Male Reproduction

-1- Traditional African Clinic Janury 2013
African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic

Volume 8, Issue 1 NEWSLETTER January 2013
MALE REPRODUCTION

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E
3 Afrikan Spirituality Egyptian Myth: The Osirian Cycle
4 Feature Male Reproductive Problems: Penis Disorders
6 Feature Male Fertility May be in Trouble
8 Feature Prostate Cases Treble in 20 Years
11 5 Things You Did Not Know about Your Penis
19 Feature GM Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant Mortality
21 Cottonseed Derivative Gossypol
28 Special Report: Prostate Problems in Black/African Men
30 Feature - Statin Use Linked to Low Libido and ED
31 Medications that cause Erectile Dysfunction
41 Feature- Chemical Pollution Linked to Homosexuality
43 Endocrine Disrupters
44 Radiation Exposure and Sperm
51 FeatureLow-T Syndrome/Other Word for Male Menopause
56 Rape and HIV as Weapons of War
60 Feature Sexual Anarchy: The Kinsey Legacy
64 Feature Circumcision Fight: Profit, Pleasure, Pop. Control
73 Feature Shamanic Perspective on Balancing Energies
77 Feature Nutrition Linked to Sperm DNA Quality
83 African Sexual Herbs: They will change your Bedroom Life
88 Herbs of the Month Prunus Africanus & More
Scientists warn of Sperm
Count Crisis
Biggest-ever study confirms drastic decline in male
reproductive health
By Jeremy Laurance
5 December 2012
The reproductive health of the average male is in sharp
decline, the world's largest study of the quality and
concentration of sperm has found.
Between 1989 and 2005, average sperm counts fell by a
third in the study of 26,000 men, increasing their risk of
infertility. The amount of healthy sperm was also
reduced, by a similar proportion.
The findings confirm research over the past 20 years that
has shown sperm counts declining in many countries
across the world. Reasons ranging from tight underwear
to toxins in the environment have been advanced to
explain the fall, but still no definitive cause has been
found. The decline occurred progressively throughout
the 17-year period, suggesting that it could be
continuing.
The latest research was conducted in France but British
What is the African Traditional
Herbal Research Clinic?
We can make you healthy and wise
Nakato Lewis
Blackherbals at the Source of the Nile, UG Ltd.

The African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic located
in Ntinda, Uganda is a modern clinic facility
established to create a model space whereby
indigenous herbal practitioners and healers can upgrade
and update their skills through training and certification
and respond to common diseases using African healing
methods and traditions in a modern clinical
environment.
Traditional healers are the major health labor resource
in Africa as a whole. In Uganda, indigenous traditional
healers are the only source of health services for the
majority of the population. An estimated 80% of the
population receives its health education and health care
from practitioners of traditional medicine. They are
knowledgeable of the culture, the local languages and
local traditions. Our purpose is to raise public
awareness and understanding on the value of African
traditional herbal medicine and other healing practices
in todays world.
The Clinic is open and operational. Some of the
services we offer are African herbal medicine,
reflexology, acupressure, hot and cold hydrotherapy,
body massage, herbal tonics, patient counseling, blood
pressure checks, urine testing (sugar), and nutritional
profiles. We believe in spirit, mind and body. Spiritual
counseling upon request.
Visit us also at www.Blackherbals.com
Hours: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Friday
Saturday by Appointment, Sundays Closed

Continued on page 2

experts say it has global implications. The scientists said
the results constituted a "serious public health warning"
and that the link with the environment "particularly needs
to be determined".
The worldwide fall in sperm counts has been
accompanied by a rise in testicular cancer rates have
doubled in the last 30 years and in other male sexual
disorders such as undescended testes, which are
indicative of a "worrying pattern", scientists say.
There is an urgent need to establish the causes so
measures can be taken to prevent further damage, they
add.
Richard Sharpe, professor of reproductive health at the
University of Edinburgh and an international expert on
toxins in the environment, said the study was "hugely
impressive" and answered sceptics who doubted whether
the global decline was real.
"Now, there can be little doubt that it is real, so it is a
time for action. Something in our modern lifestyle, diet or
environment is causing this and it is getting progressively
worse. We still do not know which are the most
important factors but the most likely are a high-fat diet
and environmental chemical exposures."
Researchers from the Institut de Veille Sanitaire, St
Maurice, used data from 126 fertility clinics in France
which had collected semen samples from the male
partners of women with blocked or missing fallopian
tubes. The men, whose average age was 35, did not have
fertility problems of their own and were therefore
considered representative of the general male population.
The results, reported in the journal Human Reproduction,
showed the concentration of sperm per millilitre of semen
declined progressively by 1.9 per cent a year throughout
the 17 years from 73.6 million sperm per millilitre in
1989 to 49.9 million/ml in 2005. The proportion of
normally formed sperm also decreased by 33.4 per cent
over the same period.
Although the average sperm count of the men was well
above the threshold definition of male infertility which
is 15 million/ml it was below the World Health
Organisation threshold of 55 million/ml which is thought
to lengthen the time to conceive. Other European studies
have shown that one in five young men has a sperm count
low enough to cause problems conceiving.
Combined with other social trends, such as delayed
childbearing which reduces female fertility, the decline in
sperm counts could signal a crisis for couples hoping

