Please take a few minutes to watch this video that appeared on TVNZ last night.
(Author disclosure: I have damaged teeth - dental fluorosis - due to excess fluoride during childhood. I guess that means I'm biased).
This news item is an appalling piece of journalism. Shame on Hillary, Jeremy and their team. Let me explain why.
First of of all, here is the JAMA-published study. Please take a few minutes to read it and take note of the references and perhaps read some of them.
This is a robust study that has been published in one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world. It can not be dismissed as lightly as TVNZ's experts have done. There are at least 50 earlier studies that support the findings of this latest study. The Bashash Study is one of these. Please read it then continue to read what I'm writing here.
Here is a Fox 5 Television interview with a doctor. This shows just how misguided or deliberately misleading our New Zealand counterparts are (Click on the image below to watch and decide for yourself).
Pregnant women should be avoiding fluoride - that's it - full-stop!
One of my greatest concerns about fluoride is its possible role in the epidemic of thyroid disease in New Zealand that is now affecting children and teenagers. Yes, NZ youngsters are now being placed on thyroid drugs (huge alarm bells!)! Refer here for an understanding about how fluoride may affect metabolism. It seems that every second NZ woman and many men nowadays has a thyroid-related health problem. This is crazy for a country that should be the healthiest place on the planet (we are far from it).
This latest study showing IQ reduction must surely be the torpedo that finally sinks compulsory fluoridation of our water.
First do no harm
Why, in the face of the burgeoning evidence, are these experts doggedly holding to the official "Party Line"? Let me speculate, but, first, let's be reminded of what we call the "Precautionary Principle", otherwise known as the "Hippocratic Oath". What it means is to first do no harm. A medical practitioner is sworn to first do no harm when treating their patients. This principal of care also applies to everyone, including myself, who works in the business of health, including administrators and even the Minister of Health.
Before a procedure is introduced it must first be proven that the benefits substantially outweigh any risks, real or theoretical. If a procedure that has been in practice is later suspected or proven to be causing harm it must be withdrawn for as long as it takes to be shown to be safe.
Valid IQ studies or not, what do we know about fluoride and what does commonsense tell us?
Fluoride: a potent toxin
Fluoride is one of the most toxic elements to be found in the Universe. It is highly reactive and extremely toxic. It will react with just about anything. It is the reason why, in the TVNZ video above, the worker pouring fluoride into our water was wearing respiratory gear.
Fluoride is used to make nerve gas (Sarin Gas). It is a common ingredient in poisons like rat and possum bait. It is found in herbicides and pesticides. Drugs ranging from antihistamines, steroids, asthma meds, antibiotics and antidepressants may contain fluoride, mainlining this potent toxin directly into people's bodies, including their brains.
Most toothpastes and many mouthwashes contain high levels of fluoride. Our water is fluoridated. It is, therefore, possible that all of us are receiving huge daily doses of fluoride without realising it.
Fluoride is a waste product from industrial processes that absolutely nobody wants to have disposed in their back yard. A brilliant solution to this insurmountable problem of disposal was found: give it a health claim.
Overnight, this potent toxin that kills possums and other pests, and is used in the manufacture of nerve gas to commit war crimes, became healthy for human-beings and is now disposed of by adding it to municipal water supplies, medicines and consumer products like toothpaste.
If a leader were to drop a fluoride bomb on his citizens, this would be a war crime - a hanging offence. If he was to put it in their water, it will be praised as a health measure - go figure!
Those people most at risk of far exceeding any semblance of a safe dose are: (Actually, there is no real safe minimum for fluoride)
Bottle-fed babies.
Young children who reflexively still swallow, rather than spit out toothpaste.
Athletes and others who sweat heavily and, therefore drink a lot of water (that's me).
Young women who have been encouraged to drink water by the litre for health (wrong advice).
(Actually, there is no real safe minimum for fluoride)
It is extremely irresponsible of a health professional, when attempting to reassure the public of its possible safety, to refer to only one source of fluoride while ignoring the rest. It is the cumulative dose to be concerned about.
First do no harm!
