Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

salon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 468 posts

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#371

Post by elif »

drewcon wrote: post #320
elif wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it is beyond my power of understanding how this could be mandated by law in USA Consider that fluoride ingestion has been linked with increased anxiety and depression[*]. Depending upon one's political objectives, this could be a desirable outcome. For instance, the "anti-terror" decades of invasion would be easier to accept for an anxious public. Or depression may lead to more consumer activity. https://www.researc…

Or, hear me out, watching terrorists kamikaze a few commercial airliners into a couple of buildings in downtown Manhattan and the Pentagon live on TV was actually kind of a nerve racking on its own irrespective of what the dissolved minerals in our tap water might have told us.

Yet we didn't question the non-involvement of the 7 nations we invaded, nor question the lack of invasion of the responsible nation.

Society comforted themselves with the official narrative while branding whistleblowers conspiracy theorists.

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#372

Post by gymbeaux »

viraptor wrote: post #366
user_7832 wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s probably worth noting that genetics is probably a significantly big factor than affects cavities, similar to lots of other stuff. Some folks can eat sugar foods and not brush twice a day and have no issues, while others who even floss daily end up with bad teeth. Not saying you shouldn’t reduce sugar intake, that’s not my point - but - factors like genetics are very important too, and fluoride might help for suc…

So this may be useful to someone - I lost that genetic lottery and had lots of issues / most teeth patched up / painful cleans. Until recently, when I moved to a new dentist who said "oh, you've got lots of calcium buildup, you should be taking vit D+K2". This sorted out most of my issues almost immediately. I wish someone told me that 30 years ago... So apparently there's a few things that trivially impact your dent…

Novamin is another “dental secret”. US toothpaste doesn’t have it, but studies consistently show it’s more effective than just fluoridated toothpaste and protecting teeth from decay.

You would think that in a “capitalist, free-market” such as the United States, an innovation with a clear and pronounced benefit over the status quo would take the marketplace by storm and quickly become the new status quo.

Last I checked, you can get Sensodyne with Novamin toothpaste on Amazon, but it does come from Canada.

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#373

Post by ricardobeat »

api wrote: post #361
spacephysics wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot take: why don’t we stop the root cause of the problem, instead of the insestuous habit of layering on symptom management on top of symptom management. Stop giving kids these insanely high levels of sugar. No soda is a great start. Same thorn in my side is this completely crazy trend that this new life-long injection Ozempic/Wegovy is being suggested for kids 12 and up. Like what? It also atrophies muscle, tendons…

Sugar is everywhere in everything. Reducing kids intake of sugar requires a level of vigilance bordering on isolation from society, especially since human children seem genetically programmed to crave sugar and simple carbohydrates. If it’s around most kids will eat little else. I kind of remember this from being a kid. Until I was a teen anything with complex or savory tastes was absolutely disgusting. Only carbs, s…

> Reducing kids intake of sugar requires a level of vigilance bordering on isolation from society

No, it requires… parenting and education? And stopping children from being exposed to ads for sugary crap 12 hours a day.

Habits are a huge part of it. Kids who “would only eat sugar if they could” are already used to consuming lots of sugar. They will definitely not starve themselves to death if no sugar/carbs are easily available in the house.

Here in the Netherlands a lot of (but not all) kids choose to snack on cucumbers etc and are quite reserved in how much candy they eat. School doesn’t allow high-carb foods. Parties will have fries, lemonade and cake, no soda or infinite amounts of candy. Mine is approaching the early teens and hasn’t ever drank soda, without suffering any peer pressure (yet).

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#374

Post by dotancohen »

2rsf wrote: post #265
dotancohen wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I use Sensodyne for a completely unrelated reason: it does not contain Sodium Laurel Sulfate. I have not had a cavity in my entire life, and I'm over 45.

What's the connection between the first and second claims you make? does SLS cause cavities?

SLS does not cause cavities.

I mention that I like this toothpaste due to the lack of SLS - not for the cavities prevention. But I've not had any cavities, so that is another datum on top of the others who mention using this toothpaste and not having dental problems.

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#375

Post by p1esk »

politician wrote: post #364
shlant wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why don’t we stop the root cause of the problem, instead of the insestuous habit of layering on symptom management on top of symptom management. Super simple answer: one requires everyone change their individual habits. Difficulty - very hard. The other requires no change at all on the individual level. Difficulty - very easy. Be careful with falling into the "public health initiatives are just a bandaid" trap. I w…

A sugar tax would have the same effect, it's a single change that's very easy to implement. 10,000% should do.

