{"id":90354,"date":"2014-02-11T09:07:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T09:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=90354"},"modified":"2014-02-18T08:26:14","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T08:26:14","slug":"harvard-study-fluoride-lowers-children%e2%80%99s-intelligence-by-7-iq-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=90354","title":{"rendered":"Harvard Study: Fluoride Lowers Children\u2019s Intelligence By 7 IQ Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Washingtons’s Blog — Feb 10, 2014<\/h1>\n

The Harvard School for Public Health report<\/strong><\/span>s<\/strong><\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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In a meta-analysis, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and China Medical University in Shenyang for the first time combined 27 studies and found strong indications that fluoride may adversely affect cognitive development in children. Based on the findings, the authors say that this risk should not be ignored, and that more research on fluoride\u2019s impact on the developing brain is warranted.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The <\/strong><\/span>stud<\/strong><\/span>y<\/strong><\/span><\/a> [click for abstract] was published online in Environmental Health Perspectives <\/em>on July 20, 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Environmental Health Perspectives<\/em> is a publication of the United States National Institutes of Health\u2019<\/strong><\/span>s<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/strong><\/span>National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Harvard\u2019s announcement continues:<\/span><\/p>\n

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The average loss in IQ was<\/strong> reported as a standardized weighted mean difference of 0.45, which would be approximately equivalent to seven IQ points<\/strong> for commonly used IQ scores with a standard deviation of 15.\u00a0\u00a0 Some studies suggested that even slightly increased fluoride exposure could be toxic to the brain. Thus, children in high-fluoride areas had significantly lower IQ scores than those who lived in low-fluoride areas<\/strong>. The children studied were up to 14 years of age, but the investigators speculate that any toxic effect on brain development may have happened earlier, and that the brain may not be fully capable of compensating for the toxicity.\u201cFluoride seems to fit in with lead, mercury, and other poisons that cause chemical brain drain<\/strong>,\u201d Grandjean says. \u201cThe effect of each toxicant may seem small, but the combined damage on a population scale can be serious, especially because the brain power of the next generation is crucial to all of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Indeed, the following video interviewing National Research Council scientists, a Nobel laureate in medicine, a professor of dentistry and other professionals summarizes the evidence fairly succinctly \u2026 and makes the case that our understanding of the damage fluoride can cause to our brains is like our growing understanding in the 1970s of the dangers of lead:<\/span><\/p>\n

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(We started the video at 18 minutes in; but the whole video is worth watching.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Numerous other government<\/strong><\/span> reports<\/strong><\/span><\/a> have shown fluoride\u2019s adverse impacts on intelligence:<\/span><\/p>\n

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[A] 2006 National Academy of Science [repo<\/strong><\/span>rt<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/strong><\/span>] reviews the scientific studies which have been performed on fluoride, and concludes:<\/span><\/p>\n

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It is apparent that fluorides have the ability to interfere with the functions of the brain and the body by direct and indirect means. (bottom of page <\/strong><\/span>222<\/strong><\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

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The NAS report also notes that fluoride may actually impair intelligence, and that more testing should be done in this regard.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Indeed, studies from around the world continue to find that exposure to sodium fluoride \u2013 especially in the very young \u2013 lowers IQ. See th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/strong><\/span>and th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. The same is true for rats exposed to fluoride. See <\/strong><\/span>th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. And see the studies listed he<\/strong><\/span>re<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dr. Vyvyan<\/strong><\/span> Howard<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u2013 a PhD fetal pathologist, who<\/strong><\/span> is<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/strong><\/span>a professor of developmental toxico-pathology at the University of Liverpool and University of Ulster, president of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment and former president of the Royal Microscopical Society and the International Society for Stereology, and general editor of the Journal of Microscopy \u2013 said in a 2008 Canadian television<\/strong><\/span> interview<\/strong><\/span><\/a> (short, worthwhile video at the link) that studies done in several countries show that children\u2019s IQ are likely to be lower in high natural water fluoride areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

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He said that these studies are plausible because fluoride is known to affect the thyroid hormone which affects intelligence and fluoride is also a known neurotoxicant. Such studies have not been conducted in countries that artificially fluoridate the water such as the US, UK and Canada, but should be, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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And as the International Business Times not<\/strong><\/span>ed<\/strong><\/span><\/a> last month on the newest Chinese study on fluoride:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Exposure to fluoride may lower children\u2019s intelligence, says a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives<\/em>, a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Fluoride is added to 70 percent of U.S. public drinking water supplies.<\/span><\/p>\n

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About 28 percent of the children in the low-fluoride area scored as bright, normal or higher intelligence compared to only 8 percent in the \u201chigh\u201d fluoride area of Wamaio.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the high-fluoride city, 15 percent had scores indicating mental retardation and only 6 percent in the low-fluoride city. The authors of the study eliminated both lead exposure and iodine deficiency as possible causes for the lowered IQs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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One scientist \u2013 Jennifer Luke \u2013 alleg<\/strong><\/span>ed<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in a 2001 scientific article that fluoride accumulates in the brain (specifically, in the structure of the pineal gland) more than it accumulates in our bones. In other words, she implies that fluoride may accumulate more in the brain than in the teeth, doing more harm than good (here<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s<\/strong><\/span><\/a> Luke\u2019s 1997 PhD dissertation on the topic.)<\/span><\/p>\n

