Open Parachute

Preempting the annual misrepresentation of NZ dental health data by anti-fluoride activists

Ken Perrott • Jan 23, 2019

• community water fluoridation,
• dental health,
• fluoridation,
• Ministry of Health,
• oral health

The latest NZ school dental service data again confirms that community water fluoridation is effective. The data show benefits of up to about 30% improvement in oral health. But, anti-fluoride activists will, once again, reject this evidence and instead cherry-pick the data to support their claims. The NZ Ministry of Health (MoH) has posted the latest summary of child dental … Read More

Fluoridation: Another study shows stopping fluoridation bad for child tooth decay

Ken Perrott • Dec 20, 2018

• community water fluoridation,
• fluoridation,
• tooth caries,
• tooth decay

  Stopping community water fluoridation in Alaska’s capital city, Juneau, caused an increase in child tooth decay In the last week, Windsor in Ontario, Canada, voted to reinstate community water fluoridation (CWF) 5 years after it was stopped because of opposition. This time the City Council was swayed by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s Oral Health 2018 Report which found the percentage … Read More

Protection of teeth by fluoride confirmed – yet again

Ken Perrott • Nov 26, 2018

• ablation,
• fluoride

The protective role of fluoride in teeth has been confirmed, yet again. A new study nicely demonstrates how incorporation of even a small amount of fluoride into the surface layer of teeth protects them from the acid attack which leads to tooth decay. Researchers measured the ablation, or loss of surface material from hydroxyapatite before fluoridation and after fluoridation. It … Read More

Nuclear dangers if INF treaty abandoned could be worse than in the 1980s

Ken Perrott • Oct 25, 2018

• Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty,
• nuclear weapons,
• Russia,
• trump

The 1980s were an eventful time in New Zealand. Older readers may remember the Springbok tour, the behaviour of Mr Muldoon, the National Party Prime minister in the early 80s, the snap election (over a proposed nuclear-free bill), the election of Labour in 1984, the French terrorist bombing of a ship in Auckland harbour, the local terrorist bombing of the … Read More

A more convincing take on prenatal maternal dietary effects on child IQ

Ken Perrott • Sep 17, 2018

• cognitive abilities,
• fluoride,
• IQ,
• prenatal nutrition

Prenatal maternal nutrition is more likely to influence child cognitive abilities than fluoride. A new paper shows this by considering the effects of good or bad prenatal nutrition for the women in the Basash et al., (2016)  study that anti-fluoride campaigners promote. The new data shows that nutrition is more important than fluoride. The Bashash et al. (2016) reported a … Read More

Fluoridation: “debating” the science?

Ken Perrott • Sep 11, 2018

• Health and Medicine,
• Science,
• Science and Society

New Zealand last week saw another “debate challenge” from anti-fluoride activists. But are their regular challenges serious? And do gladiatorial “debates” before partisan audiences have any value in science anyway? These people often back away when their bluff is called. Their challenges have more to do with political tactics than any elaboration or clarification of the science. They appeal to … Read More

August ’18 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking

Ken Perrott • Sep 01, 2018

• blog rankings

I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or the numbers seem very low please check this out. After correcting send me the URL for your site meter and I can correct the information in the database. Similarly, if … Read More

Who is weaponising the vaccination debate?

Ken Perrott • Aug 29, 2018

• bots,
• Russia,
• Social media,
• troll,
• Twitter,
• vaccination

The media are promoting a new scientific paper on the vaccination debate. Their interest is undoubtedly driven by the study’s conclusion that “Russian trolls” (and by implication the Russian state) are amplifying this debate to promote discord in the US. The title describes this as “Weaponization of Health Communication.” I am very cynical. After all, the media loves to dramatise … Read More

Political interference prevents investigators from considering the “bleeding obvious”

Ken Perrott • Aug 08, 2018

• MH17,
• nerve agent,
• novichok,
• political interference

Official investigations contaminated by political pressure are hardly likely to be transparent or give rational answers to problems. Once politics is in the driving seat, the political aims become the driving force behind any conclusions. The “novichok” poisonings Many people see this as the basic problem with the investigation of the nerve agent poisonings in Salisbury and Amesbury, UK. Political … Read More

July ’18 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking

Ken Perrott • Aug 01, 2018

• New Zealand blogs,
• sitemeter

I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or the numbers seem very low please check this out. After correcting send me the URL for your site meter and I can correct the information in the database. Similarly, … Read More