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28th Jan
2001: Jan Sallstrom, Ph.D.
Jan
Sallstrom
Jan Sallstrom, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Experimental Pathology
University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
Letter from Sweden: Swedish Nobel prize-winner
against water fluoridation (Supplement: Australian Fluoridation News,
January 2001).
During the years 1977-81 a fluoridation committee under the Swedish National
Institute of Health (Socialstyrelsen) investigated public water fluoridation
as a health measure to be introduced into the whole country by law.
Miljocentrum in Uppsala, an independent center for environment protection
directed by Dr. Bjorn Gillberg, went into strong action against a possible
political decision for public water fluoridation.
I
worked unpaid with Dr. Gillberg (besides my regular work with molecular
pathology at Uppsala University) as a scientific expert gathering and
reviewing available research data and opinions on water fluoridation.
Together with my wife Agnetha Sallstrom we documented the large number of
fluorosis cases appearing in Uppsala, a city with about 1 ppm of fluoride
naturally in the drinking water.
Professor Arvid Carlsson, neuropharmacologist at the University of
Gothenburg, Sweden, acted strongly officially against fluoridation, arguing
both from physiological and pharmacological standpoints. We co-operated with
him opposing fluoridation and can now be very pleased to tell that professor
Arvid Carlsson on the 10th December 2000 received the Nobel Prize in
medicine for his discovery of dopamine as an important neurotransmitter in
the brain.
Carlsson has since the early 70's criticized Socialstyrelsen for its
unscientific view on fluoridation and ignorance to consider the documented
damage of teeth of individuals grown up in areas with high fluoride content
in the drinking water. Carlsson's expertise and authority contributed very
significantly to stop fluoridation in Sweden.
Other important debaters against fluoridation were Olof Lindahl, Professor
of Orthopaedics, University of Linkoping, Gunnar Gustafsson, Professor of
Oral Pathology, University of Umea, Peter Soderbaum, Associate Professor of
Economics at the University of Agriculture, Uppsala, all arguing from their
respective area of expert knowledge.
Professor Gustafsson is a pioneer on research on the biochemical regulation
of inflammatory disease. He studied signal transduction in cells and pointed
out that very little was known about the physiological effects of fluoride
on the fundamental cell signaling messengers cyclic AMP and calcium ions,
with which fluoride is known to interfere.
Furthermore, the findings of the Danish odontologist Anders Thylstrup,
Professor of Cariology at the University of Copenhagen had a great influence
on the scientific discussion in the Nordic countries. His electron
microscopic investigations of fluorotic enamel of various degrees, even the
mildest, revealed unequivocally that all fluortic enamel is hypomineralised,
which is due to poisoning of the ameloblasts during amelogenesis in the
child. The hypomineralised enamel with its porous structure reflects light
in a different way that than the intact enamel, thereby looking more white,
and giving falsely the impression of being stronger.
The
research group around Thylstrup has demonstrated that fluoride
systematically administered during tooth development according to the
fluoridation myth is an irrelevant preventive method.
On
a hearing before the fluoride committee Dr Gillberg, I and Agnetha Sallstrom
were successful in changing the politicians' opinion on the proposed safety
of water fluoridation. Later, after having revealed that the experts of
Socialstyrelsen were both ignorant concerning basic physiological knowledge
and were bluffing with statistics on caries reduction and fluorosis, the
decision process turned against water fluoridation in Sweden.
It
is notable that Dr. Gillberg also has been rewarded for his enormous
influence on the progress in environment protection in a large number of
fields. For his pioneer work he has become honorary doctor at the University
of Lund, appointed professor, and received a large number of awards, lately
the prize of the Cancer and Allergy Foundation of 500,OOOSEK.
Jan
Sallstrom, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Experimental Pathology
University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden |
