KSC Biology 490 Summer 2010

Vanessa - This pertains to both my study and yours. Is lack of soy consumption linked to obesity? Is it worth it to consume soy while pregnant if your child will lose risk of being fat but gain risk of being infertile?

This is awesome, thanks Liz.

This addresses the controversy of the role of estrogenics and the role they play in predispostion to obesity. DDE studies were positive for resulting in obesity but genistein studies show that in utero exposure results in a lower adult body weight. Both are estrogenics.

Effects of EEDs on wildlife. Website maintained by the US Fish and Wildlife Sevice. Also describes the Smart Disposal program.

I thought this was an interesting introductory site to PAH's and how they relate to endocrine disruption. The main focus is on PAH's, which are the result of incompletely burned material such as coal, wood, oil, or gas. Eating grilled foods could increase the exposure to PAH's as well as cigarette smoke, exhaust and even natural sources such as forest fires. Exposure to PAH's could lead to the development of cancer.

This a good article that gives a general overview of EDC's and the role they play in the compromise of physical and mental health. One particularly interesting thing is how a discussion of EDC's and evolution is presented.

Vanessa- you may not be able to open this from home, but it is the full text version of the link I provided earlier. Soy isoflavones are felt to protect against different cancers, cardiovascular disease, and bone loss, and possibly weight gain.

For Charlotte: EEDs do not have to be hormone based, they can just influence the natural functions of hormones. This site is recently developed to help people understand the effects of the BP Oil spill in the Gulf. I hope it is informative.

Although the use of DDT was banned a long time ago, it is still negatively affecting wild life. This page adds more detail to what we saw in the film, "The Estrogen Effect: Assault on the Male."

Under the metals section, there is a short description of heavy metals. These metals are known to damage organisms, and as shown in some of our mini-presentations, can act as EEDs. For example, erythropoietin's functions are inhibited by lead as an EED.

What foods should be avoided during pregnancy to insure fertility of the unborn child? What foods should we not be eating to insure our own health and well-being?

Do you want to know what you are ingesting???

Are you eating soy without realizing it? Many items are made using the versatile soy bean.

This was one of the first articles that I looked in depth at and pretty much read all of. It presents some of the original research done on the effects Bisphenol-A on reproductive development and mammary gland formamation and how in the process led to a noticeable pattern between exposure and weight gain. The study of obesogens is a new field that was in a way accidentally discovered. It has been hypothesized that estrogen causes embryonic cells to develop into fat cells through a process called adipogenesis by chemicals called organotins. New research to support this is addressed in this article.

This source is probably the biggest contribution to my paper. I accidentally shared it twice because I couldn't figure out how to edit the tags on this one since it didn't come from my library. I shared it before I figured out how to share the sources from my library to the group, I thought I had to do it separately.

An article discussing how the area of research of obesity as a result of endocrine disrupting chemical exposure could be a beneficial area for intervention and prevention studies of obesity. This was one of the first articles I found directly addressing how endocrine disrupting chemical exposure can lead to a predisposition to obesity

Access to scientific literature is very important for the scientific work in developing countries . As a result of different projects  a large collection of  e-journals is now available for researchers in developing countries. The number of Open Access Journals is growing steadily as we can see in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Major UNO organizations like WHO, FAO and UNEP have their specific programs for the scientific institutions in low-income countries. Finally a lot of universities, institutes and other organizations are supporting access programs. The most important are INASP, eIFL and eJDS.

Brandon, Order this from ILL. This is not the one I told you about it class, I am still searching to relocate that one. This may be of interest, though.

This is a letter addressing the "obesogen theory" and how the government could play a role in the prevention of obesity through the implementation of beter food regulations. I thought it was interesting to see a current letter addressing my topic and maybe it's a type source other people can look for that they may not have initially thought of.

A link in this article led me to another useful source. I didn't know that the White House was involved with this and that obesogens were brought to their attention until I read this letter. Bruce Blumberg signed the letter and since many of my sources are about his studies I thought it was neat how this letter tied together some of my research.

An overview of many endocrine disrupting chemicals, useful to anyone looking into the effects of environmental chemicals on organisms. Reference made to a book titled "Hormonal Chaos", by Sheldon Krimsky, describing how industrial and agricultural chemicals contact organisms and disrupt hormone function. Specifics on effects of environmental estrogens and fetal development.

Abstract describes how phytoestrogens can be estrogen receptor modulators. Recent studies suggest beneficial health effects of soy and recommend increasing the intake of isoflavone-rich soy protein to the level of intake commonly used in Asian countries. Must try to open this article at the library to gain access to the free full version of the article. Vanessa - Once I access the full version I will be better able to tell you whether this is related to the other article concerning cultural differences in soy consumption and its effects on obesity.

Liz, this article was already in my library and you might want to look at it. I feel as though the study isn't completely controlled since it deals with people who chose to participate in the study over the course of many years but there are some concepts that can be gathered that may be beneficial to you.

This is another epidemiological study similar to the study present by Suphada on sport fish consumption. There were many outside variables, leading to only a small sample size that could be used.

What is known about phytoestrogens? How does it affect us? What can be done to improve the public knowledge concerning phytoestrogen intake? Do they interact with other nutritional factors?

This document is the web site for the book titled Our Stolen Future. There are numerous sections with "more..." links to full pages on the summarized topic. This is a great tool for my project.

Highlighted text indicates areas applicable to my topic.