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© Newswise.
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Hard Water (And Fluoride) May Protect Against Heart Attacks
Please remember to credit the relevant Specialist Journal as source. Newswise — [Geochemistry of ground water and the incidence of acute myocardial infarction in Finland 2004; 58: 136-9] Hard water may protect against coronary artery disease and heart attacks, suggests Finnish research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Fluoride also seems to exert a protective effect, finds the research. Prompted by the seemingly inexplicable variation in rates of heart attack within Finland, the researchers analysed national population statistics, hospital discharge and death certification data, as well as national geological survey data on water hardness and trace elements, divided up into 10 x 10 km grids. Their analysis included measuring levels of calcium, magnesium, fluoride, iron, copper, zinc, nitrate and aluminium in up to almost 12,500 groundwater samples. They applied the information to the heart health of almost 19,000 men aged between 35 and 74, who had had an initial heart attack in the years 1983, 1988, and 1993. They found that for every one unit increase in water hardness, there was a corresponding 1% decrease in the risk of having a heart attack. They could not find any direct association between ground water mineral content and risk of heart attack, but their analyses suggested that higher fluoride levels were protective, while higher levels of iron and copper in the water seemed to have the opposite effect. Every 1 mg/l of fluoride in household drinking water was associated with a 3% decrease in the risk of a heart attack. On the other hand, every 1 ug/l increase in copper and every 1 mg/l increase in iron increased the risk by an average of 4% and 10%, respectively. The authors say that known risk factors do not explain the geographical differences in rates of heart attack in Finland, which vary by up to 40%. And other research suggests that trace and mineral elements in soil and ground water may be implicated in certain chronic diseases, they say. Soil and rocks in many countries in northern Europe are also poor sources of many essential minerals. Magnesium intake has been falling in the west in recent years, and it has been suggested that magnesium in water may be more easily absorbed than magnesium in food. Click here to view the full paper: For more information please contact: Public Affairs Division After 6:00 pm and weekends: +44 (0) 208 651 5130
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