This question continued to trouble us until an award-winning investigative reporter was recently able to ferret out the truth. What he found was so surprising that it might have been hard to believe, were it not for his massive documentation and first-person interviews.
Christopher Bryson managed to obtain recently declassified documents that revealed why a hazardous and feared contaminant became deliberately added to our water and toothpaste. This is an exciting 'must read' for everyone. For those who are too busy, here is our personal summary of the overall thrust, especially related to how we and our health colleagues were fooled for so long.
The Fluoride Deception (Seven Stories Press, NY: 2004) details how a group of powerful industries - facing extensive litigation for fluoride pollution - colluded with government officials and a private foundation to launder fluoride's public image. It is quite possible that until recently this occurrence was the largest hoax ever perpetrated on the American public.
No longer would fluoride be a grim workplace poison, Instead it would now become so innocuous -- even helpful -- that everyone could (and should) drink it. In creating a favorable (albeit dishonest) portrait of fluoride, certain large corporations benefited in the short run. But in the long run, the public was the big loser.
Despite massively conflicted data and incomplete research studies largely pointing to poor results, water fluoridation was heralded in the 1950's as a stunning success. Since then, those who questioned its lack of benefit and its evident harm have been consistently ridiculed and marginalized.
Most disconcerting to us, as health professionals, has been the continued support of water fluoridation by the American Dental Association and the U.S. Public Health Service. Supposedly these organizations exist to benefit the public welfare. Nevertheless, they have chosen to perpetuate a precarious stance, less and less supported by the data.
Actually, it is totally understandable why the Public Health Service continues to tout water fluoridation as one of the greatest accomplishments of the twentieth century. To state otherwise would be confessing to the most colossal mistake ever in the history of government science. For it was this very agency that gave fluoridation its initial undeserved blessing.
How about the dentists? They are certainly a well-meaning group. However, dental associations and dental schools have apparently received massive infusions of funding with the specification that they continue to insist upon water fluoridation. Additionally, it was Forsyth, a private dental foundation, that played a key role in Bryson's tale of intrigue and deception.
For scientists and healers, blind obedience to government and industrial dogma is unconscionable. Those who initially touted the party line did so perhaps out of patriotism in the midst of the cold war. That's right, massive amounts of unwanted and toxic fluorine waste was a necessary yet regrettable side effect of the arms race.
The war on Communism in retrospect did not have to result in massive fluoride over-exposure to U.S. citizens. That it did so was the result of secrecy and lack of truly informed public debate. Now the collective health and wellness of our nation faces increasing jeopardy from insidious low-grade poisoning, that the "protective" agencies stubbornly perpetuate.
One of fluoride's less-discussed hazards is likely to be the most widespread. In minute doses, much less than would be considered toxic, fluoride is a hormone disruptor. Please see our prior books and articles for details. Our most recent project, Feeling Fat, Fuzzy or Frazzled? (Hudson St. Press, NY: 2005) and our website www.FeelingFFF.com once again seek to alert readers about the potential harm to their hormones because of this water additive.
We believe in medical freedom of choice: that citizens in a democracy have a right -- and a responsibility -- to know the facts and to make appropriate decisions based on true scientific data. For these reasons, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the dark side of fluoride, and to share your information with others.
As many more people become aware of this dilemma, we can create a paradigm shift. The old unsupported practices will then crumble under their own weight, and new more appropriate models will be born. Together our society can reclaim better health. A great nation of proud and noble birth deserves nothing less.
Richard Shames MD and Karilee Shames PhD, RN are co-authors of the books ThyroidPower, and Feeling Fat, Fuzzy or Frazzled. For more information on their practice and books, see www.FeelingFFF.com.