What do I think is going on
Fluoride is now big business
Further, if this toxin was banned across the board, industry and governments will be faced with the almost impossible task of safely disposing of this industrial waste. In addition, many medications would be rendered less stable and less effective.
Fluoridation is a large and very smelly Red Herring, intended to distract us from the real causes of poor dental health
For as long as we fight and bicker over fluoride our focus is away from Big Food's sugary and sticky foods and drinks that are the main cause of so much ill health, including rampant tooth decay.
Mass fluoridation is far cheaper than a comprehensive school dental health service which horribly underfunded with fewer clinics and dental therapists who are now being given impossibly large case-loads and huge territories to service.
If dentists, doctors, health administrators and politicians were genuinely serious about improving dental health they would:
Invest in the school dental health services including doubling the number of dental therapists, so that every child is treated twice a year.
Fund dental services so that there is access to cheap or free dental services once a year for all adults.
During these consultations, the dental therapist/dentist may paint the patient's teeth with fluoride which is then rinsed and spat out - not swallowed.
Address the root causes of dental decay including, sweet, sticky, sugary food and drink, and poverty.
BIG Egos are involved
In the TVNZ video above, the experts interviewed, Sir Peter Gluckman, Professor Allan Blackman, Dr Riana Clark and New Zealander of the Year, Dr Lance O'Sullivan, represent some of the most inflated egos to be found in this most modest of countries. My thesis is that these people are not used to admitting they might just be wrong about anything, nor could they ever bring themselves to apologise for the harm they could and have probably done to countless of their fellow citizens.
I hope I am wrong about this. In the meantime, my respect for these people is low because we are dealing with potential damage to many thousands of people. All preventable.
We wrongly assume that all experts in health actually understand what real health is
I have long ago realised this. For example, many health experts are brain-washed from the beginning of their studies to believe things like this about health:
Early detection of disease is prevention - wrong!
You can beat and poison a person into good health - wrong!
A single measure like mass fluoridation, or a pill fixes a health problem - wrong!
To finally qualify as a health professional, there is the unspoken requirement that there is unquestioning compliance to the powers that be and loyalty to those around you. Of course, there are some who ask difficult or inconvenient questions but they are few in number and those who do not toe the line will eventually be shut down and finally shut out.
Some public health measures rely on little more than a population's confidence and unthinking mass compliance to authority
The fear among those in control of health, including Big Pharma which pulls far too many strings, is that a loss of confidence in mass fluoridation would have a domino effect on other public health programmes. God forbid, if it was officially admitted that fluoridation might be doing more harm than good and was scrapped as a public health policy. There might be a huge and catastrophic loss of confidence in other public health programmes, whether good or bad. The public would be questioning just about everything and defying those in positions of power and authority!
Experts would suffer a massive loss of credibility. People might ask, "What else did they get wrong? "Are we being lied to about other health measures? " They might even refuse to obey or comply.
If it were admitted that fluoride might be causing harm and it was scrapped, what would the next to fall? You tell me!
Let's be really clear about this: if there is even the slightest possibility that a mass population medical procedure may be doing even the slightest bit of harm, it should be stopped immediately until investigations have been completed and it is proven safe.
Mere reassurances that it is safe from experts authorities who may be unwilling or incapable of opening their minds to other possibilities is totally unacceptable in a country such as New Zealand.
Good observation, Colin. You could add that this high-achiever could very well have been a genius if only Mum had not taken fluoride tablets!
Isn't it interesting when Hilary Barry says, "You can't base your opinion on a single study." In the very next breath they cite a single testimonial from a reader in support of their argument.
Personally I think NZ media is complete rubbish for the most part.
Riki, asked me to post this comment on behalf:
"How true,
Isn't it interesting that mass medication is preferred over interrupting the sugar and fast food industry even though these two groups are the great contributors to diabetes and a host of other metabolic disorders along with tooth decay."
Fox 5 TV interview here - a must view! https://www.fox5dc.com/video/596487
Mike, thanks so much for your elaboration and information including about black tea being a source of fluoride and also emphasising that it is the cumulative dose from all sources that we should be concerned about.