Cheap sugar substitutes will be used. Long term health effects are not clear.

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#376

Post by dotancohen »

api wrote: post #361
spacephysics wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot take: why don’t we stop the root cause of the problem, instead of the insestuous habit of layering on symptom management on top of symptom management. Stop giving kids these insanely high levels of sugar. No soda is a great start. Same thorn in my side is this completely crazy trend that this new life-long injection Ozempic/Wegovy is being suggested for kids 12 and up. Like what? It also atrophies muscle, tendons…

Sugar is everywhere in everything. Reducing kids intake of sugar requires a level of vigilance bordering on isolation from society, especially since human children seem genetically programmed to crave sugar and simple carbohydrates. If it’s around most kids will eat little else. I kind of remember this from being a kid. Until I was a teen anything with complex or savory tastes was absolutely disgusting. Only carbs, s…

  > Reducing kids intake of sugar requires a level of vigilance bordering on isolation from society,
You are a good parent for recognizing this and speaking up.

This is why I praise my child and treat him (not with sweets) every time that he turns down candy at friends' houses or parties. When the parent stands between the child and sweets, he is considered neurotic by other parents. When the child stands his ground, he is praised. I've been fortunate that all three of my children have stood with me on this stance.

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#377

Post by xtian »

concordDance wrote: post #336
xtian wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who cares about taxes when you can print money?

Money has value because of what it buys. If a society is making 400 widgets it doesn't matter whether each is priced at $2 or $999, the government will only be able to get 400 widgets. A stupider population makes much less widgets.

What if a country's economy doesn't make widgets at all but merely controls the system of international finance which is premised upon its own debt?

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#378

Post by snapplebobapple »

ianai wrote: post #280
snapplebobapple wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the record, the rest of the stuff I mentioned has middling evidence for effectiveness as well, it's just the things that worked out of the myriad of things I tried that didn't. The vitamin k complex and d thing especially has limited evidence (and recently a paper came out that showed k2 increasing artery calcification, which is concerning but maybe not as bad as one thinks since the really dangerous part of arte…

Reminds me a lot of my struggle with migraines before the recent, good treatments came out. I was facing a certainty of at least one migraine per day everyday of my life. Led me to trying all sorts of stuff. Not exactly the best experience but better than migraines.

I just tinker as a hobby. If i live long enough even the minor annoyances in my life will eventually get iterated on and improved. The teeth thing was a medium to major annoyance so got attention first.

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#379

Post by elif »

drewcon wrote: post #320
elif wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it is beyond my power of understanding how this could be mandated by law in USA Consider that fluoride ingestion has been linked with increased anxiety and depression[*]. Depending upon one's political objectives, this could be a desirable outcome. For instance, the "anti-terror" decades of invasion would be easier to accept for an anxious public. Or depression may lead to more consumer activity. https://www.researc…

Or, hear me out, watching terrorists kamikaze a few commercial airliners into a couple of buildings in downtown Manhattan and the Pentagon live on TV was actually kind of a nerve racking on its own irrespective of what the dissolved minerals in our tap water might have told us.

Also calling it a "dissolved mineral" is pointlessly euphemistic. Fluoride is sold as a poison.

You may as well call the following "dissolved minerals": lead, arsenic, uranium, mercury, asbestos

Re: Health officials delayed report linking fluoride to brain harm

#380

Post by kelseyfrog »

ricardobeat wrote: post #373
api wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sugar is everywhere in everything. Reducing kids intake of sugar requires a level of vigilance bordering on isolation from society, especially since human children seem genetically programmed to crave sugar and simple carbohydrates. If it’s around most kids will eat little else. I kind of remember this from being a kid. Until I was a teen anything with complex or savory tastes was absolutely disgusting. Only carbs, s…

> Reducing kids intake of sugar requires a level of vigilance bordering on isolation from society No, it requires… parenting and education? And stopping children from being exposed to ads for sugary crap 12 hours a day. Habits are a huge part of it. Kids who “would only eat sugar if they could” are already used to consuming lots of sugar. They will definitely not starve themselves to death if no sugar/carbs are easil…

Is this a worse is better argument? I'm having a hard time understanding how it makes this a better solution than fluoridated water. It sounds like a moral argument against sugar rather than a practical solution to fight tooth decay.
Post reply on HN