http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805110741.htm

Comparing blood DNA samples from 63 healthy workers from a foundry near Milan, Italy researchers
found significant changes in four genes associated with tumor suppression.

Andrea Baccarelli, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of applied biotechnology at the University of Milan said, “The changes were detectable after only three days of exposure to particulate matter, indicating that environmental factors need little time to cause gene reprogramming which is potentially associated with disease outcomes,”

“The changes in DNA methylation we observed are reversible and some of them are currently being used as targets of cancer drugs.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090517143218.htm

A new study on air pollution found that polluted air curb the normal growth of a developing baby. The authors suggest that it may alter cell activity or cut the amount of oxygen and nutrients the baby receives in the womb.

It is likely that the process of “cellular respiration” plays a role. Every breath of air you breathe is transported via the blood to the mitochondria in your cells. It is here that your cells use the oxygen to convert nutrients in your food to energy for your body to use. It is possible that air pollution cut the amount of oxygen a baby receives and thereby also the amount of nutrients resulting in the curb of normal growth.

Another breakthrough in the area of cellular respiration sheds more light on this issue. The study identified the gene Tfb1m responsible for regulating cellular respiration and their study showed that without this gene, cellular respiration was not possible. This raises the question whether pollutants in our air is possibly altering the expression of Tfb1m and in doing so reducing nutrients to a developing baby.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145558.php

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145627.php

Studying the tiny worm called Caenorhabditis elegans, due to its simplicity and 4 larval stage transitions to adulthood, researchers found hormones coordinate developmental stage transitions. The hormones do this by activating micro RNA’s that alter genetic switches to enable the organism to progress to the next developmental phase.

Dr Adam Antebi associate professor in the Huffington Center on Aging at BCM, found hormones coordinate stage transitions in C. elegans and this may be true to more advanced organisms as well he said.

Interestingly Dr. Antebi also established a link to cancer, he found that when cells in C elegans failed their transition from stage 2 to 3, cells continued to grow uncontrollably, the same way they do in hormone dependent cancers such as breast or prostate cancer.

Many pesticides, products in our homes, cosmetics even food can contain hormone disrupters. If you are pregnant or thinking of falling pregnant you want to avoid these contaminants at all cost.

In December 2008, Bruce McEwen from Rockefeller University and his colleagues identified receptors for hormones like estrogen and others in the brain. We must now ask, due to the probable role of hormones in coordinating developmental stage transitions, whether developmental disorders like mental retardation, cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorder, are linked to hormone disrupters in our environment, homes, cosmetics and food?

Also see Estrogen, Testosterone and your baby’s brain

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145010.php

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145010.php

Researchers in Sweden made an accidental discovery finding that children who live in homes with vinyl floors are more likely to have autism. Vinyl floors can emit chemicals named phthalates, and what makes this so interesting is that phthalates are known to interfere with the production of testosterone. Phthalates are commonly used in a wide range of products like plastics, many others even food and most people including infants are exposed to phthalates through lotions and shampoos etc.<

An eight year study previously published also linked high levels of testosterone in the womb to autism, completing the circle of dots;

autism – vinyl floors – phthalates – testosterone – autism

The study associated four environmental factors with autism.
vinyl flooring,
maternal smoking
family economic problems
condensation on windows

The latter two factors have underlying issues such as studies finding that families with lower income are also more inclined to eat fast food, indicating nutritional issues and possibly food additives containing hormone disrupters.

The condensation on windows indicate poor ventilation in the house and most likely higher quantities of volatile gasses from flooring and other household chemicals, second/third hand smoke etc. are breathed in.

Most people see the environment as a weather problem, but as devastating a problem as rising sea levels and changing weather patterns are, what is being grossly overlooked is the anguish of health and mental problems our polluted environment is causing our children.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=link-between-autism-and-vinyl”

DDT was used since the 1940’s but banned in 1973. Professor Janet Osuch said, “Prenatal exposure to toxins is increasingly being looked at as a potential cause for the rise in obesity seen worldwide. “

In previous studies the toxin BPA an oestrogen mimic and widely used in baby bottles and food containers have also been found to cause obesity. Recently researchers have linked the female hormone oestrogen to fat storage

Oestrogen mimics increase the oestrogen levels in your body, and reduce your ability to burn energy after eating, causing you store more fat. It is important for pregnant women to eat fish regularly during their pregnancy to help baby’s brain development, stick to the safer options like sardines and salmon.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319111328.htm

Bruce S. McEwen from Rockefeller University says, “Medicine is clueless as to how males and females really differ from one another …they tend to think it always works the same way in both sexes. That can be dangerous.”

In his article “The end of sex as we once knew it” published in the Journal Physiology and Behavior in December 2008, McEwen writes about differences between the sexes and also the role hormones play in the brain. McEwen and his colleagues have identified receptors for hormones like estrogen and others in the brain. The hormone reacts indirectly on genes and now raises the question on how this interaction influences the development and function of the human brain.

This is a very important breakthrough, as for a long time since the 1960’s scientists believed that hormones do not enter the brain and since then this viewpoint on hormones have been slow to progress past that of the necessity for reproduction.

It is important that we consider what this means for a pregnant women and her baby. It is well known that hormones play a very important role in the development of the baby’s organs, but it is not so well known that hormones play a critical role in the development of the baby’s brain. A mother’s ability to maintain homeostasis (when hormones are totally in balance within the body) can help her baby increases the development of his brain.

This connection between the brain and hormones also brings us to a major global problem, pollution. Our environment is full of toxins that contain hormone disrupters (agents that mimic the hormones estrogen (BPA) and block testosterone action (Phthalates)) and inadvertently we are exposing our babies to these hormone disrupters that interfere with the development of a baby’s brain.

There are studies that found the possibility that a mother’s diet can protect against the negative effects of BPA. If you are thinking of falling pregnant or are already pregnant make sure you eat a nutritious balanced diet to help protect your baby from a harmful environment.

You can expect awareness of the influence of hormones on the brain, to increase drastically in the next decade and I sincerely hope this awareness will lead to an increased effort to clean up our environment.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090203134455.htm

The senior author of the study Shuk-mei Ho, PhD said, “Our data support the concept that environmental exposures can interact with genes during key developmental periods to trigger disease onset later in life, and that tissues are being reprogrammed to become abnormal later.”

There are few people in this world that can afford to pack up and move, especially when they find out they’re pregnant. So what do you do if you live or work in a heavy traffic area? There are studies that showed how a pregnant mother can protect her baby from the toxic effects of BPA with sufficient folate intake and another found antioxidants can reduce the effects of lead. Even though there is no evidence that good nutrition can protect your baby from air pollution, previous studies point to the possibility.  It is your only option, apart from moving to a less polluted environment.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090214082110.htm

Dietert calls for an increase in awareness; a good immune system can improve quality of life and reduce the need for health care.