should not be put into the water.
If someone wants to take fluoride for their teeth, let them add it to their own water, instead of forcing it on everyone.
[editline]6th March 2015[/editline]
It's illegal in sweden, thankfully.[/QUOTE]
People in Buffalo have great teeth. Why? Fluoride in the water, I imagine. I'm not going to say that's specifically why, but it obviously helps.
it's not that unneeded. it certainly has its uses.
[QUOTE=BLOB Fish Dude;47271661]You can't just say let them add it to their own water. Fluoride helps with tooth decay and asking a family, especially a poor family that may not have the education to know how to properly clean teeth without fluoride, to add the right amount of fluoride is simply too much to be expected. Fluoride in water is one of the most important health advancements, it allows people to decrease the chance of having tooth decay passively.[/QUOTE]
People can buy their own fluoride salts, and if poor people can't afford it, then give it out for free or something.
It's disgusting to force chemical additives that are not related at all to water purity onto people.
Fluoride has its benefits, but I prefer to take it how I choose and not passively in my drinking water!
[QUOTE=J!NX;47271694]People in Buffalo have great teeth. Why? Fluoride in the water, I imagine. I'm not going to say that's specifically why, but it obviously helps.
it's not that unneeded. it certainly has its uses.[/QUOTE]
Maybe they are just educated about brushing their teeth?
There are ways other than medicating everyone via drinking water to ensure people get a suggested chemical into their system.
[QUOTE=BLOB Fish Dude;47271661]You can't just say let them add it to their own water. Fluoride helps with tooth decay and asking a family, especially a poor family that may not have the education to know how to properly clean teeth without fluoride, to add the right amount of fluoride is simply too much to be expected. Fluoride in water is one of the most important health advancements, it allows people to decrease the chance of having tooth decay passively.[/QUOTE]
Or they could teach them to be active so you wouldn't have to poison yourself from drinking water
[QUOTE=opaali;47271756]Or they could teach them to be active so you wouldn't have to poison yourself from drinking water[/QUOTE]
That's the American way to fix problems. Instead of pushing through education, you force it onto everyone and remove freedom of choice. Land of the free!
I could tolerate adding fluoride to water if it actually was relevant to the water purity, but it does nothing other than "it's good for your teeth". If you want to drink fluoride, that's your choice, please do not force it on me, I take care of my teeth how I want to.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
