Tag Archives: Infertility

‘Forever Chemicals’ found in 99 percent of foods sold at the grocery store, even foods labeled organic

BPA-Products

Important Takeaways:

  • Startling new report finds hormone-warping chemicals in 99 PERCENT of food sold in American stores – which may raise risk of cancer, autism and infertility
  • ‘Forever chemicals’ linked to cancer are found in virtually every food product sold in American stores, a shocking report suggests.
  • The watchdog Consumer Reports tested 85 everyday items for the presence of phthalates and bisphenols, two types of PFAS chemicals used to make plastics.
  • The researchers tried to make their sample size as broad as possible – testing water, soda, cereal, bread, meat, fish, condiments, desserts and even baby food.
  • All but one product tested positive for the substances, which have been dubbed ‘forever chemicals’ because they are virtually impossible to break down in the body where they cause untold health problems.
  • It comes amid growing fears about the massive amounts of chemicals being ingested by Americans every year. A study earlier this week found water bottled contain a quarter of a million pieces of microscopic plastics.
  • The product with the highest amount of phthalates per serving in nanograms was Annie’s canned organic cheesy ravioli, which contained 53,580 nanograms of phthalates per serving.
  • Exposure to phthalates has been linked to asthma, ADHD, breast cancer, obesity and type II diabetes.

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CDC shows stats on infertility

Deuteronomy 28:1,4 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Infertility FAQs
  • In the United States, among heterosexual women aged 15 to 49 years with no prior births, about 1 in 5 (19%) are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying (infertility). Also, about 1 in 4 (26%) women in this group have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term (impaired fecundity).

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Zika causes infertility, lasting harm to testes in mice: U.S. study

n aedes aegypti mosquito is pictured on a leaf in San Jose, Costa Rica

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A study of mice infected with Zika showed the virus caused lasting damage to key cells in the male reproductive system, resulting in shrunken testicles, lower levels of sex hormones and reduced fertility, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

So far, the findings are only in mice, but the result is worrisome enough to warrant further study because of possible implications for people, said Dr. Michael Diamond of Washington University in St. Louis, whose research was published in the journal Nature.

“It has to be corroborated,” Diamond, a professor of pathology, immunology and molecular microbiology, said in a telephone interview.

Much of the global effort to fight Zika has focused on protecting pregnant women from infection because of the grave implications for their unborn children.

Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized, as well as other brain abnormalities.

Previous studies have shown that Zika can remain in semen for as long as six months. But little is known about whether prolonged exposure to the virus in the testes can cause harm.

To study this, Diamond and colleagues injected male mice with Zika. After a week, the researchers recovered infectious virus from the testes and sperm, and they found evidence of viral genes in certain cells of the testes. But overall, the testes appeared normal compared with other lab mice.

After three weeks, however, the differences were stark. The testes in the Zika-infected mice had shrunk to a tenth of their normal size, and the internal structure was destroyed.

“We saw significant evidence of destruction of the seminiferous tubules, which are important for generating new sperm,” Diamond said.

The researchers also found that Zika infects and kills Sertoli cells, which maintain the barrier between the bloodstream and the testes and foster sperm growth. Sertoli cells do not regenerate.

That raises the specter of long-lasting damage.

“The virus is infecting a site which doesn’t really renew if it gets damaged. That is the problem,” Diamond said.

Tests of testicular function showed sperm counts, sex hormones and fertility had dropped. Infected mice were four times less likely to impregnate a healthy female mouse than healthy males.

“This is the only virus I know of that causes such severe symptoms of infertility,” added Dr. Kelle Moley, a fertility specialist at Washington University and a study co-author.

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Will Dunham)