Finally, after staunchly adhering to the position that mercury amalgam filling pose absolutely no risk to anyone, the FDA, as a result of a lawsuit, has changed the language on their website. Previously, they stated that there had never been any evidence that the fillings were dangerous for anyone. Now they say that mercury may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses. Proponents of mercury fillings will state that the mercury is inert when it’s put into our mouths, that there have never been any studies that show toxic effects from mercury fillings, and accuse the anti-mercury camp of being alarmist proponents of “junk science”. The anti-mercury camp states that it only makes sense that chewing and the passage of time will cause the fillings to wear and eventually emit mercury into our bodies, and points to tons of anectodal evidence where people have had miraculous recoveries from a myriad of ailments once they had their amalgam fillings properly removed. As has been the case all along, the American Dental Association (ADA) continues to maintain their stance of “mercury amalgam fillings are totally safe”.
It’s really hard for a layman to know where the truth lies. Personally, I’d rather be safe than sorry, and wouldn’t have any mercury amalgam fillings, knowing what we know now. I think we know enough to say not having this type of fillings put into our mouth is erring on the side of safety. If you currently have some and are thinking about having them removed, be sure to use a dentist that’s experienced with the procedure and knows what precautions to take. Done incorrectly, removing mercury fillings can cause a massive release of mercury into the body.
The dumbbell swing is an exercise that can work your whole body and tax your cardiovascular system, depending on how you perform it. It’s become popular with kettlebell aficionados lately, but you can surely do it with a dumbbell as the video below demonstrates. Just be sure to use your legs and not the arm to swing the bell. Oh, and you might not want to wear flip-flops the first time you try it!
Water fluoridation is a subject that excites at least as much passion as mercury fillings. And it’s another area where science seems to be slowly backing up what those who have been trying to stop the activity have been saying. But most people pay scant attention and probably consider the anti-fluoridation people to be extremists or wackos. However, if you take a look at what they’re saying, it makes a lot of sense. To start with, why do we add fluoride to water? Do we swallow our toothpaste? So why is it now ok to ingest something that’s only supposedly good for our teeth? I say supposedly because it’s never been proven to actually reduce the incidence of cavities.
And I don’t know about you, but I don’t chew my water. I wonder how much of the fluoride actually touches my teeth. I guess it does because over thirty percent of the kids in the US have fluorosis. Did you know that the fluoride that’s added to water is a waste product of phosphate plants? Worst of all, if you’d rather not drink water with this stuff in it, you need to spend big bucks on a water distiller or reverse osmosis purifier, because the typical carbon block filter most people have won’t remove fluoride.
Earlier I stated that there’s no proof that fluoride actually prevents cavities. This is where the fluoride proponents alway whip out the charts showing the downward trend in cavities that’s occurred since water fluoridation began. The thing that their charts don’t show, however, is that the incidence of cavities has declined everywhere at that same rate, not just in places where the water is fluoridated. You can compare cities or states in the USA, or even countries, and the rate of dental caries declines similarly everywhere regardless of whether the water was fluoridated.
So it seems to me that the prudent thing to do would be to stop pumping this poison (read what your toothpaste tube says about the fluoride it contains) into our water supply. Some people think it’s an economic justice issue because poor people who can’t afford professional tooth care can get the benefits of fluoride. Well, if local governments are convinced that said benefits actually exist, then they can spend the money they now spend on water fluoridation to distribute fluoride mouthwash based on financial need. But stop forcing a medication/poison (choose your definition, either way it’s at the very least unethical) on the rest of us.
Here’s a video that shows how a former proponent of fluoridation came to change his views:
I’ve written a little bit about farmed salmon before. A few days ago, the news came out that tens of thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon escaped from their pen. There were 30,000 salmon in that pen, and they may have all gotten out. This happened off the coast of British Columbia. A spokesman for the fish farming company says what happened is “really unusual”. Small comfort. All it has to do is happen once to seriously screw up the native salmon, which are already dwindling in number.
Besides the fact that these Atlantic salmon, which are not indigenous to the area, will compete with the wild salmon for food, they could also be carrying diseases, antibiotics, pesticides, or sea lice.
The company representative, apparently in all seriousness, said if anybody were to catch one of the escaped fish, they should clean it and bake it with ginger and green onion in a 400 degree oven and serve it with fresh lemon slices. Really. Seeing that this escape will cost his company about $500,000, it’s nice that he’s so chipper about the whole thing. I like to think I have a pretty good sense of humor, but I’m not laughing.
Since I’ve made a couple of posts over the past few weeks about possible toxic dental care products, maybe it’s time for some ideas about what we can do to keep out pearly whites in tip-top condition:
Brush your teeth for two to three minutes at a time.
Don’t brush your teeth too hard, as this can damage sensitive gums.
Brush from your gumline to the top of each tooth in short, gentle strokes.
Make sure you thoroughly brush the entire height of your teeth (especially the chewing surfaces). Be sure to get the bristles down in the crevices where food accumulates.
Thoroughly brush the back sides of your teeth. For the backs of harder-to-brush front teeth, try holding the toothbrush almost vertically, and brush up and down.
Always brush (or use a tongue scraper) your tongue and the roof of your mouth to get rid of bacteria. Use a sweeping, forward motion to clean these areas.
Carefully floss between your teeth, back and forth, and gently down to the gumline.
Curve the floss around each tooth — don’t forget the backs of teeth. Gently move the floss up and down to dislodge food and bacteria-laden plaque.
Be sure not use the same area of floss for all your teeth. If you do, you’re just moving bacteria from one tooth to another. Use at least a foot of floss and change the part of the floss that you’re using as you move around your mouth.
A new study published in the July 15 edition or Neurology indicates that physical fitness can preserve the brain function of people with early Alhzheimer’s disease. The study, headed by Jeffrey M. Burns MD, tested 57 people with early state Alzheimer’s and 64 people without the disease.
The researchers found that the physically fit people with Alzheimer’s had one quarter the amount of brain shrinkage as the unfit people with the disease. This is significant because research has indicated that decreasing brain size is linked to poorer mental performance in those with early Alzheimer’s disease.
Burns says that this study is one of the first to investigate how levels of fitness impact Alzheimer’s, but previous research in older adults has indicated that exercise has great value in forestalling aging-related changes in the brain.
The EPA has recently begun receiving an increasing number of reports form homeowners and inspectors about granite countertops that emanate levels of radiation far above the amounts considered to be safe.
It’s always been known that granite gives off a small amount of radiation, but it was always thought to be insignificant in comparison with the natural background radiation on the planet. However, scientist at Rice University are currently conducting tests on granite obtained from nearby commercial sources, and all emit an amount of radiation that’s higher than background levels, and a few were giving off over a hundred times background.
So if you’re sold on granite and are also health-conscious, you should probably have your next countertop tested before it’s installed. Contact the American Association of Radon Scientist and Technologists. Their website is at aarst.org.
