#ITS A WIDE RANGE OF SYMPTOMS AND CRITERIA BECAUSE THE WHOLE POINT IS THAT THEY ARE NOT ITS OWN DISORDER.

[kipskiptrip]

If I see one more person refer to OSDD as a whole as a generalization or synonym of OSDD-1B I'm going to snap the wooden bars of this cage in the enclosures of my mouth and crawl my way out of Hell to Find You.

[cuntess-carmilla]

Common traits of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

I’m not a doctor, so there may be some details off here though tbh chronically ill people usually know more than most doctors. I'm making this post because there’s very little awareness about this, and people who fit the diagnosis criteria end up never being diagnosed and suffering in silence, even risking early deaths, as I now suspect happened to my grandma.

Definition:

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a group of disorders that affect connective tissue. It’s a genetic disorder that has no cure, but does have palliative treatments depending on the type of EDS.

All types of EDS are characterized by abnormal collagen synthesis. This doesn’t mean that you have too little collagen (necessarily?), but that the collagen your body synthesizes is and will always be altered or of bad quality, regardless of how much of it you synthesize.

EDS is regarded as “rare” by most doctors, but many patients believe it’s more common than they think, only being so “rare” on paper because doctors perceive it as rare, so they don’t diagnose patients despite fitting the criteria (search why EDS communities use the zebra as a symbol). Due to this, EDS communities encourage self-diagnosis, and many times even self-treatment.

Abnormal collagen sounds like it’s “only” one thing, but collagen is a key structural protein ALL over the body, so if your collagen is wrong, a lot of things are wrong or at the very least unusual. As a result, EDS affects the skin, ligaments, joints, blood vessels and other organs (including gastrointestinal organs and the uterus).

Common traits and symptoms:

Please, keep in mind that these symptoms don’t have to be super extreme to count. EDS symptoms range from mild to severe. Most of my symptoms aren’t remarkably visible to the eye, but they’re still bad enough that I suffer tremendously and it affects every single aspect of my life.

Take into account that many of the following traits/symptoms aren’t exclusive to EDS, but if you have more than one or two...

Joint hypermobility: Being "double jointed". The joints are so lax, that they luxate or even dislocate for as much as staying still in the same position too long. It can affect some joints, or all joints, small joints or big joints. It obviously comes associated with joint pain, including chronic joint pain. Can also manifest as scoliosis.

Skin elasticity: You can pull your skin (by pinching it) and it stretches more than the skin of most people. This can, in some cases, make EDS patients prone to skin sagging.

Abnormal scarring: The skin of people with EDS is fragile and elastic, and takes longer to heal. Abnormal scarring includes “cigarette paper” scarring, keloids, slow scarring and healing, higher propensity to stretch marks, post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation.

Bruising too easily: The blood vessels of people with EDS are fragile to one degree or another. This makes us prone to bruising easily or dramatically, to the point some present spontaneous bruising. Spontaneous bruising might point to vascular EDS, in which case please seek medical help because it’s the most dangerous form of EDS. There’s cases recorded of parents who’ve been falsely accused of beating their children because of the child’s easy or spontaneous bruising.

Digestive and/or nutritional issues: GUESS what intestines and other digestive organs are made of. Yes, collagen. People with EDS are prone to having delicate digestive systems (IBS, nausea, constipation, diarreah and food allergies included), and/or difficulty absorbing the nutrients from our diet. This trait can be bad enough that the patient needs to be fed through a tube or have nutrients injected into their bloodstream, but most of us do fine with regular nutritional supplements (I recommend multivitamins and minerals). Among other things, the nutrient absorption issue makes us prone to excessive hydration due to imbalance of water-salt intake or absorption, and that’s a REALLY bad thing. It made my hair fall off MASSIVELY for years, and intensified my pain, brain fog and fatigue.

Chronic fatigue: Between the physical pain and bad nutrient absorption, most if not all of us experience chronic fatigue (as a symptom, not the disorder). This isn’t just being tired, it’s being exhausted to your bones for no reason all the time, even if you’ve done absolutely nothing in weeks. Might be pervasive, might be recurrent.

Muscle pain: When you have EDS Everything Hurts™. This can be exacerbated in EDS patients by imbalance of water-salt intake (generally leaning towards excessive hydration, but can be dehydration too).

Chronic pain: Everything Hurts™... All the time. It’s a general pain expanded throughout your body that just won’t go the fuck away no matter what you do. Except that this can be exacerbated by imbalance of water-salt intake too! Fixing mine made my chronic and muscle pain so much more bearable to the point that on a good day it’s GONE (just remember, your pee should NEVER be even close to clear, it should just not be solidly opaque, and you could damage your kidneys too by drinking too much water).

Brain fog: Linked to chronic fatigue and pain (ALSO POSSIBLY THE WATER-SALT INTAKE). Like chronic pain and fatigue, it’s not necessarily present every single day, but be recurrent instead. You can’t think. You can’t read or process what you read. You can’t turn thoughts into words. Your grammar goes to shit. You can’t retain or process new information. You can’t remember words that you KNOW you know. You can’t remember things in general. Someone asks you a simple question and it’s like they’re speaking to you in another language. You start to feel increasingly frustrated and desperate because you’re constantly disoriented and your mind is lagging like an old computer running on a 256 MB RAM memory. ERROR 404 BRAIN NOT FOUND TRY AGAIN LATER. Well, turns out you are not dumb, your body is not cooperating with you, and that includes your brain.

Asthma: Highly comorbid. Just... Everything is made of collagen, pal. EVERYTHING.

Autism: Don’t ask me why, but EDS and autism are highly comorbid too, so if you’re in the autism spectrum (same hat) and experience any or many of the other symptoms/traits listed, it’s very likely that you also have EDS.

Depression: It’s really hard to be "positive”, have any motivation or enjoy anything, when NOTHING in your body works right, Everything Hurts�� and you’re so depressingly exhausted that all you CAN do is lay in bed all day. People and doctors telling you you’re “faking it”, people thinking you’re lazy, underestimating how much pain and fatigue you’re going through, having to pull through all of that anyway because you have no other option (ie. your job is your or your family’s only source of income) does not help AT ALL with this.

Tight/narrow “inner plumbing”: In my case, my throat is so narrow, that swallowing one (1) small pill is genuinely difficult, and big pills make me GAG. But its not just your throat, it’s ALL your plumbing being too tight or narrow.

Varicose veins: The whole blood vessels being fragile thing. Most common in vascular EDS, please seek help if you think you may have that specific type.

Thin “transparent” soft skin: Again... FUCKING COLLAGEN. I think it’s obvious what this one means? Except it’s likely that it’s harder to notice the “transparent” part of it on darker skinned patients, but if you’re pale or light skinned, you’d be one of those people whose veins are very easy to see.

“Moldable” nails: Yet again, collagen is everywhere. Some of my nails (index and middle fingers) are slightly deformed because I tend to clench my hands A LOT by instinct and the continued pressure changed their shape.

