Too Much Tea Causes Unusual Bone Disease

A 47-year-old Michigan woman developed a bone disease rarely seen in the U.S. after she drank a pitcher of tea made from at least 100 tea bags daily, for 17 years, researchers report.

The Detroit woman visited the doctor after experiencing pain in her lower back, arms, legs and hips for five years.

X-rays revealed areas of very dense bone on the spinal vertebrae and calcifications of ligaments in her arm, said study researcher Dr. Sudhaker D. Rao, a physician at Henry Ford Hospital who specializes in endocrinology and bone and mineral metabolism.

The researchers suspected the woman had skeletal fluorosis, a bone disease caused by consuming too much fluoride (a mineral found in tea as well as drinking water).

The patient's blood levels of fluoride were four times higher than what would be considered normal, the researchers said.

Skeletal fluorosis is endemic in regions of the world with naturally high levels of fluoride in drinking water, including some parts of India and China, but is rare in Europe and North America. (Low levels of fluoride are added to drinking water in the United States to prevent cavities, but aren't high enough to cause fluorosis.)

Rao said the patient was originally referred to him because her doctors suspected she had cancer, which can also show up on an X-ray as areas of dense bone. But because Rao had seen cases of skeletal fluorosis in his native India, "I was able to recognize it immediately," he said.

Excess fluoride is typically eliminated from the body by the kidneys, Rao said. But if one consumes a lot of it, as this patient did through tea drinking, over time, the fluoride forms crystal deposits on bone, Rao said.

A few other cases of skeletal fluorosis caused by tea drinking have been reported in the United States. In these cases, patients typically drank a gallon of tea a day, Rao said. Rao and colleagues instructed their patient to stop drinking tea, after which she experienced an improvement in symptoms. The fluoride deposits will gradually go away as the bone remodels (or repairs) itself, a process that occurs frequently in the body, Rao said.

A description of the case will published tomorrow (March 21) in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Link


A 47-year-old Michigan woman developed a bone disease rarely seen in the U.S. after she drank a pitcher of tea made from at least 100 tea bags daily, for 17 years, researchers report.

Why the *** would someone do this?

Remember the popcorn man!?

Man Wins $7 Million In Suit Claiming Microwave Popcorn Caused Lung Disease

Remember the popcorn man!?

Man Wins $7 Million In Suit Claiming Microwave Popcorn Caused Lung Disease

Methinks the difference here is if she DOES stop drinking the tea her body will naturally repair itself getting rid of the extra fluoride.

The man who had "popcorn lung" will have that for the rest of his life. D:

..and didn't they blow all that money within a few years anyways?

I think the point hes trying to make is the woman might sue the tea company cause it don't have a disclaimer of risk? LOL seriously i never knew tea could do that but then again i don't drink a gallon a day of tea either. I actually only drink tea once in a blue moon O.o

Hot Coffee with McDonalds Woman

That was actually a very justifiable lawsuit.

Actually...my point was regarding consumer mentality where common sense is absent :)

*** I'M GOING TO EAT 17 Jack-n-Box Hot Mess burgers a day and then complain of some medical disorder I develop ya'll!!!

I literally drink about 5 liters of Mountain Dew every day. Easily, actually. PLUS whatever I drink at meals. For years. And I don't sddlkjsfdslkjklfjsdkldj feel like anything is wrong whatsoever.(*&^(*&^(*&^(*&^(*6小印第安人骑着自行车在雨的火星平原上的一个漂亮的紫色。In other words I'm normal, and all this is isГлупая тактика паники вызвано Обама.

I know how to copy and paste, too:D

Jury said it was also 20% her fault. To me it just seemed like so much BS cause my common sense tells me coffee is hot and you wanna handle it with care. She only got like 647k anyway unlike the millions that was reported by the news.

Don't forget she did try to settle for like 20k and McD's said no. So it was kinda dumb for McD's not to pay out the 20k vs having to pay 647k.

Hey, dont bring Obama into this!

I just can't see a good reason for their coffee being hot enough to cause third degree burns if spilled. So many people before her were burned as well. She may have been slightly to blame but they were risking the public and their employs safety.

McD's & Starbucks & other joints serve it at such a high temp because some customers prefer it.

I only got a second degree burn from dropping a 800°F soldering iron on my hand, so I really don't see how you could get a third degree burn from coffee.

Common sense isn't common.

This is 'Murica! If I want to juggle explosives in my hand and I happen to lose a limb you bet I'm suing the manufacturer for not putting "Do not juggle" on the label.

I won't be shocked to see someone suing every soda company cause there is no disclaimer saying on each can and bottle "May cause Diabetes" lol.

Harris drank up to 10 litres [2.64 Gal] of Coke every day - equal to more than twice the recommended safe daily limit of caffeine and almost one kilogram [around 2.2 oz.] of sugar.

She died aged 30, on February 25, 2010, from a cardiac arrest. Her partner, Christopher Hodgkinson, found her seated on the toilet, slumped against the wall and gasping for air.

Coca-Cola addiction linked to death