World Osteoporosis Day: Having too much fluoride could increases your risk of fractures

October 20 is World Osteoporosis Day.

Fluoride that was used as an efficient chemical to treat osteoporosis for many years is known to increase risk of bone fractures on excessive intake. This mineral till date was known to increase bone mass but several studies have however revealed a deadly side-effect thatit increases the chances of bone fractures, especially of the hips. ‘Fluoride has been used in the past on many an occasion and is possibly one of the oldest drugs available for managing osteoporosis,’ Gurinder Bedi, senior consultant, department of orthopedics, spine surgery and joint replacement, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, told IANS.

‘Its use would actually produce dramatic effects in changing the radiographic appearance of bones making them appear much denser, quicker than any of the other agents. The actual bone mass seemed to increase but it did not promote any mineralisation (depositing of calcium) resulting in poor bone quality and hence chances of fractures are high,’ he said. Osteoporosis is a disease of the bone due to loss in peak bone mass and calcium, leading to hip, knee and shoulder fractures.

According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, the number of patients in India in 2003 was approximately 26 million, with the numbers projected to increase to 36 million by 2013. Another expert, Vivek Logani, said: ‘It is widely recognised that fluoride therapy for osteoporosis adds mass to bones but produces inferior bones. In short, the bio-mechanical competence of the skeleton may be compromised because the tensile (elasticity) strength of bone is sacrificed.’...............