Fluoride toxicity, its interaction with calcium and increased risk of heart disease

Professor Sabine Rohrmann from the University of Zurich recently published a report on the effects of the Calcium pill on cardiovascular health, which has been widely reported in the media today including the Irish Times and Irish Examiner. It appears that what Professor Rohrmann is suggesting is that calcium taken in supplement form will rapidly elevate calcium in the blood serum causing changes that may produce hard calcium deposits on the walls of arteries and therefore increasing your risk of having a heart attack.  I would have some queries regarding this as I myself take a calcium and magnesium supplement to counteract the fact that Iive in a geographic area in West Cork where there is very low natural calcium  or magnesium present in the drinking water. The concentration of calcium in drinking water in West Cork is < 20mg/l. In comparison in the province of Leinster the concentration may be as high as 250mg/l. The World Health organisation have reported that if you live in a geographic area with low calcium in drinking water you are more at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurological illness. So I take calcium and magnesium supplement that provides an extra 600mg calcium and 400mg magnesium daIly.  That’s equivalent to less than an extra glass of milk a day. From what Professor Rohramm is suggesting if you were to drink a glass a milk  a day or use the equivalent amount for your breakfast cereal you would be at an even greater increased risk of having a heart attack given that this one instant source contains more calcium than a single calcium supplement pill, which will take some time to be digested in your stomach.

It is well established that the substance which most effects calcium in the human body and in your blood serum is fluoride, which is consumed by individuals who drink fluoridated water such as provided to consumers in Ireland. As far back as 1993 the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reported on the toxicological profile of fluorides and stated “because fluoride interacts with calcium ions needed for effective neurotransmission, fluoride can affect the nervous system."

In addition the Journal of Biological Chemistry found that fluoride not only inhibits enzymatic metabolism but that it also functions to prevent vital calcium and magnesium reactions as well as dramatically destabilising calcium binding in the body. Furthermore the Journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, found that systemic calcium and magnesium levels in the human body are depleted as a result of fluoride intoxication. The bio-availability of fluoride and the role of calcium were also reported as a matter of some concern by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) in 2002. They raised serious questions as to the health risks of water fluoridation in geographic areas with low calcium and magnesium levels such as  found in large areas of Ireland, particular Cork, Kerry. Limerick, Mayo and Donegal. Areas which also have an increased level of hypothyroidism most likely brought on from the increased bio-availability of fluoride in soft waters. 

Fluoride is known to be capable of inhibiting a number of important enzymes in the human body, including preglycolytic enzymes, phosphatases, and cholinesterase. In addition, it is reported by the United States National Library of Medicine, that inhibition of one or more enzymes controlling cellular glycolysis may result in binding or precipitation of calcium as calcium fluoride. Perhaps one of the most alarming potential consequences of fluoride exposure, as highlighted in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine in January of 2012 (titled: Association of vascular fluoride uptake with vascular calcification and coronary artery disease.) is that a significant correlation exists between fluoride uptake and calcification of the major arteries, including coronary arteries. 

That is, you are at a higher risk of having a heart attack with increased exposure to fluoride, for example by consuming fluoridated water.

It is interesting that Ireland has the highest incidence of cardiovascular illness in the world and coincidentally we are also the most fluoridated society in the world. Yet sadly most of our politicians who we elected to protect public interest and health bureaucrats in the HSE refuse to acknowledge the risk or do anything to minimize this risk for consumers. This could stop tomorrow if politicians and health professionals did their job properly.