Archive for the ‘Cancer’ Category

Endocrine Disruptors and Prostate Cancer Risk.

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Endocrine Disruptors and Prostate Cancer Risk.

Prins G.

G Prins, Urology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States.

Endocr Relat Cancer. 2008 Jun 4.

There is increasing evidence both from epidemiology studies and animal models that specific endocrine-disrupting compounds may influence the development or progression of prostate cancer. In large part, these effects appear to be linked primarily to interference with estrogen signaling, either through interacting with estrogen receptors (ERs) or by influencing steroid metabolism and altering estrogen levels within the body. In humans, epidemiologic evidence links specific pesticides, PCBs and inorganic arsenic exposures to elevated prostate cancer risk. Studies in animal models also show augmentation of prostate carcinogenesis with several other environmental estrogenic compounds including cadmium, UV filters and Bisphenol A. Importantly, there appears to be heightened sensitivity of the prostate to these endocrine disruptors during the critical developmental windows including in utero and neonatal time points as well as during puberty. Thus infants and children may be considered a highly susceptible population for ED exposures and increased risk of prostate cancers with aging.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18524946?dopt=AbstractPlus

PMID: 18524946 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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The environmental burden of disease in Canada: Respiratory disease,

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Environ Res. 2007 Sep 27; [Epub ahead of print]

The environmental burden of disease in Canada: Respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and congenital affliction.
Boyd DR, Genuis SJ., School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to environmental hazards contributes to many chronic diseases, yet the magnitude of their contribution to the total disease burden in Canada is not well understood.
OBJECTIVES: To estimate the environmental burden of disease (EBD) in Canada for respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and congenital affliction. Quantifying the contribution of environmental exposures to the overall burden of disease could play an important role in shaping public
health and environmental policy priorities.
METHODS: The World Health Organization (WHO) recently estimated the environmental burden of disease globally by using a combination of comparative risk assessment data and expert judgment to develop environmentally attributable fractions (EAFs) of mortality and morbidity for 85 categories of disease. We use the EAFs developed by the WHO, EAFs developed by other researchers, and data from Canadian public health institutions to provide an initial estimate of the environmental burden of
disease in Canada for four major categories of disease.
RESULTS: Our results indicate that: 10,000-25,000 deaths; 78,000-194,000 hospitalizations; 600,000-1.5 million days spent in hospital; 1.1 million-1.8 million restricted activity days for asthma sufferers;
8000-24,000 new cases of cancer; 500-2500 low birth weight babies; and between $3.6 billion and $9.1 billion in costs occur in Canada each year due to respiratory disease, cardiovascular illness, cancer, and congenital affliction associated with adverse environmental exposures.
CONCLUSIONS: The burden of illness in Canada resulting from adverse environmental exposures is significant. Stronger efforts to prevent adverse environmental exposures are warranted, including research, education, and regulation.

PMID: 17904543 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17904543&ordinalpos=1
&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
or
http://tinyurl.com/2c7hnc

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Posted in Cancer, Cardiovascular, Congenital Affliction, Respiratory Disease | No Comments »