Are toxins to blame for male genital birth defects?

[Guest guest]

This disturbing data about testicular cancer, genital malformations, low

sperm counts etc is of course only just one facet of the problem. We all

are toxic and the manifestations are hidden due to our genetic and

environmental differences. This is taken from near the end of the attached

document.

 

“Testosterone and other male hormones affect not only the genitalia but

the brain as well. In a curious study published in November in the

International Journal of Andrology, U.S. researcher Shanna Swan measured young

boys'

tendencies toward traditional " male " play. Those boys who played the least

with toy guns were exposed to the highest uterine levels of phthalates, as

measured earlier in their pregnant moms' urine. Though no one knows what

this might mean for the boys' future behavior, SWAN says such data suggest

that " prenatal exposure to pthatlates, even at low environmental levels, can

induce profound and permanent changes " in the brain and reproductive organs.

 

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)

President, Gordon Research Institute

www.gordonresearch.com

 

INTEGRATIVE MEDICAL-CONSULTING

 

The Little Princes of Denmark

Why do Danes have smaller nuts than Finns—are toxins to blame?

 

By Florence WilliamsPosted Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010, at 9:41 AM ET

 

It's a source of parental pride when baby Buster needs the size " large "

penis ring for his circumcision. Mother and father see their child's life

unfold effortlessly: He will be flushed with testosterone, well-hung, and yet

(somehow) sensitive to the needs of others—a caring leader of great

integrity. But what happens when he comes out with a genital malformation?

 

If you're Danish, you compare the goods to those of your Baltic neighbors.

 

Concerned with a recent increase in male genital birth defects plus

dropping sperm counts and higher rates of testicular cancer, Danish researchers

have spent the last five years ranking their nether regions against those of

the Finns. Both countries have excellent registry data, an accommodating

research population, and a rivalry dating back to Viking-era tribes hitting

one another with clubs. Whose cudgel is bigger? That is the question. Why

should you care if you're neither Danish nor Finnish? Because the answer

involves environmental toxins that have made their way around the globe.

 

By all accounts, the Finns are winning hands-down (or up?) in the size

wars. In a study of 1,600 babies born between 1997 and 2001, the Danes had

smaller testicles than the Finns. Scientists know this because they expertly

measured " ellipsoidal volume " and found the Danish package lagging at birth.

The differences were even more pronounced after three months, with the

Finns averaging three times more testicular growth. When these results were

published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism in 2006, it

was the Scandinavian equivalent of announcing Yale men have smaller nuts than

Harvard men. The story " was very much in our media, " says lead researcher

Katharina Main of the University of Copenhagen. Another study measured baby

penile lengths, showing boys with more testosterone had longer lads. " The

Finns are doing so much better from every parameter, semen, testes size,

and cancer, " Main bemoaned.

 

Before you decide that these joy-stick measuring Scandinavians should just

be happy being the tallest, blondest people on Earth, consider: Testicle

and penis size, and certainly malformations, are sometimes linked to other

measures of health and reproductive success. And the environmental factors

at work here are affecting other parts of Western Europe and probably North

America as well.

 

Basically, the bigger the nuts, the more Sertoli cells they contain, and

Sertoli cells are the " nurseries " that produce sperm. For years, the Danes

have been wringing their hands about declining sperm counts. One study from

2006 found 40 percent of young Danish military recruits had suboptimal

sperm levels. In the land of Lego, 7 percent of all live births in 2007

required " assisted " reproduction. (In the United States, it's around 1

percent.)

There's gloomy news about other measures of manhood as well. About 9 percent

of schoolboys have at least one undescended testicle, compared with 2.3

percent in Finland. This condition, called cryptorchidism, doubles the risk

for testicular cancer. And, in fact, Danish testicular cancer rates are about

one in 100, about three times higher than the Finnish or U.S. rates.

 

Also troubling: Danish baby boys with the unfortunate malformations are

found to have relatively low levels of androgenic male hormones. It's unclear

what this means for their adult health; still, even before their births,

something was blocking their androgens from doing their job. But what? The

likely culprits were genetic or environmental or some combination thereof.

Researchers went back and tested samples from the babies' stored blood and

their mothers' breast milk. Danes are known to smoke and drink during

pregnancy, but that didn't seem to explain the genital effects. Then other

hormone-monkeying suspects turned up at relevant levels: industrial chemicals

like polychlorinated biphenols (banned since the 1970s but doggedly persistent

in land, water, and food), flame retardants, dioxins, and pesticides like

DDT. " It turns out the chemical burden is not the same " for Danish and

Finnish baby boys, says researcher Main, who was surprised by the finding.

" It's higher here. The higher your burden, as measured in breast milk, the

higher the risk of undescended testes. "

 

What does all of this augur for males in the United States? Are they more

like the poor shrinking Danes or the lucky strapping Finns? Thanks to our

relatively poor data sets, it's hard to say, but we know our chemical

burdens are similar to the Danes', and even worse for some compounds like

brominated flame retardants, which we continue to use in the United States

(most

are banned in Europe). One relatively common birth defect here is

hypospadias, in which the urethra opens somewhere along the underside of the

penis

rather than on the tip. It usually requires surgery, and severe cases can

lead to problems with sexual function and fertility. Depending on whom you

believe, it affects either one out of 125 or one out of 250 male births.

 

According to a study conducted in England last year, women exposed to

hairspray in the workplace have a threefold risk of bearing a son with

hypospadias. The study points out that many hairsprays contain phthalates, a

common

class of chemicals used in plastics and linked to hormone disruption. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a doubling of hypospadias

in the United States from 1968 to 1993. More comfortingly, a paper

published last year found no increase in hypospadias since then in New York

hospitals.

 

Other disturbing data regarding chemicals and manliness continues to pile

up, however. Testicular cancer is increasing alarmingly in the United

States as well as elsewhere, doubling over the past 20 years. It is the No. 1

cancer affecting young men. A recent study linked abnormal sperm to blood

levels of PFOS and PFOA, widespread substances used to make nonstick coatings.

As with cancer risk, an interplay of genes and the environment is likely

meddling with male fertility. Gaining ground is the theory that a chemical

or combination of chemicals disrupt the hormones early in life, says UCSF

urologist Laurence Baskin. " The exposure has to be in the first trimester,

because the penis is a done deal by 17 weeks, " he explains.

 

Testosterone and other male hormones affect not only the genitalia but the

brain as well. In a curious study published in November in the

International Journal of Andrology, U.S. researcher Shanna Swan measured young

boys'

tendencies toward traditional " male " play. Those boys who played the least

with toy guns were exposed to the highest uterine levels of phthalates, as

measured earlier in their pregnant moms' urine. Though no one knows what this

might mean for the boys' future behavior, SWAN says such data suggest that

" prenatal exposure to pthatlates, even at low environmental levels, can

induce profound and permanent changes " in the brain and reproductive organs.

 

Not every expert buys the argument that it is pollutants that are messing

with male hormones. It's a difficult hypothesis to prove in humans, even

though the evidence is quite strong in animal studies. Dr. Michael Joffe at

Imperial College, London, points out that testicular cancer cases

mysteriously started rising in the mid 19th century. The timing means that

victims of

the disease would have been in the womb before many chemicals became

widespread.

 

Still, it's enough to make a mom wonder about using phthalate-laden

perfumes and creams during pregnancy. While we wait for more research on this

side of the pond, the Danes have already put in place some of the strongest

regulations on chemicals in the world, banning PFOA, phthalates, and a host

of other compounds. They'll be keeping a keen eye on how things develop. Or

don't.