# Pineal gland calcification, what is woo?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pineal-gland-calcification-what-is-woo/709009>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 5, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pineal-gland-calcification-what-is-woo/709009 "2015-01-05T04:14:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pineal-gland-calcification-what-is-woo/709009/21 "2015-01-05T23:40:27Z")

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> [@Surreal](#):
>
> Do you have any RCTs to support this view?

Purely random and controlled? No.

OTOH, that’s a completely weaselly way of claiming victory - unreasonable demands in the face of overwhelming evidence. Again, something anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy theorists engage in.

As for sufficient cites of several studies that should be sufficient, [the CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/safety/nas.htm) is willing to oblige.

> [@Surreal](#):
>
> Cite?

That it’s an unpopular thing? Sure: [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0528.2007.00373.x/abstract;jsessionid=DED9AC1860D9A2ED7F0C58FE1E3DBC9F.f04t04](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0528.2007.00373.x/abstract;jsessionid=DED9AC1860D9A2ED7F0C58FE1E3DBC9F.f04t04)

That scientific consensus is that water fluoridation is a good option? The [World Health Organization](http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/oralhealth/en/index2.html), for one.

> [@Surreal](#):
>
> Guilt by association fallacy ([Logical Fallacy: Guilt by Association](http://www.fallacyfiles.org/guiltbya.html)). Why do you have to rely upon fallacies to bolster your argument?

**Rely?** I do no such thing. It might be a problem if that was the only basis for my argument. Which it is not.

I’ll note that nitpicking at the least little chink rather than the overwhelming evidence is rather a more telling problem.

ETA: I will note again, that for purposes of the OP and despite the digression, any link between fluoridation and Alzheimer’s will be tenuous, at best. Alzheimer’s is prevalent in roughly the same measure in the US and Western Europe despite differences in fluoridation regimes.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pineal-gland-calcification-what-is-woo/709009/22 "2015-01-06T20:20:06Z")

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Past episode of pineal-fluoridation weirdness (and the phenomenon of JAQing off) on the Dope:

> **[Fluoride - Pineal Gland blocker?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=663863)**
>
> I’ve heard a vast collection of stories, studies and theories on this. I’m always initially a skeptic, but after becoming very interested in the human brain/pineal gland/higher consciousness, I found the studies to have some merit. I asked around,...

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