CBS NEWS reports that environmental toxins are contributing to lowering Male birth rate

[Nikki Stone1]

Wonder if this will be enough to get the RW wackos to support the EPA. :)

(The number of male babies is still higher than the number of female babies, but apparently the trend is downward for male babies.)

[Xipe Totec]

1. Tell me, why is this a bad thing?

:popcorn:

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Now, now....eat your popcorn...

:)

[Deja Q]

3. Because the WWF will go bankrupt; there are no men left to go cockfighting with each other...

:yoiks:

[Xipe Totec]

5. Yes, yes. But what's the downside?

:evilgrin:

[Nikki Stone1]

6. You're losing my point about the EPA

Don't you think this is something we can push to get some support for this beleaguered agency?

[Xipe Totec]

12. You're right. Sorry

I've kind of given up of any of the federal agencies under the present administration. If the directors of the different agencies are a bunch of corrupt cronies (and they are), not much is going to change until after the next presidential election.

Having said that, and taking into consideration all the other MFUs ignored by the EPA, this one is about the most ironically benign side effect I can imagine.

If it biased the sex ratios in the opposite direction, we'd be totally and royally screwed.

[youngdem]

4. Were gonna be outsourcing women to India and China next. You watch.

They got a shortage, we got a surplus, and we go this whole trade deficit thing with both countries we sure would like to balance out a little.

:hide:

[zbdent]

7. Hmm ... remember the old adage that the more male babies are born (a "surge"

so to speak) ... the more likely that the world will be plunged into war ...

If this keeps up, you might just see the women fighting to protect the few men that are still around ...

[Hekate]

8. This has been working its way up the food chain for awhile I think

Evidence has been accumulating in the wild. In any case, male zygotes, embryos, and fetuses are all more vulnerable than are females. Even under optimal natural conditions, more males are conceived and more fail to develop than do females. More males than females are ultimately born due to larger numbers conceived, but again, they are more vulnerable babies than are females.

That's the shortest possible rendition, as I remember it.

One would almost conclude the female version is the default human.

Too bad the EPA was neutered and gutted by the Bushies.

Hekate

[Nikki Stone1]

9. So this has been happening across species

This is really frightening. I wonder which environmental toxins are the worst.

(And yes, it does seem like the female is the default. I heard that everything starts out female.)

[Richard D]

10. My theory

Plastics. They contain estrogen like substances. Think about all the plastic and Styrofoam food containers and plastic water bottles. Ubiquitous.

[Hekate]

13. That's one of the usual suspects, and rightly so.It's ubiquitous on the planet now.nt

[Nikki Stone1]

14. Plastic? Really?

Another problem with hydrocarbons...

[HysteryDiagnosis]

11. Something that can address the oxidative stress that these

toxins are applying to the human condition. While I realize the journal Reproductive Medicine may not be all that, I feel that there must be at least a little truth to this.


1: J Reprod Med. 2002 Oct;47(10):821-4.
Improvement in sperm quality and function with French maritime pine tree bark extract.

* Roseff SJ.

West Essex Center for Advanced Reproductive Endocrinology, 741 Northfield Avenue, Suite 100, West Orange, NJ 07052, USA. [e-mail]

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of Pycnogenol (French maritime pine tree bark extract) on sperm parameters and function in subfertile men. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, nonrandomized, clinical study in a private infertility practice. Nineteen subfertile men were given 200 mg Pycnogenol daily orally for 90 days. Semen samples were analyzed before and after treatment for sperm count, motility score and strict morphology before and after capacitation, and mannose receptor binding. RESULTS: The mean sperm morphology following Ham's F-10 capacitation increased by 38% following Pycnogenol treatment, and the mannose receptor binding assay scores improved by 19%. CONCLUSION: Pycnogenol therapy resulted in improved capacitated sperm morphology and mannose receptor binding. The increase in morphologically and functionally normal sperm may allow couples diagnosed with teratozoospermia to forgo in vitro fertilization and either experience improved natural fertility or undergo less invasive and less expensive fertility-promoting procedures, such as intrauterine insemination.

PMID: 12418064

1: J Med Food. 2006 Fall;9(3):440-2.Click here to read Links
Improvement in human semen quality after oral supplementation of vitamin C.

* Akmal M,
* Qadri JQ,
* Al-Waili NS,
* Thangal S,
* Haq A,
* Saloom KY.

Dubai Specialized Medical Center & Research Labs, Dubai.

This study was carried out to monitor the effect of oral supplementation of vitamin C on various semen parameters in oligospermic, infertile, otherwise healthy individuals. Various semen parameters, including sperm motility, sperm count, and sperm morphology, were studied before and after the vitamin C treatment. A total of 13 infertile patients were included. Their ages ranged between 25 and 35 years. They had no genital infection or varicocele. Physical examination and other routine laboratory investigations were normal. General semen analysis revealed oligozoospermia (mean sperm count was 14.3 +/- 7.38 x 10(6) sperms/mL, mean sperm with normal morphology was 43 +/- 7.87%, and mean sperm motility was 31.2 +/- 9.61%). Testicular biopsy was not done. These patients received in an open trial of 1,000 mg of vitamin C twice daily for a maximum of 2 months. Results showed that the mean sperm count was increased to 32.8 +/- 10.3 x 10(6) sperms/mL (P < .001) after 2 months of vitamin C intake. The mean sperm motility was increased significantly to 60.1 +/- 8.47% (P < .001), and mean sperms with normal morphology increased significantly to 66.7 +/- 4.77% (P < .001). This study showed that vitamin C supplementation in infertile men might improve sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology and might have a place as an additional supplement to improve the semen quality towards conception.

1: Metabolism. 2003 Apr;52(4):402-6.Click here to read Links
Coenzyme Q10: another biochemical alteration linked to infertility in varicocele patients?

* Mancini A,
* Milardi D,
* Conte G,
* Bianchi A,
* Balercia G,
* De Marinis L,
* Littarru GP.

Institute of Endocrinology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.

Previously we demonstrated that coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is present in human seminal fluid and shows a direct correlation with seminal parameters except in patients with varicocele (VAR). We have now evaluated CoQ10 distribution in VAR, versus control subjects, in order to discover metabolic abnormalities within this condition. We studied 32 patients with VAR (11 with oligoasthenozoospermia, 13 with asthenozoospermia, and 8 with normozoospermia), and, as controls, the following groups of subjects, matched with VAR patients according to seminal parameters: 16 patients with idiopathic oligozoospermia, 11 patients with isolated asthenozoospermia, and 14 normal fertile men. CoQ10 was assayed in total seminal fluid, plasma, or cell pellet by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We found a significantly higher proportion of CoQ10 in seminal plasma in VAR; cellular CoQ10 showed an inverse correlation with sperm concentration and motility in VAR, at variance with controls. As seminal plasma ubiquinone reflects an interchange between intracellular and extracellular compartments, the different distribution in VAR patients could represent a greater sensitivity to peroxidative damage and could suggest reduced utilization for energy, which in turn could cause a defective motility even in patients with a normal cell count. These data suggest a pathophysiological role of CoQ10 in seminal plasma and a possible molecular defect in VAR. Copyright 2003 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMID: 12701049

[warren pease]

15. As a male...

I fail to see anything wrong with fewer potential cases of testosterone poisoning. I assume the report concerned births in this country, which is a hell of a good place to start. Worldwide would be even better.


wp