Sunday, January 8th 2012 at 6:00 pm by Sayer Ji
The Discovery
Research published in 2001 showed that fluoride (F) deposits in the pineal gland with age and is associated with enhanced gland calcification. Eleven aged cadavares were dissected and their pineal glands assayed:
“There was a positive correlation between pineal F and pineal Ca (r = 0.73, p<0.02) but no correlation between pineal F and bone F. By old age, the pineal gland has readily accumulated F and its F/Ca ratio is higher than bone.”
What Is The Pineal Gland?
The pineal gland is a small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain, and is sometimes called the “third eye” as it is a light sensitive, centrally-located organ with cellular features resembling the human retina.
One article describes the role of the pineal gland in more technical terms here:
“The role of the nonvisual photoreception is to synchronise periodic functions of living organisms to the environmental light periods in order to help survival of various species in different biotopes.” Source
The pineal gland is best known for its role in producing the hormone melatonin from serotonin (triggered by the absence of light) and affects wake/sleep patterns and seasonal/circadian rhythms. Like a tiny pea-sized pine cone it is located near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres and is a unique brain structure insofar as it is not protected by the blood-brain-barrier. This may also explain why it is uniquely sensitive to calcification via fluoride exposure.
More Than An Endocrine Gland
Technically the mammalian pineal gland is neural tissue, and the cells within the pineal gland – the pinealocytes – have characteristics that resemble the photorecetpor cells in the retina.
This has given rise to the opinion that it should be reclassified:
“In our opinion, the main trend of today’s literature on pineal functions–only considering the organ as a common endocrine gland–deviates from this structural and histochemical basis.” Source
The pineal gland has been a subject of much interest since ancient times. Galen described it in the 3rd century, and the philosopher René Decartes (1596-1650) identified the pineal gland as the “seat of the soul.” His explanation for this conclusion is quite interesting:
“My view is that this gland is the principal seat of the soul, and the place in which all our thoughts are formed. The reason I believe this is that I cannot find any part of the brain, except this, which is not double. Since we see only one thing with two eyes, and hear only one voice with two ears, and in short have never more than one thought at a time, it must necessarily be the case that the impressions which enter by the two eyes or by the two ears, and so on, unite with each other in some part of the body before being considered by the soul. Now it is impossible to find any such place in the whole head except this gland; moreover it is situated in the most suitable possible place for this purpose, in the middle of all the concavities; and it is supported and surrounded by the little branches of the carotid arteries which bring the spirits into the brain.” Source: Wikipedia
Decartes was one of the few philosophers who was experienced in vivisection and anatomy, and who righly pointed out the unique nature of the pineal gland’s location in the brain and blood supply.
The “third eye” is also a well known symbol in Eastern literature, and may be concretely grounded in the anatomical structure and function of the pineal gland.
Calcium Stones In the Brain
Pineal gland calcifications upon dissection resemble gravel, and are composed of calcite (calcium carbonate) and/or calcium hydroxylapatite, the latter of which is not unlike dentin or bone. (Source)
Pineal gland calcification is associated with a number of diseases in the medical literature:
- Alzheimer Disease
- Bipolar Disease
- Circadian Dysregulation
- Hormone Imbalances: Low Melatonin
- Insomnia
- Low Back Pain
- Parkinson Disease
- Schizophrenia
- Sleep Disorders
- Stroke
Fluoride As A “Therapeutic” Neurotoxin?
Now that it has been established that fluoride (F) exposure contributes to the calcification of the pineal gland, the question remains: what are the subjective affects of these tissue changes to those who undergo them?
Prozac may represent an archetypal example of how fluoride affects the personality/soul. This drug (chemical name fluoxetine) is approximately 30% fluoride by weight and marketed as an “antidepressant,” even while a major side effect of its use and/or withdrawal is suicidal depression. Modern psychiatry often treats depressive disorders – the “dark night of the soul” – as an organic disorder of the brain, targeting serotonin reuptake by any chemical means necessary. Fluoride and fluoxetine, in fact, may accomplish their intended “therapeutic effects” by poisoning the pineal gland. Animal studies confirm that when mice have their pineal glands removed they no longer respond to fluoxetine. Source
Perhaps the primary reason why Prozac causes a favorable reaction in those who are treated (poisoned) with it, is that it disassociates that person from the psychospiritual conflicts that they must normally suppress in order to maintain the appearance of sanity and functionality in society, i.e. it is control and not health that is the goal of such “treatment.”
