Fw: Fluoridated Water = Violent Behavior?
Jim Shaffer, Jr. ( (no email) )
Wed, 16 Sep 1998 16:52:46 -0400
>The most incredible story ever!
>
>
>>Academe Today
>>The Chronicle of Higher Education
>>
>>
>>Tuesday , September 8, 1998
>>
>>"Chemical in Fluoridated Water May Cause Violent Behavior
>>and Cocaine Use, Scholar Says"
>>
>>
>>By Vincent Kierman
>>
>>BOSTON (Sept 8). A chemical used to fluoridate the drinking water of
>>150 million Americans may foster violent behavior and cocaine use in
>>some of those who drink the water, a scholar said Friday at the annual
>>meeting of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences.
>>
>>Communities that use a fluoridation agent known as silicofluoride have
>>higher rates of violent crime than communities that use an alternative
>>method or do not fluoridate their water, said Roger D. Masters, a
>>Professor Emeritus of Government at Darmouth College.
>>
>>He based his conclusions on a series of statistical analyses of the
>>characteristics of communities in Massachusetts and Georgia. Mr.
>>Masters said that previous work by other researchers had suggested that
>>the statistical pattern may reflect the way silicofluoride in water
>>causes people to absorb more lead.
>>
>>The lead blocks the action of calcium atoms in fostering the production
>>of neurotransmitters in the brain - such as dopamine and seratonin -
>>that appear to suppress violent behavior, he said. Thus the
>>silicofluoride ultimately is responsible for more aggressive behavior
>>among people who drink the water that has been treated with
>>silicofluoride and whose diets are lacking in calcium, he said.
>>
>>Calcium deficiency is more common among black people than among white
>>people, which might help explain racial patterns of violent behavior,
>>he said.
>>
>>In one of his studies, Mr. Masters found that residents of 25
>>Massachusetts communities that used silicofluoride were more likely to
>>have elevated levels of lead in their blood than were residents of 25
>>other Massachusetts communities that did not. Myron J. Caplan, a
>>retired chemical engineer who has collaborated with Mr. Masters, told
>>The Chronicle that silicofluoride was less expensive than the only
>>other widely useed fluoridation agent.
>>
>>Mr. Masters analysis of 129 rural communities in Georgia also found
>>that communities that used silicofluoride had elevated rates of cocaine
>>use. Lead in the brain because of silicofluoride may be the link in
>>that case as well, he said. Cocaine addiction appears to be tied to low
>>levels of dopamine in the brain, and lead in the brain depresses the
>>dopamine levels.
>>
>>Mr. Masters said his study may challenge the common view that drug
>>abuse and violent behavior are caused by a "moral defect" in the
>>individual. In the case of silicofluoridated water, he said, the
>>government may share in the responsibility for violence in society. "It
>>is governments that determine what goes into our water supply," he said.
>>
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>***********************************************************
>Health hint
>
>200 IU of Vit E seemed to be "optimal" in preventing people
>over 65 from heart disease, dementia and weak immunity.
>Meydani at Tufts U. reported in JAMA, (sorry lost the date, ca.1997)
>
>drmom@geocities.com
>http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/3995/
>
>