Being
6mo ago
I wouldn't say I know things, or at least not these ones ;). It's not my area of expertise nor am I particularly interested in the question of "How does fluoride work?" (That being said... I think the current consensus on mechanism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation#Mechanism) is pretty well supported - even the (smart) anti-fluoride folks agree. My, barely informed, take on the evidence is that topical applications can have the benefits with harms.)
My curiosity relates to the following three questions:
- Does fluoride work? Is it worth exposing oneself to at all? Answer: Yes
- Is it dangerous* at commonly observed levels of exposure? Answer: We don't know yet.
- Is fluoride skepticism a rational belief? Is there good evidence to even bother worrying about the impact on development? Answer: Yes.
*Dangerous is shorthand for the belief that "Water flouridation has a significant negative impact on a significant number of people". Note: this does not mean net negative. Even IF the evidence emerges that it is "dangerous", there is a good chance the benefits could still outweigh the costs
I did a deep dive a few weeks ago and thought about making an effort post of “Everything you wanted to know about Flouride”
But alas, I didn’t. Instead I’ll just drop this low effort summary:
- Recent studies are compelling
- (High probability) Fluoride is incredibly important for dental (and general health). Don’t pivot to the opposite extreme.
- (Moderate probability) Fluoride is bad for early development. Even at relatively normal levels of exposure.
Reasonable (according to me) responses:
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Don’t panic about your current consumption. It’s probably fine.
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IF YOU ARE PREGNANT, current evidence suggests it would be VERY WORTHWHILE TO TRY TO ELIMINATE FLUORIDE from your diet. Buy an appropriate water filter/purifier (not all remove it). Maybe even consider removing it from your toothpaste. 2a. If you have small children consider limiting their exposure.
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The magnitude of the effect is insanely large if true. National healthcare systems should be urgently prioritizing studies on it. This should be the number one priority study. ( the most compelling reason is that this would be an easy intervention. It’s not like we would have to tear out our entire infrastructure like with lead pipes. It’s about as close to flipping a switch as any intervention could ever be)
Since your post didn’t mention it: even more concerning than the IQ drop is the effect on rates of severe emotional/mental illness. That LA (?) study had some insane rates (if true).
*posting from phone so probably lots of typos. Sorry.
Edited summary #3 to add "Even at relatively normal levels." The interesting question is not: "can extreme levels of fluoride cause issues?" The interesting question is "Are current levels extreme?"
Being
6mo ago
Since this post came out a little more negative than I intended, here are some positives:
- Food and drink scene is great. Especially for the price (compared to most major US cities. It probably will feel expensive to you)
- Lots of great hiking opportunities. If your family has any interest in that direction, I’d strongly urge you to do a few
- Weather
- For whatever reason, people in LA don’t go to the beach. There are nice beaches that are almost never crowded
- Good museums and art
- Lots of iconic places that your family will probably will recognize from movies. A walk around Rodeo is recommended
- Those Star Tour buses are surprisingly fun and a decent way to see some gorgeous residential areas you otherwise probably wouldn’t
Being
6mo ago
LA suffers the same plight as other urban Western cities.
Natural beauty is amazing, the diversity of biomes and the weather are underrated if anything.
Nothing near crypto arena is calm or safe*. Unless you stay in La live (like at the JW), you will be forced to deal with DTLA. DTLA never recovered from the Floyd riots - incredible number of boarded up and abandoned storefronts are still present.
*by 1st world standards. It’s still incredibly unlikely you will be victimized unless you are walking alone late at night with zero awareness. Every street is littered with homeless people on drugs, passed out with pipe and torch in hand. Expect mild harassment if you walk around.
I’d recommend spending as little time in downtown or Hollywood as possible.
As far as actual places to stay, I think it largely depends on what your family wants to do or see. Beverly Hills is still nice and fairly centrally located, but boring. Generally speaking, the closer to the coast the nicer the area. Without knowing more about your itinerary, you will probably want to stay somewhere within 30 min of the 10 freeway.
Everywhere in LA is accessible “within a few hours.” Traffic is bad, but less bad than its reputation.
Although a lot has changed in twenty years, I don’t much will surprise you. It’s basically just general urban decay; everything is just a bit more dirty and rundown.
One idea may be to stay in Santa Monica and plan on taking the new metro line to crypto arena. It’s definitely not the nicest public transit system but it works.
Being
7mo ago
Seems to me like the term “parent” covers more than you intended even without expanding it to cover parents of adults.
Wouldn’t your childcare proposal only benefit a certain subset of parents? I’d avoid confusion by stating directly: instead of “parents” maybe consider using “parents of small children”?
Agreed. Thanks for the note.
My inclusion of that line was intended to be more of a rhetorical flair to highlight how fluoride consumption is probably only relevant for the pregnant (and small children). Upon rereading I don't think I was successful at conveying that. The risk of using fluoridated toothpaste is likely to be zero or close to it.
My personal read of the evidence is something like:
If you are an adult in a 1st world country, don't sweat fluoride. If you are pregnant or have small children, maybe try to limit exposure when it's convenient. Don't freak out if your child drinks tap water at a friends house.
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