If Prozac and other sources of fluoride in our environment deposits within the pineal gland, accelerating the transformation of functional pineal tissue into calcification, is it possible that it works by dehumanizing and flattening the affect of those who are under its influence?
How Do We Prevent Pineal Gland Calcification?
Eliminating exposure to fluoride is the #1 priority. We can start by being careful about surreptitious forms of fluoride in Teflon, foods and beverages produced with muncipal water, tap water, infant formula, fluoride containing drugs like Prozac, toothpaste, etc. We have collected a number of studies from the US National Library of Medicine on natural substances which mitigate fluoride toxicity. We also have a section on our database dedicated to finding substances which prevent or reverse other forms of pathological calcification which may have relevance for pineal gland calcification, such as ectopic calcification. Lastly, there is research on the potential value of magnesium and phytate in reducing pineal gland calcification.
Sayer Ji is the founder and chair of GreenMedInfo.com. His writings have been published in the Wellbeing Journal, the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and have been featured on numerous websites, including Mercola.com, NaturalNews.com, Infowars.com, Care2.com. His critically acclaimed essay series The Dark Side of Wheat opens up a new perspective on the universal, human-species specific toxicity of wheat, and is now available for PDF download.
A recent report from the U.S. National Research Council (NRC 2006) concluded that adverse effects of high fluoride concentrations in drinking water may be of concern and that additional research is warranted. Fluoride may cause neurotoxicity in laboratory animals, including effects on learning and memory …
To summarize the available literature, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies on increased fluoride exposure in drinking water and neurodevelopmental delays. We specifically targeted studies carried out in rural China that have not been widely disseminated, thus complementing the studies that have been included in previous reviews and risk assessment reports …
Findings from our meta-analyses of 27 studies published over 22 years suggest an inverse association between high fluoride exposure and children’s intelligence … The results suggest that fluoride may be a developmental neurotoxicant that affects brain development at exposures much below those that can cause toxicity in adults …
Serum-fluoride concentrations associated with high intakes from drinking-water may exceed 1 mg/L, or 50 Smol/L, thus more than 1000-times the levels of some other neurotoxicants that cause neurodevelopmental damage. Supporting the plausibility of our findings, rats exposed to 1 ppm (50 Smol/L) of water-fluoride for one year showed morphological alterations in the brain and increased levels of aluminum in brain tissue compared with controls …
In conclusion, our results support the possibility of adverse effects of fluoride exposures on children’s neurodevelopment. Future research should formally evaluate dose-response relations based on individual-level measures of exposure over time, including more precise prenatal exposure assessment and more extensive standardized measures of neurobehavioral performance, in addition to improving assessment and control of potential confounders.
So fluoxetine contains 17.63% elemental fluorine, but as it is all present covalently bonded to carbon and not as ionic fluoride. The effects of fluoxetine are numerous and only partly understood, but the release of fluoride ions is not part of its mechanism or reactivity. Carbon-fluorine bonds are involved in many industrial and consumer products specifically because of how stable the bonds are – teflon (PTFE), one of the most chemically resistant materials used as a container, is comprised almost entirely of carbon and fluorine bonded covalently, and a number of protective garments (commonly called “hazmat suits”) are comprised of PTFE fibers.
Fluoride ions, on the other hand, are present naturally in the minerals calcium fluoride and sodium fluoride, among others. Most of the time, the amount of fluoride exposure from natural sources is minimal, although the WHO published a report stating that excessive natural fluoride exposure is a serious health issue in India and China, among other places. To be fair, minimal large-scale research has been done to confirm or deny the numerous allegations by opponents of involuntary artificial fluoride exposure, among which are neurological effects. Since the study cited states that hydroxyapatite (tooth and bone mineral) accumulates naturally in the pineal gland, and the fluoridated version of this mineral – fluorapatite – is known as an industrial source of ionic fluoride, it might follow that ionic fluoride is a continuous presence in the pineal. The hiccup here is that strong, concentrated acids are needed to liberate the ions from the mineral, which are not present in the pineal gland.
Moral of the story: inconclusive, we require more evidence, and we should seek it as it bears strong implications.
Source: I’m a working research chemist.