When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed

Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by sp332 on Thursday May 10, 2012 @05:04PM (#3956015)

The micro-organisms usually present in stagnant fresh water are much more harmful than low levels of chlorine or fluoride that are added to kill them. Diet Coke does not promote obesity. Pasteurized cow's milk is fairly nutritious and is much less likely to harm you than unpasteurized milk (although the regulations in the USA are too strict IMHO).

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by Peaker on Thursday May 10, 2012 @06:09PM (#3956388)

I thought fluoride is put in water for its teeth/health benefits.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by bdonlan on Thursday May 10, 2012 @07:37PM (#3956744)

It is. Chlorine is what is used for disinfecting the water supply.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by 46Bit on Thursday May 10, 2012 @09:02PM (#3957015)

Indeed, it's supposed to protect teeth of people unable to afford toothpaste. Whilst it actually just causes cancer. In a similar way to how X-raying everyone who wants to get on a plane protects us from non-existent terrorists.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by Pwnguinz on Friday May 11, 2012 @09:49AM (#3959154)

Do you have a source for your first statement? Not that I'm implying you are lying. Certainly it's added as a mineral fortifier, but to protect the teeth of people unable to afford toothpaste? That is news to me.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by ams6110 on Friday May 11, 2012 @10:22AM (#3959295)

Flouride additions to water was started in the 1960s or 1970s as a public health initiative to fight tooth decay, a significant health problem. It was not added as a "fortifier" in the same way that vitamin D is commonly added to milk.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by kragen on Friday May 11, 2012 @07:35PM (#3961991)

Fluoride is not a nutrient. It is added to drinking water for the same reason it is present in toothpaste: to convert tooth enamel from hydroxyapatite to harder and more acid-resistant fluoroapatite. For details, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoride_therapy http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11571 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056796.htm.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by sp332 on Thursday May 10, 2012 @08:37PM (#3956934)

Oh yeah, my mistake.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by gcb on Friday May 11, 2012 @08:06AM (#3958792)

which makes as much sense as putting soap in our milk to keep us clean.

name one person in this day and age that does not brush their theets with a fluoride tooth paste.

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by Peaker on Friday May 11, 2012 @08:54AM (#3958928)

Is the benefit only for those who don't brush? Isn't it meant to provide the body with the fluoride it needs for the teeth?

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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed by spindritf on Thursday May 10, 2012 @07:46PM (#3956779)

> Diet Coke does not promote obesity.

I don't have a good source* on me but aspartame likely increases appetite and feeling of hunger so I don't know about promoting but it may be contributing.

* see this for example though http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2359769

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