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The 2006 National Academy of Sciences report corro<\/strong><\/span>borates<\/strong><\/span><\/a> some of Luke\u2019s allegations:<\/span><\/p>\n

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As with other calcifying tissues, the pineal gland can accumulate fluoride (Luke 1997, 2001). Fluoride has been shown to be present in the pineal glands of older people (14-875 mg of fluoride per kg of gland in persons aged 72-100 years), with the fluoride concentrations being positively related to the calcium concentrations in the pineal gland, but not to the bone fluoride, suggesting that pineal fluoride is not necessarily a function of cumulative fluoride exposure of the individual (Luke 1997, 2001). Fluoride has not been measured in the pineal glands of children or young adults, nor has there been any investigation of the relationship between pineal fluoride concentrations and either recent or cumulative fluoride intakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Donald Miller \u2013 cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington \u2013 <\/strong><\/span>alleg<\/span><\/strong><\/span>es<\/strong><\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fluoride \u2026 inhibits the enzyme acetylcholinesterase in the brain, which is involved in transmitting signals along nerve cells.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fluoride also damages the brain, both directly and indirectly. Rats given fluoridated water at a dose of 4 ppm develop symptoms resembling attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. High concentrations of fluoride accumulate in the pineal gland, which produces serotonin and melatonin.<\/span><\/p>\n

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People with Alzheimer\u2019s disease have high levels of aluminum in their brains. Fluoride combines with aluminum in drinking water and takes it through the blood-brain barrier into the brain. Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD, a neurosurgeon, spells out in chilling detail the danger fluoride poses to one\u2019s brain and health in general in his book Health and Nutrition Secrets that can Save Your<\/strong><\/span> Life<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/em> <\/a>(2002).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Time Magazine note<\/strong><\/span>s<\/strong><\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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What has also changed is how much toxicologists know about the harmful effects of fluoride compounds<\/strong>. Ingested in high doses, fluoride is indisputably toxic; it was once commonly used in rat poison. Hydrogen fluoride is regulated as a hazardous pollutant in emissions from chemical plants and has been linked to respiratory illness. Even in toothpaste, sodium fluoride is a health concern. In 1997 the Food and Drug Administration toughened the warning on every tube to read, \u201cIf more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a poison-control center right away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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ABC News from\u00a0Raleigh-Durham repor<\/strong><\/span>ts<\/strong><\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Study after study dating back to the 80s from respected academic and scientific institutions that connect fluoride to health dangers. Some of the studies were funded by the government. They \u00a0suggest fluoride can be linked to brain, blood and bone deficiencies in humans<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cEPA\u2019s drinking water standards are supposed to protect all persons against anticipated adverse health effects of the contaminant in question,\u201d explained Kathleen Thiessen \u2013 one of the scientists who worked on the 400-page study. \u201cAnd we concluded after three years worth of work that the drinking water standard for fluoride was not protected and cannot be assumed to be safe for humans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Thiessen \u00a0said the EPA was warned about potential fluoride health dangers by one of its own chemists more than a decade ago. Dr. William Hirzy testified before a Senate subcommittee in 2000. \u00a0He was representing the views of EPA scientists and staff who analyze hazards in the environment.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIn 1997, we voted to oppose fluoridation, and our opposition has grown stronger as more adverse data on the practice has come in,\u201d said Hirzy.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe CDC and others say whatever beneficial effect there is from fluoride is from topical use. It\u2019s not from swallowing it. It never has been from swallowing it,\u201d said Thiessen.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The I-Team discovered most western countries do not fluoridate their water. Dental records kept by the World Health Organization show tooth decay in those countries has declined at the same rate as here in the United States<\/strong> \u2013 where we do fluoridate our water.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Indeed, an overwhelming number of scientific studies conclude that cavity levels are falling worldwide \u2026 <\/strong><\/span>even in countries which don\u2019t fluoridate<\/strong><\/span> water<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Specifically, the scientific literature shows that \u2013 when fluoridation of water supplies is stopped \u2013 cavities do not<\/em> increase (but may in some cases actually decrease).\u00a0 See th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, <\/strong><\/span>th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, <\/strong><\/span>th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, th<\/strong><\/span>is<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and thi<\/strong><\/span>s<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

World Health Organization Data (2004) – <\/strong>
\nTooth Decay Trends (12 year olds) in Fluoridated vs. Unfluoridated Countries: <\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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No wonder more and more countries are stopping<\/em> <\/strong><\/span>fluoridation<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In fact, many prominent leaders of the pro-water fluoridation movement have recently admitted publicly that they were wrong. That includes:<\/span><\/p>\n

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