Another question for chemists (or their spouses)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op--would you mind telling us what brand filter this is that you are concerned about? thanks.

I'd like to wait until I get more info because I could be totally wrong. It's an expensive thing that I had to send away for, tho, not something you can buy at a store around here.

Have you looked to see if there are complaints or lawsuits against the company involving claims similar to what you believe may have happened?

Excellent point. No, I have not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP and I am working with my pediatrician, who referred me to the pediatric neurologist, suggested I get the water tested, and also said I should call poison control for any further insight they may have. I love my pediatrician because he treats me like an intelligent adult, not a 'customer.'

The water filter works through adsorption -- i.e., chemicals like fluoride ADHERE to the aluminum in the filter. I am not shooting in the dark like an idiot here. I posted the question FOR CHEMISTS to answer, because I imagine chemists have an education in chemistry and therefore can explain to me how that works, and how it might be working in my child's body when calcium is thrown into the mix, which I give to my child.

I love google. There is so much valuable info on it, including info from the CDC, NIH, etc.

if you're so well informed why don't you ask in a chemistry forum instead of shooting in the dark here in a OUT OF TOPIC section of a parenting website?

Because I have a lot more faith in and respect for the level of intelligence and education of DCUM users than you do. Lots of educated, intelligent, articulate folks on this board whom I trust because I use this site. The ignorant flamers can't be stopped from responding, but neither can the folks I am aiming for.

so let's go to the hair salon to ask if someone knows how to give your car a jump start...
8)

[Anonymous]

I'm not the OP but probably doesn't hurt to ask. You never know who out there has the answer...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not the OP but probably doesn't hurt to ask. You never know who out there has the answer...

if it's a matter of time, health issue or life endangerment i'd ask where i know i'd get the right answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks, Google is not a source, it's an aggregation of sources. Ridiculing OP for using Google to search for information is like ridiculing a student for using FirstSearch to find journal articles. I'm sure the OP is capable of accurately assessing the quality of the websites Google finds.

Look how many times that posters on DCUM have told horror stories of doctors not being able to diagnose their children, and it's only been through the efforts and advocacy of the parents that the problem was finally identified. I have many doctors in my family and have a lot of faith in the medical profession, but parents can be essential when the problems are rare or complicated or new.

OP, my heart breaks for you and your child, and I applaud your efforts to bring good questions and ideas to your child's neurologist. At the very least, your research will help you understand what the doctor has to tell you.

Please keep us informed. I find it alarming that this filter may have caused your child such harm and would like to know more.

"googling" stuff only brings anxiety!!! "normal" people don't have the knowledge of basic medical terminology to understand reliable specific articles about the condition they're trying to get information about.
like for example the woman here a few days ago asking for information about hysterectomy. how come someone comes to a parenting forum asking such question? people don't even have the common sense to understand that medical and nursing diagnosis and procedures vary with each individual!!!!

I wasn't suggesting that OP or "normal" people would understand everything they read in a medical article. I said that I thought the OP could assess the quality of the websites she found. In other words, reasonably intelligent people are capable of separating the crackpot sites from the credible ones.

I think you paint your image of the "normal" person with too broad a brush. I would bet that most DCUM posters could understand a lot more medical information than my Aunt Bertha, for instance. And even parents who are not the most sophisticated initially can become quite well informed. My brother-in-law recently lost a child, and I was amazed in speaking with him and his wife how much they understood about her condition. Desperate parents are capable of a lot.

Also, I disagree that googling stuff just brings anxiety. This may be true for some. For others, it's a way to channel their anxiety into something positive and productive.

Give OP a break. She's not googling in lieu of seeking professional medical help. She's just looking for more information before the appointment.

This website is not only to discuss OP's particular situation. Our responsibility here is towards all the public that access what 's posted here.
I can tell that you don't have experience in the medical field. If you had you'd know what google does to public opinion and how it changes client's/patient's behavior.
People come to the doctor's office now a days screaming and crying because they read on google how serious the child's symptoms are... a stiff neck after a night spent in a wrong position is confused with meningitis very often! some people come to the office so proud and rude thinking they know it all just because google said (who knows where google took them) and thinking that the doctor doesn't understand anything about the condition because the doctor didn't go to google today and all the science and research around the patients condition changed from the time the doctor finish his/her last seminar and the time the person checked google.
We cannot bank on common sense. DCUMers behavior is living proof of it. We can't assume people know it all.

