Fluoride 43(1)81–84 January-March 2010
Letter to the editor
Fluoride 43(1)81–84
January-March 2010
Comment on editorial report: Medline again rejects Fluoride
Moolenburgh 81 81
COMMENT ON EDITORIAL REPORT: MEDLINE
AGAIN REJECTS FLUORIDE
The recent decision by the National Library of Medicine to continue its
exclusion of Fluoride from its online Medline-PubMed database of published
biomedical research1 should be seen in a broader historical perspective than just a
difference of opinion.
In 1952, Dutch health authorities, following the lead of the United States, began
fluoridating the public water supply in the city of Tiel with Culemborg as the
control city. At the time, the dental condition of the Dutch population was
atrocious, and the American plan seemed to offer hope that the problem could be
substantially solved by the simple procedure of adding fluoride salts in the right
concentration to drinking water supplies.2,3
During that period, the idea of water fluoridation was also well suited to
mainstream medical thinking. Ever since Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) discovered
microorganisms as the cause of infectious diseases, a revolution in medical
practice had taken place, and an all-out effort began to find substances that could
eradicate the little villains. The first to achieve this great breakthrough was Paul
Ehrlich (1854–1915), who discovered a chemotherapeutic remedy, salvarsan,
against syphilis. During WW II the antibiotic penicillin, isolated in 1928 by
Alexander Fleming (1881–1955), was massively used on the battlefields and saved
tens of thousands of lives. The chemotherapeutic and antibiotic triumphs seemed
unstoppable. When I began my medical studies at Leyden University after the war
in 1945, the liberating allied armies had brought penicillin with them, and I
personally witnessed the surge of euphoria about this type of remedy. It was
thought we could eventually create an almost sickness-free world, with only old
age as something that, for the moment, could not be avoided. Belief in magic pills
that would eventually solve all health problems became paramount in medical
thinking.........................
Fluoride 43(1)81–84
January-March 2010
Comment on editorial report: Medline again rejects Fluoride
Moolenburgh 81 81
COMMENT ON EDITORIAL REPORT: MEDLINE
AGAIN REJECTS FLUORIDE
The recent decision by the National Library of Medicine to continue its
exclusion of Fluoride from its online Medline-PubMed database of published
biomedical research1 should be seen in a broader historical perspective than just a
difference of opinion.
In 1952, Dutch health authorities, following the lead of the United States, began
fluoridating the public water supply in the city of Tiel with Culemborg as the
control city. At the time, the dental condition of the Dutch population was
atrocious, and the American plan seemed to offer hope that the problem could be
substantially solved by the simple procedure of adding fluoride salts in the right
concentration to drinking water supplies.2,3
During that period, the idea of water fluoridation was also well suited to
mainstream medical thinking. Ever since Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) discovered
microorganisms as the cause of infectious diseases, a revolution in medical
practice had taken place, and an all-out effort began to find substances that could
eradicate the little villains. The first to achieve this great breakthrough was Paul
Ehrlich (1854–1915), who discovered a chemotherapeutic remedy, salvarsan,
against syphilis. During WW II the antibiotic penicillin, isolated in 1928 by
Alexander Fleming (1881–1955), was massively used on the battlefields and saved
tens of thousands of lives. The chemotherapeutic and antibiotic triumphs seemed
unstoppable. When I began my medical studies at Leyden University after the war
in 1945, the liberating allied armies had brought penicillin with them, and I
personally witnessed the surge of euphoria about this type of remedy. It was
thought we could eventually create an almost sickness-free world, with only old
age as something that, for the moment, could not be avoided. Belief in magic pills
that would eventually solve all health problems became paramount in medical
thinking.........................
posted by Bill at
12:50 PM
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