Month: May 2008

Circumcision vs. US Law

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Some notes of interest:

  • Female circumcision reduces the incidence of HIV.
  • Female circumcision is banned in the US.
  • The 14th Amendment provides for equal protection under the law, and gender-based exceptions can only be allowed under with “exceedingly persuasive justification.”

  • The US Supreme Court held in Prince vs. Massachusetts that religious expression by parents cannot be imposed on children where the state has compelling reason to protect the children.

    Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children before they have reached the age of full and legal discretion when they can make that choice for themselves.

Fluoride in Tap Water

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This is an interesting video about new science on water fluoridation:

Here’s another study showing a decreased spermatogenesis rate among rats exposed to Sodium Fluoride, the variant considered ‘more safe’ than the others.

Most municipal water fluoride is taken from the industrial smokestack scrubbers of fertilizer plants and as a byproduct of the aluminum industry. It’s not purified, as radiation studies have shown. It can increase blood lead levels. Most of it is not consumed by humans, and the amount that is is barely on the teeth long enough to have oral effect. Modern studies show it doesn’t even have a positive effect that can be separated from non-fluoride factors (correlation vs. causation).

Try instead a Xylitol toothpaste. Instead of perhaps having a positive benefit on remineralization of the tooth enamel after teeth have been decayed by plaque bacteria, Xylitol kills the plaque bacteria, because they can’t digest it but ‘think’ they can, so they effectively starve. Long-term use is likely to reduce one’s oral cavity infection of plaque bacteria significantly (this has been shown to be effective in treatments of chronic strep throat as well). Xylitol is a simple sugar made from either birch trees or corn, and is safe for diabetics and those with insulin resistance syndrome (or those just trying to eat healthily). It can be substituted in any recipe not using sugar for structure or fermentation. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, except in this case I’d love to eat an ounce of xylitol but a pound of fluoride would kill me.

Tom’s of Maine has a good fluoride-free toothpaste line (Fennel is my favorite) and Spry has some available on Amazon. NOW has one with whitening, but we’ve had tooth pain in the family from prolonged use.