Are Men an Endangered Species?
Women think men have lost their masculinity. They may not realize that femalehormones may be responsible.
Edith Breburda DVM, PhD
The male hormone is testosterone. In a misguided quest for elevated levels of virility, some men even consider dosing themselves with added testosterone. Yet even the most manly man should hesitate to do so in light of the man body’s ability to convert testosterone into estrogen, thus unleashing the anabolic effect.
Therefore the claim that Eve was created from Adam appears justified on a hormonal level. Nevertheless, too much estrogen poses health risks, especially to newborns and fetuses. Chemicals mimic hormones, which are very similar to estrogen. It is becoming more and more evident that Xenohormones disrupt the endocrine system. Some enter the water supply when human contraceptives pass through the sewage system and water treatment plants.
The most powerful phytoestrogen plants are hop or soybeans. The endocrine disrupting properties of Xenohormones don’t only affect animals. In humans too they can lead to reproductive disorders, increasing infertility, breast cancer, low sperm counts, and early menstruation. Moreover, heart disease, obesity, memory loss, and diabetes are linked to them. These estrogen-like molecules, which create an imbalance with the body’s hormones, are also present in environmental compounds.
Bisphenol A, a polycarbonate plastic monomer is a xenoestrogenic substance. It is widely used in industry, dentistry, food cans, pesticides, beauty- and personal care products. It also causes changes to the brain and has high rates of feminizing men.
Most recently scientists discovered masses of floating plastic particles in the Great Lakes. Beforehand they where only seen in the world’s oceans. Some particles are so small that they are only visible through a microscope. It is unclear whether fish are eating the particles, scientists say.
It is not uncommon to hear reports of how animals suffer from our pollution. “The Guardian” reported on March 8, 2013, that a sperm whale stranded on the southern coast of Spain had ingested 17 Kg of plastic waste. Free roaming cattle in India swallow plastic bags, causing congestion in the rumen (stomach). Up to 65 kg of plastic waste has been found in cows during surgeries, to remove the load.
Small plastic residues may even enter the human food chain. Studies in U.K. report that one-third of fish have ingested plastic. Consequently we may be eating plastic with our fish fry’s.
Yet plastic products release Xenoestrogenes in the form of BPA. In 2003 male smallmouth bass in the Potomac watershed near Washington were transformed into intersex fish. In more recent times scientist discovered that 80 percent of fish develop egg cells. Male frogs, salamanders and other amphibians transform under the influence of BPA and possess female organs. The estrogenic potency of BPA has altered tadpoles to become females and thus influenced their sexual development. The observed effects in the animal kingdom are expected in humans as well, since the basic endocrine mechanism is observed across all classes of vertebrates. Endocrine disruptors also affect humans. “They are present everywhere”, says Nicholas D. Kristof, in a May 2, 2012, New York Times column, “How Chemicals Affect Us”. These chemicals are in thermal receipts that come out of gas pumps and A.T.M’s, in canned food, microwave popcorn bags and carpet-cleaning solutions. They are found in the urine, human breast milk and in cord blood of newborn babies.
Pregnant women who have higher levels of BPA are three times more likely to have obese daughters, says Kristof. The Food and Drug Administration believes low levels of BPA exposure are safe. But it may affect fetal brain development. Joe Braun, from the Harvard School of Public Health, observed pregnant women with high BPA levels in their urine. Their daughters showed anxiety and depression. “The effect was more striking in girls than in boys, which hints at differences in the hormonal factors that may regulate development of executive and behavioral activities of the brain”, said Braun.
Dr. Theo Colborn explains in her book “Our Stolen Future” that some chemicals are impeding normal brain development, with grater impact on males. She mentioned attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as two to four times more prevalent in boys. She attributes to BPA that fact that currently women account for 65% of enrolled college students.
Dr. vom Saal, a University of Missouri Professor proposed that BPA inhibits testosterone production that may cause irregular genital and brain development. “Too much estrogen and too little testosterone and thyroid hormone is making a mess of sexual development in males,” he writes, drawing attention to geographic locations and health issues in males, like low sperm counts.
In December 2008, Canada’s national newspaper the Globe referred to a study conducted from 1983 to 2005, indicating that 54 percent of Canadian males, ages 20-44 developed testicular cancer. In the past two decades, the levels of testosterone in US males have declined 20 percent, accompanied by lower fertility and virility, which includes the shrinking size of male gonads.
Scientists believe that something is going on in men and boys. It was observed that fewer boys are being born. Dr. Devra Davis of the University of Pittsburgh said, “The combined figures for U.S. and Japan is a staggering tally of 262,000 ‘missing boys’ from 1970 to about 2000.”
Especially areas surrounded by petrochemical plants show a low male birthrate. Moreover, 60 percent of these boys have a disfiguring urinary defect, called hypospadiasis.
Scientists are concerned for the male population. BPA remains to act as a female hormone and will continue to feminize the male species.
Excerpt taken from the soon to be published book “Globale Chemisierung” (Global influence of chemical pollution) by Edith Breburda
Other books from the Author are: “Promises of New Biotechnologies, Preface:
William E. May.
Disclaimer: this is does not necessarily represent the position of FIAMC and is purely the scientific opinion of the author