Aracnodactilia, or “spidery” hands/fingers: The fingers are very skinny and long in proportion to the rest of the hand, can apply to feet too. Having very narrow feet (ie. your shoes are always to wide for you) is part of this.

Gynecological issues or abnormalities: Excessive bleeding during your period, bleeding outside your period, infertility, spontaneous abortions, pre-term labor, high risk pregnancies. Very common with vascular EDS too.

Dry eyes: I didn’t know about this one until like, literally two days ago but apparently it’s a thing, since the test this Chilean EDS specialist we’re hoping to see gives you, includes it as a potential symptom.

“Elongated” body, face (and its features) and/or limbs: Actually the aracnodactilia is often part of this. I also have no idea why but many EDS patients have “elongated”, narrower features, be it subtle or very visible.

Chronic fatigue and brain fog are really hard to describe properly to people who don’t go through them. Hell, even to people who DO go through them. So here’s two videos by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard (just in case, she was misdiagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but discovered recently that she has EDS, besides her neurological condition). All her videos have CC.

[tatyanadyachenko]

This short guide intends to equip you with the most essential information about CBD, including how it works on the human body, the legality of CBD, whether or not it causes a high and how to choose the right CBD oil.

If you are looking to improve your health and overall well being, hemp CBD extract may well be the most important supplement for you to take.

While many herbs can be effective for a wide variety of conditions, hemp CBD extract is in a league of its own. 

 According to a list compiled from hundreds of peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and PubMed (an online service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine), hemp CBD has been found therapeutic for more than 50(!) conditions ranging from acne and insomnia to epilepsy and seizures.

But how can one plant extract treat such a long and varied range of conditions?

This is thanks to the plant’s numerous — over 100 — active compounds called cannabinoids.

In fact, our bodies also produce cannabinoids. And we call them endocannabinoids, from ‘endo’ meaning ‘‘internal’ in Greek.

Endocannabinoids — cannabinoids produced by the human body

Phytocannabinoids — cannabinoids produced by a plant, i.e. hemp

THE HUMAN ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM (HES)Hemp phytocannabinoids discharge their beneficial action via the Human Endocannabinoid System (HES), which was discovered back in the 1990s.The discovery of HES is arguably the most important discovery in human physiology in the late 20th century.Scientists have found HES to be of the paramount importance in our bodies. Its receptors (called CB1 and CB2) are ubiquitous and are found in every organ of the body. It is responsible for maintaining and controlling homeostasis, or balanced regulation of each and every system in the body. HES regulates a wide array of bodily functions, from appetite to sleep patterns, moods, metabolism, immune response, the lifespan of cells and much much more.Scientists still need to understand a lot about HES, but as of today HES appears to be the system behind all the other body systems, thus, it sort of holds the key to overall health and well-being.

CLINICAL ENDOCANNABINOID DEFICIENCY (CED)Already back in 2001, the theory of clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CED) was put forward by Dr. Ethan Russo, neurologist and medical scientist.Now imagine for a moment what would happen if you never took vitamin C in your entire life because the government made it illegal? Surely, after a while, all kind of problems and disbalances would arise due to vitamin C deficiency.Luckily for us, the wave of hemp legalization, which has started a few years ago is rolling across the globe at full speed, with more and more countries are legalizing hemp for medical use and for research purposes.Already in his 2016 research update, Dr. Ethan Russo defined criteria for the evidence of cannabinoid deficiency:All increased sensitivity to painExtensive negative diagnosesElevated anxiety and depressionPsychosomatic origin (caused by internal conflict or stress) and moreDon’t we all experience these symptoms to some extent?Without sufficient cannabinoids in our diet, the HES operates at less than optimum efficiency, resulting in a general decline in overall health. Supplementing our diets with full spectrum phytocannabinoids by consuming CBD oil may be an essential component to achieving optimal health and regeneration.Some doctors go as far as to claim that “More people will be saved by the manipulation of the endocannabinoid system than are currently saved by surgery.”As scientists are just starting to make sense of clinical endocannabinoid deficiency, we cannot help but ask: What modern diseases could vanish altogether once the endocannabinoid system is better understood?HEMP VS. MARIJUANA, CBD VS. THCThe legalisation of medical marijuana has caused a lot of confusion, and the current CBD market can be compared to the Wild West. There are no real rules or regulations as to what medical CBD oil is and what it can be called. There is a lot of misinformation floating around.One of the main points of confusion comes from the fact that the media often uses the term marijuana to refer to hemp and vice versa. This raises other issues, the most common of which are the legality of CBD oil and whether or not it causes a high. Now let’s set the record straight as to what is meant by hemp, marijuana, cannabis, cannabidiol, medical CBD oil, THC and hemp seed oil.Cannabis is the Latin, or scientific name, for the entire plant family. Marijuana is a colloquial name for the cannabis plants but is mainly used in reference to cannabis strains which cause a psychoactive effect, euphoria, a so-called “high”. What is generally referred to as hemp plant, on the other hand, is completely non-psychoactive and has been used for centuries for to make a variety of commercial and industrial products including rope, textiles, paper, etc.In the UK, Europe and USA, psychoactive marijuana is a controlled substance. However, as of the end of 2018, UK, Europe and all of the US states have instituted legislation to regulate the cultivation of non-psychoactive hemp and allow its use as medicine. Some US states, as well as Canada, have also legalized marijuana for recreational use.Marijuana is high in the psychoactive compound THC, or delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound that causes a euphoric feeling. Hemp, on the other hand, has negligible amounts of THC. In fact, in order to be legally cultivated, hemp must contain less than 0.2% THC.Medical CBD oil, aka cannabidiol, is a natural essential oil, which is extracted from the flowers and leaves of the hemp plant. As with hemp, in order to be legally sold, it must contain less than 0.2% of the psychoactive component, THC. Thus, CBD does not cause a feeling of being “high” or “stoned”.Another important distinction to be made is that hemp seed oil and CBD oil are not the same product.Hemp seed oil, sometimes referred to as hemp oil, is harvested by cold-pressing hemp seeds. Hemp seed oil is generally used for cooking and as a dietary supplement as it is a good source of polyunsaturated and essential fatty acids. Hemp seed oil does not contain any CBD or other cannabinoids.Medical CBD oil, on the other hand, is made by extracting the essential oils from the plant’s flower clusters and contains cannabinoids, terpenes, and other active compounds.

