Xenoestrogens by author Stephanie Trenciansky, ND
http://www.alive.com/1059a3a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=167
Hundreds of chemicals–found in pesticides, fuels, drugs and polycarbonate plastic baby bottles and food containers–either cause hormonal activity similar to estrogen, the human sex hormone, or alter the hormone’s effects. In fact, the vast majority of the 70,000 chemicals currently in use have never been tested for health risks. Yet they are in our soils as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers. They are in our water because of rain erosion runoff from landfills and agricultural lands. They are in our food supply–in animals, fish and grains. On the upside, many researchers are investigating prevention-oriented strategies to limit exposure to these chemicals. There are also many ways that individuals can avoid the health hazards associated with xenoestrogens.
Declining Sperm Counts
Contrary to popular belief, natural estrogen plays important roles in both men and women. In males, estrogen imbalances influence the reproductive systems in myriad ways. Many scientists believe that estrogenic pollutants underlie some disturbing trends such as decreasing sperm count and function, decreasing testosterone production and testicular malformations. Since 1938, sperm counts of men in 21 countries have plunged by an average of 50 per cent, reported Danish endocrinologist Niels Skakkebaek in 1991. He also found that testicular cancer had tripled. A coincidence? Possibly, but Skakkebaek suspects that the culprit in both cases is from men’s exposure (as fetuses and newborns) to estrogen-like chemicals found in their mother’s blood and breastmilk.
Dr. Devra Lee Davis, a toxicologist, and researchers from five medical centres have reviewed studies and concluded that estrogenic pollutants in our environment are inducing or promoting mammary cancers in lab animals. Both endocrinologists (specialists in disorders of endocrine glands such as ovaries and testes) and reproductive biologists have suggested that long-term exposure to xenoestrogens might underlie the apparent breast cancer epidemic in women.
Dr. Stephanie Trenciansky is a naturopathic physician in Langley, BC, specializing in women̢۪s health. She uses nutrition, botanicals, homeopathy, acupuncture and intravenous therapies such as chelation and ozone.
Xenoestrogens in the Human Body by: Sarah Spencer and Amber Yates
http://chem4513.pbworks.com/Xenoestrogens
Xenoestrogens in Males:
The effects of xenoestrogens are do not just manifest themselves in women, although their implications in breast and ovarian cancers are the most concerning to date. Xenoestrogens have also been implicated in a number of problems in males: infertility, prostate cancer, and decrease in sperm counts.
Much of what is known about xenoestrogens and their effect on fertility and reproduction, like in studying breast and ovarian cancer, comes from animal studies.
But while doses of xenoestrogens in animals generally are not strong enough to affect human adult males (or adults in general), their effect on a human fetus would be much more pronounced because a developing fetus is much more sensitive.
Male Infertility, Some Facts:
- There are more than 20 heavily industrialized nations where the birth of baby boys has declined every year for the past 30 years - amounting to 3 million fewer baby boys.
- The number of boys born with reproductive defects has increased by 200% in the past two decades.
The average sperm count of a North American college student today is less than half of what it was 50 years ago - 85% of that is abnormal. - Damaged sperm have been linked to a 300% increase in testicular cancer - a form of cancer that affects young men in their 20s and 30s.
- The chemical industry has developed more than 90,000 man-made chemicals in the last sixty years. Eighty-five percent of them have never undergone testing for their impact on the human body.
One major compound under scrutiny for its possible harmful effects is Bisphenol A, a compound known to have estrogenic properties. Bisphenol A has been used commercially for over 50 years in numerous products. It is used most commenly in plastics including, ironically, baby bottles. Again, in animal studies, bisphenol A has been linked to obeisity, infertility and insulin resistance in rats. Health Canada has long maintained a view that the chemical is not a hazard to human health, but last month the federal government banned the sale and import of polycarbonate baby bottles containing Bisphenol A. This announcement followed a statement in April by the Health Minister who requested the safety margins for levels of Bisphenol A in baby bottles be raised.
(This is the wiki component of CHEM4513 "Medicinal Chemistry Seminars". In the second part of the course, student teams are creating wiki chapters on important medicinal chemistry topics.)
That is a very impressive research. It implies how the things we mindlessy do can affect us so much.
ReplyDeleteI think about this topic quite often. I also wonder about all the soy (hidden and otherwise) in the diet and its estrogenic effects. But at least when we think of soy we can take measures to avoid ingesting it. These other chemicals in the environment are insidious and invisible to us...thus, making any exposure somewhat beyond our control.
ReplyDeleteI recently read an article about chemicals in the environment causing insulin resistance and wondered if obesity and diet were not the main cause of diabetes but if we should pay more attention to the effects of these chemicals.
The fact remains, this is a big problem we can no longer ignore. Thanks for the informative post!
thanks very much for doing this research. i appreciate getting more of the details and sources. looks like sperm counts are shockingly lowered but doesn't mean 25% sterility.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting...like Amy, I wonder how much of our present health landscape is influenced by chemical ingestion. I'm thinking of auto-immune and gastrointestinal issues like Sjogren's, celiac sprue, Crohn's, etc. The increasing number of these types of cases makes me wonder how it is that the chemicals around us are influencing our core body systems.
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