If you listen closely, you can hear Alec Baldwin in the background saying, "You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God."

Seriously, if you really are a medical professional, you need to work on your bedside manner. You come off as an arrogant d-bag.

[Anonymous]

OP when is your appointment?

I hope you will update us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks, Google is not a source, it's an aggregation of sources. Ridiculing OP for using Google to search for information is like ridiculing a student for using FirstSearch to find journal articles. I'm sure the OP is capable of accurately assessing the quality of the websites Google finds.

Look how many times that posters on DCUM have told horror stories of doctors not being able to diagnose their children, and it's only been through the efforts and advocacy of the parents that the problem was finally identified. I have many doctors in my family and have a lot of faith in the medical profession, but parents can be essential when the problems are rare or complicated or new.

OP, my heart breaks for you and your child, and I applaud your efforts to bring good questions and ideas to your child's neurologist. At the very least, your research will help you understand what the doctor has to tell you.

Please keep us informed. I find it alarming that this filter may have caused your child such harm and would like to know more.

"googling" stuff only brings anxiety!!! "normal" people don't have the knowledge of basic medical terminology to understand reliable specific articles about the condition they're trying to get information about.
like for example the woman here a few days ago asking for information about hysterectomy. how come someone comes to a parenting forum asking such question? people don't even have the common sense to understand that medical and nursing diagnosis and procedures vary with each individual!!!!

I wasn't suggesting that OP or "normal" people would understand everything they read in a medical article. I said that I thought the OP could assess the quality of the websites she found. In other words, reasonably intelligent people are capable of separating the crackpot sites from the credible ones.

I think you paint your image of the "normal" person with too broad a brush. I would bet that most DCUM posters could understand a lot more medical information than my Aunt Bertha, for instance. And even parents who are not the most sophisticated initially can become quite well informed. My brother-in-law recently lost a child, and I was amazed in speaking with him and his wife how much they understood about her condition. Desperate parents are capable of a lot.

Also, I disagree that googling stuff just brings anxiety. This may be true for some. For others, it's a way to channel their anxiety into something positive and productive.

Give OP a break. She's not googling in lieu of seeking professional medical help. She's just looking for more information before the appointment.

This website is not only to discuss OP's particular situation. Our responsibility here is towards all the public that access what 's posted here.
I can tell that you don't have experience in the medical field. If you had you'd know what google does to public opinion and how it changes client's/patient's behavior.
People come to the doctor's office now a days screaming and crying because they read on google how serious the child's symptoms are... a stiff neck after a night spent in a wrong position is confused with meningitis very often! some people come to the office so proud and rude thinking they know it all just because google said (who knows where google took them) and thinking that the doctor doesn't understand anything about the condition because the doctor didn't go to google today and all the science and research around the patients condition changed from the time the doctor finish his/her last seminar and the time the person checked google.
We cannot bank on common sense. DCUMers behavior is living proof of it. We can't assume people know it all.

If you listen closely, you can hear Alec Baldwin in the background saying, "You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God."

Seriously, if you really are a medical professional, you need to work on your bedside manner. You come off as an arrogant d-bag.

let's talk about bedside manners after i clean up this burnt child whose mother put tooth paste all over to make it "better"...

[Anonymous]

Maybe this info and link will help?

http://activeelements.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-does-insoluble-calcium-fluoride-get.html

How does insoluble Calcium Fluoride get into the body?
Hello Gary,
Has there been any determination on how calcium fluoride is uptaken by the body's metabolic processes?
CaF is insoluble, thus ionic means are most unlikely....some suggest an 'active process' is utilised, but to date I am unable to find an easily understood description of absorption.

Terry
__________________________
Gary responds:
There is a carrier facilitated active transport system for calcium Fluoride (CaF), where it is transported and incorporated into bone as such. However; I do not know of the precise mechanism and not sure if anybody really does.

What is known though, is that it works and it’s heaps safer in similar concentrations (like 80 – 120 times) than sodium fluoride (NaF) which I regard as being a poison that should never be in our toothpaste and municipal water. NaF is a highly toxic byproduct of aluminium smelting that has serious disposal problems. What could be a more ingenious solution: Feed it to human beings!