8 THINGS TO KNOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST HEMP CBD OILNow that you are convinced or at the very least curious about the paramount importance of hemp CBD for your health, the question arises — how to choose the right CBD oil for your condition or improving general well-being.Note that, it is not about choosing the right hemp CBD oil to treat a specific condition. The oil works holistically on the whole body and can universally treat all conditions via the human endocannabinoid system. It is rather about choosing good quality hemp CBD oil.While all bottles in the industry may be labelled “CBD”, not all hemp CBD oil is created equal. Here are the 8 most important things you need to consider to avoid disappointment and make an informed decision about the health product you are going to select.1. Independent Test CertificatesThe Journal of the American Medical Association has published a study which revealed that nearly 70%(!) of hemp CBD oil products sold online were mislabeled. “Only 30 percent of CBD products purchased contained an actual CBD content…” stated in the press release about the JAMA study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported similar findings about the hemp CBD products in 2015.Given the overwhelming degree of misinformation in the new unregulated industry, look for independent third party test certificates to ensure that the hemp CBD products contain what they claim to.

2. Organic Hemp CBD OilHemp is known to be one of the most highly-absorbent plants. It means that contaminants such as pesticides, chemicals, metals, etc. may ultimately end up in your hemp CBD oil.The best course of action is to select a hemp CBD oil, which was grown and manufactured in the EU. European regulations regarding hemp are very strict and ensure the highest-quality organic farming standards.Reputable manufacturers usually state clearly where their hemp CBD oil is sourced from. And again, look for third-party lab test results, which is an indication that the manufacturer takes its quality standards seriously and guarantees that the product is free from contaminants.3. CO2 ExtractionOften less expensive hemp CBD oils may use harmful solvents such as butane or propane. While this extraction process is cheaper, the question is do you really want to compromise the health benefits of your hemp CBD oil with products that may contain residuals of the toxic substances.Supercritical CO2 extraction is proven to be the best method for creating hemp CBD oil. This method involves using carbon dioxide under high pressure to isolate over 100 cannabinoids from the raw hemp botanical material. Reputable manufacturers employ CO2 extraction and are proud to mention it.4. Full-spectrum CBD OilRaw hemp material can be put through a series of filtration and distillation processes to extract only one cannabinoid compound (out of over 100), namely the CBD. This extract is then called CBD isolate. In its pure form at room temperature, it looks like solid crystals almost without any smell and colour. CBD isolate is devoid of the benefits of other cannabinoids and active ingredients present in the plant.Full-spectrum CBD is an extraction of all the active compounds present in the plant and contains all the naturally occurring cannabinoids found in hemp. The evidence is mounting that other cannabinoids naturally contained in the plant provide a host of additional benefits not seen in isolates, thus making full-spectrum CBD hemp oil the best choice. These compounds seem to work in synergy with CBD, creating a powerful entourage effect.Another type of oil is broad-spectrum hemp CBD. Broad spectrum is made by combining CBD isolate and other isolated cannabinoids and active ingredients. Oftentimes, broad-spectrum oils are less expensive to produce, but they lack the intelligence of the original nature-intended synergistic balance.And finally, there is synthetically-produced CBD. While it may be the cheapest type of CBD, it is also the least effective and can produce unwanted side-effects.5. Concentration of CBD OilHemp CBD oil is available in various concentrations, which are expressed in milligrams (mg) or percentage terms. To compare different products, express CBD concentration in percentage terms by dividing the CBD amount in milligrams by the total amount of liquid in the bottle. A 10 ml bottle is 10,000 mg. Thus, 500 mg of CBD per 10 ml bottle equals 500/10,000*100=5%.While higher doses of CBD will have a more pronounced effect, it is best to start with a low entry-level concentration of 5%.Observe the effects over the course of several days and make adjustments if needed. If you do not see the desired effects after 5–7 days, start gradually working your dose up.Note, that as a natural holistic remedy, CBD oil/tinctures may not necessarily produce desired effects immediately after taking as pharmaceutical drugs do. Most pharmaceutical drugs act chemically in a very targeted way with the purpose of alleviating symptoms rather than mobilizing internal resources and gradually helping the body to heal.It is observed that it takes the body at least one week to start accumulating and using hemp CBD active ingredients in an optimal manner.6. Negligible THCTHC is one of the active compounds of cannabis, the one that gives a feeling of euphoria and a high. As of the beginning of 2019, only products with less than 0.2% THC are illegal. 0.2% is an extremely low dosage and does not generate any psychoactive effects. Check the packaging to make sure that there is no unnecessary THC in the product.7. Made with Hemp Seed OilCBD oil can be made with a number of oils as a base, including coconut oil, grapeseed oil or hemp seed oil. Studies have found that the hempseed oil is the by far best agent for CBD, as it increases its bio-availability by protecting it from being broken down by stomach acids. Furthermore, hemp seed oil has been dubbed “Nature’s most perfectly balanced oil” due to the fact that it contains the perfectly balanced 3:1 ratio of essential fatty acids (EFAs) Omega 3 : Omega 6 for long term human consumption.8. Unnecessary ingredientsIn its original form, hemp CBD oil has a grassy, astringent taste, which some people may find unpleasant. Companies try to mask it with the use of artificial flavourings. Ask yourself, if you would like to get a dose of potentially harmful ingredients every time you use your hemp oil supplement to improve your health and well being.Bear in mind these 8 points and you will be able to make a good choice of your hemp CBD oil.To conclude, let me leave you with this one thought. The research findings on CBD published in the past few years look nothing short of miraculous. With no significant side-effects reported, what can possibly hold you back from giving a go to the amazing natural medicine to see what it can do to improve your health and wellbeing?

[iol247]

The drivers of President Ramaphosa’s big lockdown decision

Opinionista • Dirk De Vos

Each one of us is an important data point in the largest and most expensive experiment of all time.

On Monday 23 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that from midnight on Thursday, the country would go into lockdown for 21 days. This was done in an effort to halt the spread of the runaway SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes the respiratory disease known as Covid-19.

Essentially, during that period, the whole country, other than essential services, will come to a stop. The cost of the decision is impossible to calculate and the damage to an already weak economy will take decades to recover from, if the country makes the right decisions.

Hundreds, if not thousands of firms, the good and bad, will go out of business and with it an already dire unemployment rate will go up. Whole swathes of the economy, including those that had enormous job creation potential, like tourism, might never fully recover.

In making this decision, South Africa joins a raft of other countries, mostly in Europe, doing some version of the same thing. The US is presently under a 15-day lockdown. 

South Africa is different in one respect: it implemented its lockdown far earlier into the trajectory of infection than other countries did. Indeed, Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, announced his government’s measures just hours after Ramaphosa’s announcement, but did so after 6,650 people had tested positive for the virus and after 335 patients, who had also tested positive, had died.

In South Africa, with 402 testing positive as of 23 May, (see: South Africa’s confirmed coronavirus cases jump by 128 to 402) no deaths have yet been recorded.

The UK government’s decision is a departure from its earlier policy of attempting to slow the spread of the virus, do more to isolate the vulnerable (older people or those with compromised immune systems), but then to allow the majority (around 60%) of the population to become infected, get sick, recover and by doing so become immune and thereby halt the further spread of the disease (so-called “herd immunity”). That approach would have also allowed the UK economy to largely continue as before.

