Striving4Zen

Yale researchers may have solved a fundamental medical mystery: how bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous plastics component, changes genetic chemistry and impairs fertility.

The Yale team's findings, previewed earlier this month to the Endocrine Society, a 14,000-member scientific and medical professional organization devoted to hormone system research and treatment, have intensified scientists' concern that exposure BPA, a synthetic estrogen that disrupts the endocrine system, may have grave consequences for human reproduction.

In an interview, study co-author Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., professor and chief of the reproductive endocrinology section at Yale University School of Medicine, said his team injected pregnant mice with BPA for just one week. After those mice, and a control group, gave birth, the scientists found that the genetic chemistry of female offspring exposed to BPA in the womb had been irrevocably altered.

Read Full Story.

Labels: BPA, endocrine system, hormones, infertility, synthetic growth hormone, toxic

We reported a few weeks back about how Yoplait was going growth-hormone free. Well now Dannon's following suit, reports Civil Eats. Dannon, which controls around one third of the country's dairy market, cites consumer demand as the reason behind the change. The company says it will go rbGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone)-free by the end of the year.

There are various health and animal rights issues surrounding the use of rbGH on dairy cows. The hormones have been linked to increased rates of infections in cattle, necessitating greater antibiotic use. And some studies have shown that rbGH raises levels of a hormone in cow's milk; higher than normal levels of IGF-1 in humans may raise the risk of breast cancer. Others say no significant difference has been shown between milk from rBST-treated and milk from non-rBST-treated cows.

Source

Labels: antibiotics, cows, Dairy, Dannon, health trend, rbGH, synthetic growth hormone, Yoplait

Yoplait, one of the largest yogurt manufacturers in the U.S., has announced that it will now only use milk products from cows that have not been treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rbGH, reports Civil Eats. All of Yoplait's dairy products will be rbGH-free by August of this year. Yoplait says it's the first major yogurt manufacturer to go rbGH-free, though companies like Stonyfield, Nancy's, Cascade Fresh and Brown Cow have been using rbGH-free milk for years.

The use of rbGH has been linked to increased rates of infections in dairy cows, necessitating greater antibiotic use and furthering cycles of antibiotic-resistant disease. Some studies have shown that rbGH raises the level of a hormone called IGF-1 in cows's milk; higher than normal levels of IGF-1 in humans may raise the risk of breast cancer, though the link is far from clear.

Consumer demand has forced major grocery chains like Wal-Mart and Safeway to phase out the hormones in their own dairy products - some 70% of consumers say they are concerned about consuming synthetic growth hormones.

Source

Labels: antibiotics, Dairy, hormones, milk, rbGH, synthetic growth hormone, Yoplait