Fluoride unsafe for dialysis patients?

Fluoride unsafe for dialysis patients?
National Kidney Foundation admits chemical could pose serious health risks
Posted: June 03, 2008
10:33 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Model of human kidneys
Fluoride may be harmful to people with chronic kidney disease, the National Kidney Foundation admits.
In a new report, the NKF acknowledged patients with chronic kidney disease should be warned that fluoride may pose an additional risk to their condition, but it has not issued a press release to spread the word. Daniel Stockin of the Lillie Center, Inc., a public health training firm that has works to end fluoridation, said the effects of fluoride can be detrimental, and it is imperative that the foundation take responsibility and distribute the new information.

"The kidneys try very hard to eliminate fluoride from the body, but in doing so the kidney tissue is exposed to concentrated amounts of toxic fluoride." he told WND. "Kidney patients must be told the whole story about fluoride. Fluoride is acknowledged to be slightly less toxic than arsenic and slightly more than lead."

Dialysis machines cannot use fluoridated water because it is known to be potentially dangerous to patients. The NKF report indicates some people receiving dialysis treatments died or were poisoned from fluoride after it leeched through machine filters.

Stockin criticized the foundation for not considering the wellbeing of patients above the risk of losing funding from the Centers for Disease Control, the government's major supporter of water fluoridation. He said the low-key report was distributed because the NKF knows it could face lawsuits from thousands of its kidney patients and doctors for negligent misrepresentation and failing to warn of negative health effects of fluoridation.

"It's better for organizations to reject fluoridation now, given all the facts that are coming out, than to continue to try to hide behind the skirts of CDC who won't pay their legal and health care costs and mega financial settlements," he said.

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The statement indicates studies on fluoride's impact on kidneys may have been flawed, and that outspoken city officials, health professionals, water companies and citizens have valid concerns about government claims about the safety and benefits of water fluoridation. The analysis is contrary to the foundation's previous report on fluoride effects, and it recommends that patients visit the NKF website to learn more about risks though it does not provide a direct link to the study.

Critics say the report is a positive step, but many are concerned about NKF's reluctance to actively distribute it to millions of kidney patients. While the American Dental Association lists the NKF as publicly endorsing health benefits of fluoride, the report boldly states, "The NKF has no position on the optimal fluoridation of water."

Stockin said dozens of organizations have listed their names as supporting fluoride and fluoridation based on nothing more than professional courtesy – supporting what dental and health agencies and groups told them – rather than on the basis of their own research.

"I'd suggest every group immediately rescind the use of their name as supporting fluoride." He said. "You don't want to touch this thing with a 10-foot pole. The world is not flat, and fluoride is not safe."