The UK and the US approach was radically changed following the publication of the so-called Imperial College paper Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID- 19 mortality and healthcare demand. It pointed to the danger that mere mitigation would result in health systems being overrun at around the same time by serious and critically ill patients, particularly those requiring intensive care unit (ICU) treatment. 

The paper predicted that the result of mere mitigation efforts there would be as many as 250,000 deaths in the UK and 1.1-1.2 million in the US. In addition, it is not clear whether having been infected does provide immunity. Clearly, this horrifying prediction was completely unpalatable, and it forced a reversal of existing policy in both countries. The impact of the Imperial College paper has gone far beyond just the UK and US. It would almost certainly have been a key factor behind the Ramaphosa government’s decision on Monday.

Something about the SARS-CoV-2 virus: It is a coronavirus – a relatively simple RNA virus (as opposed to a DNA virus). Chinese scientists were able to publish the virus’s genetic sequence less than a week after they isolated it. (Read: The race to produce a vaccine for the latest coronavirus) Just six other coronaviruses are known to infect humans, causing normal colds, but two of them, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), cause severe diseases. (See: What We Know So Far About SARS-CoV-2.) 

It is not clear why some coronaviruses are relatively harmless and others dangerous. An up-to-date and accessible summary of what is known about the SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 is hosted by Our World In Data here: Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) – Statistics and Research which, in turn, uses data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control here: Covid-19. At present, gigantic amounts of research and data are being generated all over the world, from appropriate policies to prevent the spread of the virus, to potential drug treatments and of course, the potential of a vaccine. (Novel Coronavirus Information Center). The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also put together an excellent video of the disease: The Coronavirus Explained & What You Should Do, and its public health implications.

In the absence of proven drug treatments or a vaccine, the following related issues are important: how and how quickly does it spread; and how sick do people get (and what is the mortality rate) across different classification criteria? It is these that drive policy or, as we see, dramatic interventions of nationwide lockdowns.

We know that SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and more so because carriers are asymptomatic (they don’t show symptoms) for about 5-6 days before they get sick [Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)], but this can be as long as 14 days or perhaps longer. To be safe on this metric, the South African government has given itself 21 days. It is possible that some carriers don’t get sick at all. Key measures used here are related measures, namely the “doubling rate” and the basic reproduction rate (represented as R0).

The doubling rate or exponential growth is introduced to children by the (mythical) story of the man who once got the emperor of India to pay him in rice with the formula that he would start with one grain of rice and double the number for each block on a chess board. An online maths game for kids demonstrates the point: The Rice And Chessboard Story — Learning How Doubling Makes Numbers Grow (useful for parents trying to get their children to learn something during the lockdown). 

Without intervention, the virus’s reproduction rate (ie, how many people are infected by one carrier) is very high. An R0 below one means that an infected person infects less than one other and the disease, therefore, dies out. Anything above one means that the infection rate grows. Using data from China, the Imperial College paper used a base assumption of 2.4 (range 2-2.6).

Regarding how sick people get, an assumption based on the Chinese experience and especially the city of Wuhan, 81% of those diagnosed with Covid-19 have mild cases that can be managed at home. About 14% have serious cases needing hospital treatment and 5% were critical cases of patients who suffered from respiratory failure, septic shock, and/or multiple organ dysfunction or failure. Almost half of the critical cases (2.3%) died.

It is the 19% of serious and critical cases combined with the high reproductive rate that looks to overwhelm public health systems.

Unfortunately, the above numbers are not very useful. There are wide discrepancies within China (Estimating Risk for Death from 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease, China, January–February 2020), between China and the epicentre of the current outbreak, northern Italy, and between these and the data from the Covid-19 afflicted cruise ship, the Diamond Princess (Cruise ship outbreak helps pin down how deadly the new coronavirus is). More information here.

There are significant differences between age groups, and gender, but especially where there is any other underlying disease. The recent data from Italy is especially interesting. The fatality rate was very strongly weighted towards those with underlying health conditions. (Characteristics of Covid-19 patients dying in Italy Report based on available data on March 20th, 2020)

In Italy, the median age of those who succumbed was 80. About 41% of all those who died were aged between 80-89, with the 70-79 age group accounting for a further 35%.  The other significant detail from Italy was the presence of pre-existing conditions. Approximately 75% of the dead had two or more pre-existing conditions, 50% had three or more pre-existing conditions, in particular heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Of the five who died who were between 31 and 39 years old, each of them had serious pre-existing health conditions. But whether it is age or the underlying conditions which in Italy are associated with older people that have driven these outcomes is not yet clear.

For Ramaphosa then, the decision to implement the lockdown must have been extremely difficult. We rightly expect our governments to make evidence-based policy, but in this case, there is not sufficient evidence. The highly respected Stanford University Professor John Ioannidis (In the coronavirus pandemic, we’re making decisions without reliable data) in a 17 March piece entitled A fiasco in the making? argues that as the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data.

However, the absence of evidence is certainly not the same as the evidence of absence. The government would have taken note that the fatality rate of Covid-19 is strongly correlated to people with existing diseases of the type that are particularly prevalent in South Africa, including tuberculosis (TB), diabetes and those with weakened immune systems from the very high HIV infection rate. (Graphs that tell the story of HIV in South Africa’s provinces)

While some countries are focused on flattening the curve (How to flatten the curve of coronavirus, a mathematician explains) to give health systems breathing space, South Africa already operates beyond the curve. There is no scope for additional patients needing life-saving ventilators.

In 2015, 460,236 South Africans died. More than half (55.5%) of deaths were attributed to the group of non-communicable diseases, and communicable diseases accounted for 33.4% of deaths, while injuries were responsible for 11.1% of deaths. Other research shows that a total of 63,000 people died of tuberculosis in 2018 and two-thirds of those were HIV-positive. However, as many as 400,000 fell ill with TB in that year. TB, being a respiratory disease, could very well make sufferers particularly susceptible to Covid-19.

Even with just a 1% fatality rate and a R0 of 2.5, Covid-19 would rip through South Africa and reach the 60% infection rate predicted by Health Minister Mhkize within a year. Based on a population of around 57 million, this could amount to as many as 342,000 dead South Africans. This is just a fraction of the numbers that would need hospitalisation. Here is an epidemic calculator allowing for anyone to input their own data. None of this is even a prospect worth contemplating and this is the best case. A 4% fatality rate increases the number of dead to around 1.4 million.

In a well-argued piece, Harry Crane of Rutgers University’s Department of Statistics and Biostatistics  makes the point that Professor Ioannidis sought to treat the Covid-19 pandemic as an academic exercise and not a global crisis. Crane argues that for dynamic and complex problems like the pandemic, we cannot avoid uncertainty and we can’t delay action waiting for more evidence. Once the evidence arrives, it will be far too late to do anything about it.

This is exactly the approach taken by Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam of the New England Complexity Institute who has led a global initiative, End Coronavirus, that seeks to minimise the impact of Covid-19 by providing useful data and guidelines for action. They make the point that if everyone got tested for Covid-19, we could temporarily separate the infected from the uninfected and then help reduce the spread of the virus and return society to a semblance of normality as soon as possible.