NaF does harden enamel and bones but not without being implicated in a wide range of illnesses including cancer. CaF, on the other hand, is found naturally in all healthy humans and is one of the 12 essential Schuessler Tissue salts. If we are to be feeding fluoride to our children, surely it should only be the form that is found in the body - calcium fluoride?

And... it is only used in our Active Elements formulas homoeopathically (1:1,000,000) anyway.

[Anonymous]

bias

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP and I am working with my pediatrician, who referred me to the pediatric neurologist, suggested I get the water tested, and also said I should call poison control for any further insight they may have. I love my pediatrician because he treats me like an intelligent adult, not a 'customer.'

The water filter works through adsorption -- i.e., chemicals like fluoride ADHERE to the aluminum in the filter. I am not shooting in the dark like an idiot here. I posted the question FOR CHEMISTS to answer, because I imagine chemists have an education in chemistry and therefore can explain to me how that works, and how it might be working in my child's body when calcium is thrown into the mix, which I give to my child.

I love google. There is so much valuable info on it, including info from the CDC, NIH, etc.

Ok, but why not contact a CHEMIST then, not post here. Or call the 800 number on the water filter? Or even google the water filter brand and see if you can turn up some leads. It's just odd to look to a parent site for answers like the one you have. Go to real professionals, not an anonymous board where you have no idea who is answering you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are complete idiots. Really. This is an intelligent question. Not a question of a 14 yo.

My spouse is a dentist and has always said flouride in water is not good. Check out the pediatric dental associations, the ADA, and see how they are now sloooowly starting to get away from recommending flouride. Ask yourself why.

Your dentist spouse is one of the smart ones, with enough guts to speak the truth.
I'd like to go to him/her for my dental care.

[Anonymous]

OP-My son had a mysterious illness that made him chronically ill for 2 years, from when he was around 6mos old until he was 2.5. It was horrible. He literally looked like he was dying before our eyes. We dragged him all over the area to see the BEST specialists the country had to offer. He was even seen at the NIH, with no avail. He was tested for cancer many times, which was the worst, using a bone marrow aspiration (the procedure is HORRIBLE). The only solution they could offer was to give his little body powerful drugs for an illness they were not even able to label.

I GOOGLED and GOOGLED. I dug into yahoo groups with sick kids, I read personal stories online, and I pulled up medical journals with obsecure studies. I corresponded with parents in Israel, France, the UK, and Turkey. I found my son's OBSECURE disorder a year before he was "officially" diagnosed. I found this mainly by talking to other parents and reading other parents personal stories of their children's suffering. These stories were like a faint beacon in the stormy sea.

Many of the doctors did not want to hear it. They wanted to diagnose my son with something more severe than what I had found. FINALLY I prevailed. My son had a simple surgery and he was cured. The surgery was elective and experimantal, but my "google" friends and parents had all had overwhelming success with this and I opted to find a surgeon who would listen and take a chance.

As a result of my googling, I have been contacted by a research assistant at Harvard who works for a very prominent ENT at Children's in Boston. He is doing a study of kids like my son and has reached out to me to help him find others like my son for his study. I am very vocal on the internet about my son's stories and have had dozens (probably close to 100 parents) accross the globe reach out to me for my story. The doctor had saved my email I sent him when I was so desparate and pulled it up 3 years later seeking MY help.

Mamma, you are doing your JOB. You will encounter jackasses in the medical community like many posters here, but you are going to have to grow a tough skin. You are going to have to be your child's biggest advocate and become an expert in his problems. Read, learn, dig, and investigate. You also have to listen, but you still need to have your filter on. Many of these so called experts are just so inflexible in their approach. I found my chid's pediatrician to be the best and most open doctor as compared to the "specialists". If these specialists had listened to me, my son would have been cured a year earlier and he would have actually been able to enjoy his life for that year that he suffered instead.

[Anonymous]

may i ask what your son was finally diagnosed with? what kind of surgery did he have? thanks.

[Anonymous]

16:49, thank you. what a great story! I hope you write a book about it yourself.

[Anonymous]

Another story about self diagnosis

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/11/teen.self.diagnosis/index.html