The new March edition of Natural History magazine, a publication of AMNH
which libraries tend to carry or to be able to get on loan, has a
fascinating article titled "Hormonal Sabotage" on pages 42 through 49.  I
figured that it may interest more than a few here since mink and otter
studies are mentioned, and since breeding and cancer questions are involved.
In the piece about substances which have apparent disruptive effects on
humans and other critters the topics tackled include pesticides (BTW, if you
don't know, these redistribute globally in the winds, rains, tides, and
migrating animals.), some of which are banned in certain parts of the world
which never-the-less still manufacture them in the tens of millions of
pounds for use abroad so they sadly resemble land mines on several counts.
Also included in the implicated items (Some are well documented, others less
so.) are PCBs, DES (which had been more widely prescribed -- even for acne
back when -- than I ever guessed), dioxins, furans, and, of course, certain
plastics and additives to plastics (as well as to other products such as
some toiletries) such as: alkylphenols, and bisphenol-A.
 
The research comes from all over the world: At the University of Granada
work was done on such compounds found leaching from the plastics used to
line food cans, in Copenhagen a world wide human sperm count drop of 50%
between 1938 and 1990 was asserted as was a link to an increase in a form of
testicular cancer, in the U.S. (mink), Britain (otters), and other wildlife
studies touched on decreased fertility, birth defects, developmental
malformations, increased androgeny of both genders, compromised immune
systems, thyroid dysfunctions, etc.
 
Some of the exposures mentioned are ones we do have the option of changing
so I figured I'd toss this out and anyone who is familiar with the area, or
who wants to read the piece and make or suggest easy possibly constructive
life style changes (such as supplementing or replacing plastic bottles and
cups with stainless steel or glass IF the former turn out to contain the
questionable compounds) may do so.  Of course, it might be that over-all the
impact of a certain percentage of these compounds (perhaps below certain
concentrations only) is small compared to, for instance, that of exposure to
some natural toxins.  Examples: If one looked at fungicides then one would
have to consider that there are fungi whose bi-products are such strong
neurotoxins as to completely overwhelm the risk of inhibiting them.  Heavy
metals such as lead are a serious threat compared to shields against them.
Never assume that natural means safe and unnatural means unsafe; it's not so
simple.  Minds may be like parachutes in that they only work when open, but
parachutes won't open in a workable fashion if they are packed wrong,
deployed incorrectly, ...
 
Anyway, it does lead to interesting questions for breeders, oncologists and
those whose ferrets have certain cancers, those interested in muscle
wasting, etc.
 
(Since I have natural tendencies toward pattern recognition and lateral
thinking (or flailing, as the case may be), and this is an area well enough
outside my expertise that the questions which arise might resemble nothing
logical or an interesting diversion (a cheap giggle?) I have some questions
for those here who are more competent in such things: several years ago
preliminary studies indicated some interesting aspects of artificial
lighting cascading through hormonal interactions.  Now, I know that the
possible antioxidant aspects of sufficient dark periods and our responses to
them --such as melatonin production -- are still too untested for one to say
anything, but what happened to the hypothesis that having too short periods
of true darkness might act like a pseudoestrogen?  Given that postmenopausal
women who take estrogen have lower rates of alzheimers and that there
certainly are cancers which are hormonally influenced, what are the chances
that some other disorders or diseases could also be?  Has anyone looked,
say, at androgen inhibition in ones where there is muscle wasting?  (Perhaps
there could be some trick here if obstacles could be eventually overcome to
forestall muscle loss with pred?  Does pred inhibit androgens?) After all,
why couldn't a person have a genetic disorder which would affect hormonal
balance (acknowledging here that some speak of aging as a defect and that it
has some genetic borders), or why couldn't a microbe have such influences
either directly or through a biproduct?  As I recall, pot can have
estrogenic effects; I well recall a surgeon telling me of an upcoming
bilateral mastectomy on a teenage boy which he blamed on smoking grass at a
critical stage of development.  Why couldn't some microbes or their wastes
also affect our hormonal systems?  Yes, I know that it now appears for
humans that the big things are diet, obesity, smoking, and the like, but the
picture could be quite different in ferrets, other than the aging factor.
I'd like to be able to do more for our guys in relation to this than just
guessing by providing them with their Beasty Yeasty Treat -- Schiff Brewer's
yeast mixed with water and sometimes an assortment of other stuff except
sugar which can impair chromium uptake, throwing a sheet over them after a
certain hour, etc.  Of course, I know that you all would, too, including the
researchers here, so I guess I am asking about any possibly promising
hypotheses, with all the limitations entailed therein.)
 
         Sukie (I have the flu as do 3 of our 6 ferrets -- yes,
         half the household is down.)
[Posted in FML issue 1485]