As far as evidence is concerned, we know that lockdowns do work. (See Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance – Tomas Pueyo) In Wuhan, R0 moved from 3.9 before the lockdown there to around 0.32 immediately afterwards. (See: Evolving Epidemiology and Impact of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions on the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Wuhan, China.) As of 19 March, there have been no new cases of coronavirus in the entire region of the province of Hubei where Wuhan is situated. Italy too, after its belated lockdown, is seeing the beginnings of a fall-off in new cases and deaths. (See Italy Coronavirus: 69,176 Cases and 6,820 Deaths)

There is, of course, the risk that after the lockdown we simply continue as before, which would see another exponential increase in new cases. Obviously, we cannot even think about another lockdown. We must insist that the lockdown is followed up with the identification of all possible infections and widespread but focused testing of all likely infections. Because there will be a relatively small number (compared to Europe and the US), this should not be that difficult to do. The lockdown gives the country some breathing space, including to develop testing protocols and to see whether any prospective drug treatments are effective.

What we can say is that each one of us is an important data point in the largest and most expensive experiment of all time. Closing the country down for 21 days to locate a few thousand people among 57 million of us might seem like overkill but we all have a direct stake, even just as data points, in making sure that the experiment runs smoothly and renders useful information. Think about this before you ask whether whatever you want to do in the 21 days might make the data less certain.

If we make the effort a success, whatever your own views of it are, there is an additional free bonus for us all. South Africa re-establishes itself at the top table of countries that can make the right decisions, a country where things can get done. We haven’t had that spirit since 1994.

As a final point, the lesson we need to learn from this pandemic is that the next one is already evolving. It might emerge tomorrow, a hundred years hence or any point in-between. Next time, we need to be much better prepared. (See: Bill Gates: The next outbreak? We’re not ready) DM  

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-03-25-the-drivers-of-president-ramaphosas-big-lockdown-decision/

[trihalo42]

Boron and the Fluoride Conspiracy

Boron and the Fluoride Conspiracy

NOTE: If anything written here seems out of place or oddly phrased, it's because all sorts of strangeness has kept me from finishing this, and I'm just tired of wrestling with whatever force seems intent on annoying me.

Sodium Tetraborate has been suggested as an alternative treatment for various things ranging from using it's anti-fungal properties in eliminating Candida overgrowth to removing Fluoride from tissues and bones. Some have falsely claimed it is a “dangerous” and “toxic” substance. Boron has a long and detailed history of testing, especially by the EPA, and was always found to be relatively safe, having a toxicity on the level of table salt. Why do some now claim that it's dangerous?

Read More break here due to length

The many uses for Boron:

First, I feel it's a good idea to point out that Borax in particular is used for more than just laundry. A Wiki page sums it up nicely.

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. Powdered borax is white, consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.

Borax has a wide variety of uses. It is a component of many detergents, cosmetics, and enamel glazes. It is also used to make buffer solutions in biochemistry, as a fire retardant, as an anti-fungal compound, in the manufacture of fiberglass, as a flux in metallurgy, neutron-capture shields for radioactive sources, a texturing agent in cooking, as a precursor for other boron compounds, and along with its inverse, boric acid, is useful as an insecticide.

In artisanal gold mining, the borax method is sometimes used as a substitute for toxic mercury in the gold extraction process. Borax was reportedly used by gold miners in parts of the Philippines in the 1900s.[5]

(Reference (5): "March 2012 ipad waste Filipino Borax, Pakistans Pollution, Artisanal Gold Mining". Blacksmithinstitute.org. Retrieved 2016-08-07.)

Lab Rats and Boron Toxicity:

"LD50" is the amount of a material, given all at once, which causes the death of 50% of a group of test animals. LD50 is one way to measure the short-term poisoning potential (acute toxicity) of a material.

The now archived page I originally used, references follow: http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/borictech.html

"The U.S. EPA considers boric acid to be low in acute toxicity based on studies in rats with an oral LD50 of 3450 mg/kg for male rats and 4080 mg/kg for female rats.(1) Sodium tetraborate decahydrate (borax) is also low in toxicity based on acute oral toxicity studies in rats with an LD50 of 4550 mg/kg for male rats and 4980 mg/kg for female rats. For both compounds the most sensitive toxicological end points are testicular atrophy in males and developmental toxicity in pregnant females. Researchers observed skeletal abnormalities and decreased fetal weight in offspring at oral doses that caused no signs of toxicity to the mother.(1)"

"The reported acute oral LD50 for boric acid in mice is 3450 mg/kg.12 Studies in rats report LD50 values for boric acid ranging from 2660-5140 mg boric acid/kg body weight depending on the duration of exposure.3,12,13 Acute oral LD50 for sodium tetraborate decahydrate (borax) in rats ranges from 3493 to 6080 mg borax/kg body weight.(2),(3)"

"Rats fed sodium tetraborate decahydrate (borax) for 2 years at doses of 0, 65, 154, or 515 mg/kg/day (0, 7.3, 17, or 58 mg boron/kg/day) showed no increases in tumor incidence at any dose tested.(1)"

And they survived for 2 years consuming it every day. Dogs, however, seem to be a little more sensitive.

"Oral exposure studies in dogs reported LD50 values greater than 631 mg boric acid/kg body weight and greater than 974 mg borax/kg body weight, indicating that dogs may be more sensitive to these compounds than rats or mice.(1)"

4 grams might sound scary to some people, but that's per kilogram. It takes more of something toxic to bring down a really big animal like an elephant than it does to kill a lab rat. 4g of sugar is roughly a teaspoon. For a 200 pound man, a 4g/kg measure would be about 360 grams, which is about 1/3 of a kilo or almost a pound of the stuff . But that's toxicity for lab rats. Dogs are a little more sensitive, and human sensitivity varies a good bit, as we'll see further along.

Keep this in mind for when I point out what the World Health Organization says about Boron toxicity.

Reference (1): Boric Acid/Sodium Borate Salts: HED Chapter of the Tolerance Reassessment Eligibility Decision Document (TRED); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, Health Effects Division, U.S Government Printing Offices: Washington, DC, 2006.

Reference (2): Draft Toxicological Profile for Boron; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Atlanta, GA, 2007.

Reference (3): WHO. Environmental Health Criteria 204: Boron; International Programme on Chemical Safety, World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland, 1998.

Boron and Rat Babies:

There's something that happens in the rats that's used to try to scare us. According to an EPA document mentioned,

"...For both compounds the most sensitive toxicological end points are testicular atrophy in males and developmental toxicity in pregnant females. Researchers observed skeletal abnormalities and decreased fetal weight in offspring at oral doses that caused no signs of toxicity to the mother..."

“Testicular atrophy” does sound pretty scary, but I haven't seen it mentioned in any human studies or in people involved in borate mining. And babies of any species are more sensitive than their adult mothers.

