With an extensive number of studies out there (some veterinary and some for human health but with ferrets as the animal model used) the route to adrenal tumors is not only well demonstrated but the phases are independently verified (Take human health studies done on ferret and veterinary studies together and you will find *many* dozens of studies relevant to adrenal health in ferrets.), though there are those who would like to do some further study into how much of a lesser role Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) which can cause bone loss may play, and others who are looking further into treatments and prevention including Gonadotropic Releasing Hormone vaccines, and a class of meds for treatment and prevention including Lupron Depot, deslorelin implant, and Trelstar. Yet another area of on-going investigation is how much of a role genetics plays because at this time there are reasons to think it may play a large one. For example, notice how very rare either adrenal disease or insulinoma were in U.S. ferrets, including early neutered ones, 20 years ago. (That is not just my observation. I have heard it from vets who treated ferrets then, too, such as Dr. Karen Rosenthal.) Genetics has been studied some already by teams organized by Doctors Bob Wagner (Pitt) and Michelle Hawkins (UC Davis, and a much larger study). The big player is LH, Luteinizing Hormone (LH). Normally, the pituitary releases more LH and FSH in the Spring. That apparently happens in response to the Pineal Gland producing LESS melatonin. (Melatonin production is inhibited by light exposure.) So less melatonin then more LH and FSH production happens in the Spring in response to there being less darkness. For a ferret in need of reproducing that is a good thing, but... Something to recall with melatonin production: if you have night- lights or those blue or green equipment lights then you are NOT providing darkness. Blue is the most disruptive light wavelength for melatonin production and green is the second worst. (White contains both and others.) If you are stuck having those lights around then find a way to safely shield them or if they can be changed to amber then do that since amber is the light wavelength that least reduces the body's melatonin production. When a ferret is whole (and if the ferret is not unlucky enough to have genetics that increase the risk of endocrinological tumors or decrease the ability to fight early tumors) what normally happens is that the gonads get the idea that it is time to get busy in terms of reproduction and that results in the gonads afterward pretty much shouting "Shut up!" to the pituitary which then turns off the high production of LH and FSH. How do they do that? The gonads can produce their own hormones which have that effect. Other tissues do NOT have the ability to send that message to shut up. That is important. Now, the gonads are not the only tissues that produce estrogens and androgens such as testosterone (so called "sex hormones"). Every one of us has BOTH estrogens and androgens. They are in different proportions, but we all have both groups. Like melatonin, estrogens and androgens are also very ancient hormones that perform a LOT of functions in the body. There are dozens of ways androgens help our bodies including muscle building, and the last I read something over a hundred ways estrogens help including with some brain functions. Also, the two groups are rather similar and the body can convert each into the other. So, it should not be a surprise that some other tissues can generate those particular hormones and thus respond to LH even though they can't turn it off. Fat is a potent hormonal generator including of estrogens, and the adrenals certainly can produce both estrogens and androgens. When LH production is too high it stimulates the hormone generating portion of the adrenal cortex and that portion not only begins over- producing hormones, but the longer it overworks the more irritated and inflamed it becomes and this is what sets the stage for tumors forming. That cause and those stages are well demonstrated in careful, peer reviewed studies, and have been independently verified. So, when people suggest that something is involved in adrenal tumor production it is essential to show how it would affect the hormone producing cortex of the adrenal glands, and probably how it would affect the production of LH (or maybe to a lesser degree FSH). That is why pituitary disease has been looked for, too, but not found to date as a real player though exceptions are possible, of course. Now, as Michelle Hawkins of UC Davis is wont to say, the increasing levels of some endocrinological tumors in U.S. ferrets (as opposed to earlier U.S. ferrets or to ferrets in some other locations) "stink of genetics". In other words, we, as a nation of consumers, could have bought and bred for something else such as appearance, but in doing so missed the negative health effects those choices were having. That is certainly a common problem in multiple species when appearances were placed first. There are some ways we already know that we've done that. Just look at the many health problems associated with neural crest variant genetics. Pretty ferrets? Yes. Less healthy as a population than others? Yes. Look at the nasal and skull malformations of at least some angora lines for another example. Want a third? Look at the short tailed ferrets with increased rates of certain spinal problems. If you have been following Bob Church's genetic collection project you know that the materials are for the genetics portion of Dr. Hawkin's team with data from them to be shared. And that brings me to a final note: in these times money is tighter for many and it probably pays to find out which of the ferret health research projects that are dearest to your hearts can use some contributions because grant money also gets tighter in such times and no one can work without the money to fund essential components of that work. If the possible genetics aspects of health and of descent matter to you then the mentioned UC Davis project headed by Dr. Hawkins may be a good place to give money so that they can fully use all the specimens they now have. If prevention of adrenal disease matters to you then you may want to see if the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone vaccine is a good place to put contributions (Contact Dr. Bob Wagner at Pitt.), or you may want to get in touch with Dr. Nico Schoemaker in Universiteit Utrecht due to his deslorelin research, or Kathy Johnson-Delaney who is looking further at Lupron, or other projects that matter to you personally. P.S. Laryssa says that she thinks that Lupron has less effect after a certain number of years of use. While that may be growths worsening, her premise is also possible. Some members of this class of drugs become less effective over time in humans. That is part of what Dr. Schoemaker is looking at in his large ferret-lifetime deslorelin study (as well as using it for temporary chemical neutering, and for adrenal tumor prevention). [Posted in FML 6169]