The effect on rat offspring is then used to claim that it could cause the same effect in humans. Many of us who consider ourselves bodybuilder types would really love for several different things that affect lab rats to actually affect humans. There's been some substances that got lab rats all jacked up and looking like The Hulk that have practically zero effect on humans. For example, the whole "myostatin" supplement craze would have been really awesome if it had actually worked. But that doesn't discourage the side effects of Boron seen in rats from being used as a scare tactic.

But lab rats might enjoy something that is far more toxic to humans. I mean, they eat garbage after all. And the dogs tested seemed to be more sensitive than the rats. But Boron's not even considered toxic to bees, and that's really saying something.

The Boron and the Bees:

"The U.S. EPA reported a contact LD50 of greater than 362 ppm and classified boric acid as "relatively nontoxic" to bees.(5)"

Reference (5): "Reregistration Eligibility Document: Boric acid and its sodium salts; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1996."

Borax is about as toxic as table salt:

Health Science Spirit has a great article about Borax.

They compare the MSDS toxicity of Sodium Chloride (table salt) to Borax in detail. I won't directly quote it all here because it's a lot of detail. The take home point for me is, "...Here you see that table salt is 50 to 100% more toxic than borax, it changes the genetic material and is mutagenic, while borax is harmless in this regard..."

http://www.health-science-spirit.com/borax.htm

Scary numbers:

Yet a page for the World Health Organization (WHO) has this scary looking text.

http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/training_poisons/basic_analytical_tox/en/index8.html

"6.13 Borates"

"...Small children are especially susceptible to borates and deaths have occurred after topical application of boric acid powder for happy rash. Serious borate poisoning in adults is usually the result of improper use. The fatal dose of boric acid or sodium borate in an adult is 7-35 g."

I'll come back to the “happy rash” topical application thing shortly.

For comparison, 7 to 35 grams of sugar would be about 2 to 8 teaspoons. Also consider that eating 8 teaspoons of table salt could cause some people problems.

They claim that a dose as low as 7 grams can be “fatal”. But their numbers don't quite match up with other research and seem to be presented in a way that discourages people from using Boron at all.

Boric Acid Toxicity:

"A review of acute human exposures to boric acid indicated the effects of any particular dose can vary dramatically among individuals. The average dose for asymptomatic ingestion cases, which accounts for 88% of all ingestions, is around 0.9 grams. However, the range of reported asymptomatic doses is wide, from 0.01 to 88.8 g. The average dose causing symptoms was 3.2 grams, but it was also highly variable with individual values ranging from 0.1 to 55.5 g. (14)"

Reference (14): Litovitz, T. L., Klein-Schwartz, W., Oderda, G. M., Schmitz, B. F. Clinical Manifestations of Toxicity in a Series of 784 Boric Acid Ingestions. Am. J. Emerg. Med. 1988, 6, 209-213.

The above reference is to Boric Acid, which is known to be a little more toxic than Sodium Tetraborate, the naturally occurring salt.

So some people suffered “symptoms” from a tenth of a gram, while others showed no symptoms from ingesting nearly 90 grams. That's a pretty big difference.

Babies and Boron:

The reference to children and deaths from topical application I unconsciously skipped over at first, because it reads like a standard scare tactic. An extreme over-generalization with no references. So I dug up a reference.

BORIC ACID POISONING IN INFANCY ARISING FROM THE TREATMENT OF NAPKIN RASH

BY P. C. MacGILLIVRAY and M. S. FRASER From the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, and the Department of Child Health. University of Aberdeen (RECEIVED FOR PUBLICATION JULY 28, 1953)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1988688/ or for the .pdf download https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1988688/pdf/archdisch01411-0064.pdf

In the section titled “Prevention”,

"Our first concern in this paper is with poisoning as it occurs during the treatment of ammoniacal dermatitis. The question at once arises, Why have so few cases been reported when so many babies have been exposed to boric acid in this way? One reason appears to be the varving dosage due to the different methods of use. It is generally advised that the drug should be used solely as a 'napkin rinse', impregnating the fabric with a saturated solution, and no systemic effects have been recorded from this procedure. Most of the poisonings have been caused by the liberal application to the napkins or the skin of powdered boric acid or of borated dusting powder, and the remainder by 10% boric acid ointment..."

Read this one line again about the napkin rinse, "...no systemic effects have been recorded from this procedure...". The problem with toxicity comes in when someone just pours the stuff onto already damaged skin.

A general rule I try to follow is to never put anything on my skin that I can't eat. The skin is a great barrier against many things, but some things do soak through, and damaged skin makes for a poor barrier.

And consider this,

"Boric acid and sodium tetraborate decahydrate are both low in toxicity when applied to undamaged skin based on dermal LD50 >2000 mg/kg when applied to rabbit skin. The U.S. EPA classifies both active ingredients as low in dermal toxicity and neither are considered dermal irritants.(1)"

So the U.S. EPA considers them "low in dermal toxicity", but the WHO page has the scary wording that "...deaths have occurred after topical application of boric acid powder...".

I smell an agenda. And it smells like a rat. A rat that survived eating enough Borax to supposedly kill a grown man...

Minerals:

So where does this stuff come from anyway?

http://www.minerals.net/mineral/borax.aspx

THE MINERAL BORAX

"Borax occurs in arid regions, forming from evaporation of saline lakes. Borax is also synthetically formed as a by-product of mining operations of borate deposits, and most of the specimens from the famous mine at Boron, California, are formed this way.

The first Borax specimens came several dry lake deposits in Tibet. They were shipped in large quantities by ancient caravans for profit. Much greater deposits were later found in the southwestern U.S., from which most of the world's industrial borax comes. Borax specimens are translucent when fresh, but eventually lose water in their chemical structure and turn opaque, developing a white powder on their surfaces. If allowed to dehydrate, it will eventually crumble into a white powder. Because of this property, known as efflorescence, Borax is not commonly seen in collections. When a Borax specimen loses water, it alters into a new mineral called Tincalconite, which contains the same elements as Borax but has half the water, and crystallizes in a different crystal system."

Miners:

Some of the safety data involves people who work in the mining operations.

"People processing borax at work have reported temporary respiratory irritation including dry mouth, nose and throat, coughing, sore throat, shortness of breath and nose bleeds after exposure to airborne particles of sodium tetraborate decahydrate.(2),(4) One such study found that a single 20 minute exposure to 10 mg sodium borate decahydrate/m3 (0.7 mg boron/m3) had no effect on workers, while another study found over a 6 hour shift, the lowest average concentration causing respiratory effects (LOAEL) was 5.72 mg particulate borax/m3 (0.44 mg boron/m3).(2)"

"Employees working for more than five years around borax or boric acid dust found that exposure to 4.4 mg/m3 of borax or more caused respiratory and nasal irritation. Other workers exposed to particulate boric acid reported respiratory and nasal irritation at concentrations less than 10 mg boric acid/m3.(20)"

Reference (4): Toxicological Review of Boron and Compounds in Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); U.S Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2004.

Reference (20) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), Boron and Compounds; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/iris/(accessed March 2010), updated Jan 2010.

If the stuff was as lethal as some would have us believe, there would need to be a quarantine zone around the mining operations and sending employees in would potentially be a death sentence, which it obviously is not.

Animals Love Boron:

From Dr. Axe, Food is Medicine http://draxe.com/boron-uses/

"...Boron uses even include the ability to help animals suffering from pain. Horses, sheep and other domesticated animals that develop signs of arthritis are sometimes given boron supplements to ease pain and inflammation.

In fact, because levels of boron in foods are highly dependent on how healthy the soil is where the crops are grown, animals that graze on depleted soils low in boron usually have less muscle, and more bone and joint pain as they age than animals raised on boron-rich soils..."

And one paper shows that Boron supplementation can improve the quality of chicken eggs.

"New investigations on the effect of the dietary boron on broilers and layers; Boron and food quality" - Archiva Zootechnica vol. 8, 2005 http://www.ibna.ro/arhiva/AZ%208/AZ%208_06%20RCriste.pdf

Trees Love Borax:

One more great thing about Sodium Tetraborate is that it can be used to kill fungus on trees. According to one research paper for the U.S. Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture:

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr116/psw_gtr116_07_kliejunas.pdf

...The studies and observations summarized in this paper indicate that boraxing of pines in eastside pine type stands is an effective means of preventing annosus infection and reducing future losses...

Hidden Agendas:

If you listen to our corrupt government, they act like Boron is Arsenic. In the UK, there's been an effort to keep people from getting their hands on Borax. One of their "warnings" is that it could affect hormone levels. Yeah, no kidding, because Boron counteracts Fluoride which is the reason those hormone levels are suppressed in the first place. Fluoride is a known endocrine disruptor. Sure most of them don't Fluoridate their water, but that doesn't stop it from showing up in pesticides and goods imported from the USA. It's not about any version of Boron being "dangerous". It's about Boron countering the Fluoride conspiracy.

Where's the science to back up my Boron vs Fluoride claim?

I have a list of studies in a previous Tumblr post here:

https://trihalo42.tumblr.com/post/154264199155/studies-utilizing-boron-to-reduce-fluoride

1) Elsair, J. et al., Boron as antidote to fluoride: effect on bones and claws in subacute intoxication of rabbits. Fluoride 1981; 14(1): 21-9

http://www.fluoridealert.org/wp-content/pesticides/1981.f.abstracts.htm

Fluoride 1981; 14(1):21-29

Boron as antidote to fluoride: effect on bones and claws in subacute intoxication of rabbits

Elsair J, Merad R, Denine R, Azzouz M, Khelfat K, Hamrour M, Alamir B, Benali S, Reggabi M

Laboratories of Physiology, Toxicology and Galenic Pharmacy, Medical Institute, Algiers, Algeria

Summary: Rabbits were "subacutely" intoxicated by administration of 30 mg/kg/day of fluoride for 3 months followed by 15 mg/kg/day for a subsequent 3 months (F). Boron was given alone (B) as preventive and simultaneously with fluoride prophylactically (F + Bp), as well as therapeutically namely midway during the experimental period (F + Bpc) while fluoride was being administered and after it was discontinued (Bc compared with fluoirde interuption F*), at a constant F/B ratio. All groups were compared to normal controls.

Boron administered during fluoride intoxication or after its interruption, reduces fluoremia and increases urinary fluoride excretion. Skeletal fluoride levels are directly related to those of claws. They bear no relationship to fluoride in hair. The high fluoride content in bone in lot F decreases with addition of boron. It is still high in lot F* but returns to normal in loc Bc. Calcium content of bones remains normal in all lots. Posterior pad radiography shows a cortical thickness in lot F which is less pronounced in lots F + Bpc and F*, and returns to normal in lot Bc.

2) Elsair, J. et al., Boron as an antidote in acute fluoride intoxication in rabbits: its action on the fluoride and calcium-phosphorous metabolism. Fluoride 1980; 13(1): 30-8

http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/1980.f.abstracts.htm

Fluoride 1980; 13(1):30-38

Boron as an antidote in acute fluoride intoxication in rabbits: its action on the fluoride and calcium-phosphorous metabolism

Elsair J, Merad R, Denine R, Reggabi M, Benali S, Azzouz M, Khelfat K, and M Tabet Aoul

Laboratories of Physiology, Toxicology, and Galenic Pharmacy, Medical Institute, Algiers, Algeria

Summary: The kinetics of calcium, phosphorous and fluoride were studied after daily administration of 60 mg/kg fluoride to rabbits in drinking water for two months and subsequent addition of boron following a lapse of 11 and 45 days during which fluoride was discontinued.

Boron tends to increase the elimination of fluoride from the body. Fluoremia returned to normal levels in all groups on day 11. At that time, the fluoride balance was negative compared with normal levels. When boron was added the negative balance was more pronounced because of relative hyperfluoria and because of a decrease in the digestive utilization coefficient. In bones the fluoride content decreased more slowly. It remained very high on day 45 in the fluoride group, but returned to normal when boron was given.

Calcium and phosphorous balances were normal in all cases on days 11 and 45. This was due to normalization of calcium and phosphorous digestive utilization coefficient, in the 45-day fluoride group after addition of boron.

3) Zhou, L.Y. et al., Effect of borax in treatment of skeletal fluorosis.  Fluoride 1987; 20(1): 24-27

http://www.fluoridealert.org/wp-content/pesticides/1987.part.2.f.abstracts.htm

Fluoride 1987; 20(1):24-27

Effect of borax in treatment of skeletal fluorosis

Zhou LY *, Wei ZD, Ldu SZ

* Department of Hygiene, Guiyang Medical College, Guiyang, Guizhou, China

Summary: Borax was used during 1981-1982 for treatment of 31 patients suffering from skeletal fluorosis. The amount administered was gradually increased from 300-1100 g/day during a three month period, with one week resting period each month.

Experimental criteria included observation of symptoms, of physical signs such as movement of joints, and urinary excretion of F- and BF-4. Findings in patients given borax were compared with data obtained from controls to whom no borax was administered. The borax group experienced a good effect rate.

4) Effect of boron and fluoride on the expression of enamelin in rat incisor

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18705502

Hua Xi Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2008 Jun;26(3):244-7.

[Effect of boron and fluoride on the expression of enamelin in rat incisor].

[Article in Chinese]

Wu HM1, Wang Q, Gao CN, Wei XL.

Author information

1Department of Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, School of Stomatology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of overdose fluoride, boron and two factors on the expression of enamelin in rat incisor.

METHODS: 32 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. Group I: The distilled water was given. Group II: 220 mg/L NaF were given. Group III: 382 mg/L Na2B4O2.10H2O were given. Group IV: 220 mg/L NaF and 382 mg/L Na2B4O2.10H2O were given. The rats were sacrificed in the eighth week. HE staining was used to observe the morphology of ameloblasts. Immunohistochemical staining was used for study the expression of enamelin in rat incisors.

RESULTS: The results showed that the expression of enamelin was reduced in the group II (P<0.01). Compared with group I, the expression of enamelin in group IV had no significant difference. The expression of enamelin in group IV and group II had significant difference (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION: The overdose fluoride can inhibit the expression of enamelin. The effection was weaken when boron added. Boron reduced the toxicity of fluoride on teeth. PMID: 18705502

5) Ameliorative effects of boron on serum profile in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) fed high fluoride ration.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18422253

Trop Anim Health Prod. 2008 Feb;40(2):111-6. Ameliorative effects of boron on serum profile in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) fed high fluoride ration. Bharti VK1, Gupta M, Lall D.

Author information 1Neurophysiology Laboratory, Center for Advanced Studies in Veterinary Physiology, Division of Physiology and Climatology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly 243122, India. vijaykbharti@rediffmail.com

Abstract

An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the protective role of boron on the serum profile of buffalo calves fed a high fluoride ration. Twelve male Murrah buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) calves of 6-8 months age, divided into three groups of four calves in each, were fed basal diets and supplemented with sodium fluoride (NaF, 60 ppm) alone or in combination with borax (Na2B4O7.10H2O, 140 ppm) for 90 days. Boron (B) was added in the ration as borax to make @140 ppm boron (elemental B) on DM basis in treatment II. Dietary F caused a significant (p<0.05) depressing effect on serum Ca and Zn on day 90 which was improved with B supplementation. However, serum Fe and Cu did not show any significant change on F or F+B supplementation. The serum ALP and phosphorus level were increased significantly (p<0.05) on F feeding but declined significantly (p<0.05) when B was fed. The findings suggested beneficial effect of boron on serum minerals and ALP in buffalo calves fed high fluoride ration.

PMID: 18422253

6) Effect of boron as an antidote on dry matter intake, nutrient utilization and fluorine balance in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) exposed to high fluoride ration.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18781284

Biol Trace Elem Res. 2008 Dec;126 Suppl 1:S31-43. doi: 10.1007/s12011-008-8212-x. Epub 2008 Sep 10.

Effect of boron as an antidote on dry matter intake, nutrient utilization and fluorine balance in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) exposed to high fluoride ration.

Bharti VK1, Gupta M, Lall D.

Author information 1Neurophysiology Laboratory, Center for Advanced Studies in Veterinary Physiology, Division of Physiology & Climatology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar 243122, Uttar Pradesh, India. vijaykbharti@rediffmail.com

Abstract

It is well known that excessive accumulation of fluorides can exert toxic effects on various tissues and organs so as to severely damage the health and production of animals. The aim of this study was to determine beneficial effect of boron on nutrient utilization in buffalo calves exposed to high fluoride (F) ration. For this purpose, we used three groups of four male Murrah buffalo calves (body weight 98-100 kg, aged 6-8 month) each. Control animal was given only basal diet and concentrate mixture. However, treatment I animals were fed basal diet, concentrate mixture, and F [as NaF, 60 ppm of dry matter (DM)]. The treatment II animals were fed basal diet, concentrate mixture, F (as NaF, 60 ppm of DM), and B (as sodium tetraborate, 140 ppm of DM). After 90 days of experimental feeding, a metabolism trial of 7 days duration was conducted to study the treatment effect on nutrient utilization of proximate nutrients, absorption, excretion, and retention of N, Ca, P, Fe, Zn, Cu, and F. Dietary F significantly (p < 0.05) depressed the dry matter intake and increased the apparent digestibility, absorption, and retention of F. However, boron supplementation significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the apparent digestibility, absorption, and retention of F and improved the dry matter intake, fecal excretion, and percent of absorbed F excreted via urine. Apparent digestibility of proximate nutrients (viz. DM, crude protein, crude fiber, ether extract, and nitrogen free extract) was unaffected on either F or F+B treatment. However, absorption and excretion of N, Ca, P, Fe, Zn, and Cu were affected significantly (p < 0.05) on F or F+B treatment. These findings suggest that fluoride-containing diet for short duration has effect on nutrient utilization, and boron at 140-ppm dose level, in general, antagonized the absorption and retention of F and also improved the feed intake in buffalo calves.

PMID: 18781284 DOI: 10.1007/s12011-008-8212-x

7) Postdevelopmental effects of boron, fluoride, and their combination on dental caries activity in the rat.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/234132

J Dent Res. 1975 Jan-Feb;54(1):97-103.

Postdevelopmental effects of boron, fluoride, and their combination on dental caries activity in the rat.

Liu FT.

Abstract

Drinking water of rats aged 21 days was supplemented with 1, 10, 30, 50, 100, or 283 ppm of boron or 10 or 25 ppm of fluoride individually or in combination. All rats were fed a cariogenic diet. Boron did not reduce dental caries activity in erupted molars after eight weeks. When given in combination, it partially antagonized the cariostatic effect of fluoride.

PMID: 234132

8) Marcovitch, S., and Stanley, W.W., A Study of Antidotes for Fluorine. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 1942; 74(2): 235-8

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/74/2/235.abstract

Abstract

The fluoborates when fed in powdered form were found to be non-toxic to both rats and insects. In       solution enough fluorine is liberated to produce toxic effects.

Both aluminum sulphate and hydrated lime are capable of saving animals from a lethal dose of   sodium fluoride when mixed with the latter. Boric acid also has some value as an antidote through the formation of a fluoborate. The aluminum sulphate forms cryolite which was found to be much less toxic. When aluminum sulphate is mixed with the sodium fluoride and used as a roach powder, a lower kill is obtained than with sodium fluoride alone.

Other:

I also want to point out an article on Cellulite Investigation that helped me put this together. The writer did a great job.

http://www.celluliteinvestigation.com/2011/04/fluoride-detox-with-boron.html

Closing Thoughts:

Despite some massive efforts to hide information in this modern age, where the majority of human knowledge is a mouse click away, Big Pharma has failed to fully cover their tracks.

Some people are concerned about a growing distrust of medicine and science in general. Some angry skeptics make claims about regressing into a primitive society. It's actually quite the opposite. It's the skeptics that are desperate to believe they have it "all figured out". They typically argue that there are a "hundred studies" that show one thing and refuse to accept the one study that contradicts those due to some twisted sense of numerical superiority. By that logic, people were justified in continuing to believe that the Earth was flat. They obviously outnumbered that one Galileo person.

And some people have a naive belief that all scientists are noble pure paragons of virtue and righteousness, unaffected by personal agenda and monetary gain. Heavy emphasis on monetary gain.

Ancient remedies and “alternative treatments” are still passed around, sometimes out of sight of those who have tried to erase history. Be wary of anyone trying to limit your freedoms and claiming it's “for your own good”.