for a family.
Sperm count: How to boost it
1. Wear loose underwear to make healthy sperm the
testicles need to be below body temperature.
2. Eat food low in saturated fat.
3. Avoid smoking, drinking, using drugs and becoming
obese.
4. Reduce exposure to industrial chemicals such as those
used in making plastics they can mimic the female
hormone oestrogen countering male hormones.
5. Protect women in pregnancy there is growing evidence
that falling sperm counts may stem from effects in the
womb.
6. Avoid anti-depressants in rare cases they can cut sperm
counts.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-warn-of-
sperm-count-crisis-8382449.html#

Gender-Bending Chemicals
put Baby Boys at Risk of
Cancer and Infertility, Report
Finds
Unborn baby boys are at greater risk of developing
cancer and infertility later in life due to gender-
bending chemicals found in food, cosmetics and
cleaning products, a new report warns.
13 May 2009
The chemicals are linked to increasing levels of birth
defects, testicular cancer, and falling sperm counts among
men, experts claim.
Professor Richard Sharpe, one of Britain's leading
reproductive biologists, said that the chemicals block the
action of the male sex hormone testosterone, or mimic the
female sex hormone oestrogen.
The government adviser's report is the most detailed yet
into how the chemicals endanger baby boys. Women trying
for a baby have been warned to avoid contact with them.
Prof Sharpe told the Daily Mail: "You can't do anything
about chemicals in the environment but you can control
what you expose a baby to through your lifestyle choices.
"Because we don't know the complete list of chemicals that
may be hormone disrupters, and we don't know how they
interact, we can't point a finger at an individual chemical.
Continued on page 10
Contd from page 1- Scientists warn of Sperm Count
Crisis

AFRI KAN SPI RI TUALI TY
Egyptian Myth: The Osirian
Cycle
Now, Great Re had at last grown old. He saw that man had
become fearful and angry. They had made the first
weapons, and attacked anyone who might be an enemy of
the Sun God.
Sadly, Re chose to leave the Divine Throne and moved far
away from the land; He moved where He could still see
mankind, but be far out of their reach. He made the stars
and scattered them along the belly of Nuit. He made the
Field of Peace and the Field of Reeds as homes for the
blessed dead. Finally, He summoned Wise Thoth. He spake
unto Him and said, "See, I will shine here in the heavens. I
will light the sky above and the sky below. You must
represent Me on earth, and record the deeds of men." He
then created the Ibis form of Thoth, and made Him the
Scribe of the Gods.
When Re was in the underworld, the world was engulfed in
Darkness, and men were afraid; they wept for the loss of
the Sun God. Their cries reached Re Himself, and the
Divine One also transformed Thoth into the Great White
Baboon. Thoth shone with a silvery Light, and man no
longer feared the sinking of the Sun. This was the mercy of
Re to the children of His tears.
Finally, Re commanded Geb and Nun to guard the world
against the Serpents of Chaos; and He set His Great
Grandson, Osiris, Lord of Eternity, as the new Pharaoh of
Egypt, and made Isis it's Queen.
Osiris proved to be a wise and kindly ruler. He taught man
how to irrigate the land from the flood-waters of the Nile,
and to grow crops from there. He taught them how to know
and worship the Gods. He gave them the law of the land.
He guided them away from cannibalism and incest, and
brought civilization to the people.
Soon, the Great Pharaoh had brought a Golden Age to
Egypt, and He set off to share His wisdom with distant
countries as well. Isis was left in his place, and she ruled as
well as Osiris Himself had done. Her brother, Seth, Dark
Lord of Storm, She watched as a mongoose eyes the cobra.
For Seth coveted the Throne of Osiris for his own.
When Osiris returned to Egypt, Seth had designed a plot for
His overthrow with the aid of seventy-two conspirators. A
banquet had been planned in honour of Osiris; one that
--------------------------
Managing Editor: Nakato Lewis
PUBLISHER: KIWANUKA LEWIS
Published monthly and freely by BHSN for the ATHR Clinic
http://www.blackherbals.com/athrc_newsletters.htm

The traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural history

Cunning Isis would not be attending. During the
festivities, Seth began to speak of a splendid chest
that had been made for Him. He sent for the chest,
and all present admired the fine wood and gilding.
Seth declared that He would gift the chest to any
man who could fit it exactly.
Each man, in his turn laid within the chest. Some
were too short, and others too tall. Seth knew that
only Osiris would fit the chest exactly, for he had
constructed it to Osiris' exact measurements.
Osiris' turn came, and He lay trustingly back into
the chest, fitting snuggly within it. There was
laughter among the guests who thought that Seth
had lost His prize to the Pharaoh. Seth signaled his
conspirators, and the chest was immediately
slammed shut and locked.
The chest was carried in the dark of night to a
branch of the Nile, and was tossed into the cold
waters. Seth then declared the death of the King,
and crowned Himself King of Egypt.
When Isis came to know of her husband's death,
she became half mad with grief. She cuff off a lock
of her hair and dressed in widow's clothing. She
then went out in search of her husband's body.
During Her travels, Isis came to learn that Osiris
had known her sister Nephthys. From that union
had been born a child- Anubis- but Nephthys had
turned Him away at birth. And so Kindly Isis
tracked Him with the help of dogs, and raised Him
to be her guardian and attendant.
From village to village she traveled, until finally
She found that the chest had come to rest in the
land of Byblos. It had been entangled in the roots
of a young sapling. Strengthened by the murdered
God, it had grown in a single night into a tall and
graceful tree. When the King of Byblos heard of
this marvel, he had sent for the tree to be made into
a pillar for his palace. No one suspected that the
tree contained a coffin within its trunk.
FEATURED ARTICLES
Male Reproductive Problems: Penis
Disorders
By Richard Stossel
February 10, 2009

placed in the side of the penis. Medications that help
shrink blood vessels, which decreases blood flow to the
penis, also may be used. In rare cases, surgery may be
required to avoid permanent damage to the penis. If the
condition is due to sickle cell disease, a blood
transfusion may be necessary. Treating any underlying
medical condition or substance abuse problem is
important to preventing priapism.
What is Peyronie's disease?
Peyronie's disease is a condition in which a plaque, or
hard lump, forms on the penis. The plaque may develop
on the upper (more common) or lower side of the penis,
in the layers that contain erectile tissue. The plaque
often begins as a localized area of irritation and
swelling (inflammation), and can develop into a
hardened scar. The scarring reduces the elasticity of the
penis in the area affected.
Peyronie's disease can occur in a mild form that heals
without treatment in 6 -18 months. In these cases, the
problem does not progress past the inflammation phase.
In severe cases, the disease can be permanent. The
hardened plaque reduces flexibility, causing pain and
forcing the penis to bend or arc during erection.
In addition to the bending of the penis, Peyronie's
disease can cause general pain as well as painful
erections. It also can cause emotional distress, and
affect a man's desire and ability to function during sex.
The exact cause of Peyronie's disease is unknown. In
people whose disease develops quickly, lasts a short
time, and goes away without treatment, the likely cause
is trauma (hitting or bending) that causes bleeding
inside the penis. However, in some people, Peyronie's
disease develops slowly and is severe enough to require
surgical treatment. Other possible causes of Peyronie's
disease include:
Vasculitis: This is an inflammation of blood or
Continued on page 5

There are two primary disorders that affect the male
reproductive external organs . These include penis
disorders and testicular disorders. Disorders of the penis
and testes can affect a man's sexual functioning and
fertility.
What disorders affect the penis?
Some disorders that affect the penis include priapism,
Peyronie's disease , balanitis, phimosis, paraphimosis,
and penile cancer .
What is priapism?
Priapism is a persistent, often painful erection lasting
more than 4 hours in duration. The priapism erection is
not associated with sexual activity and is not relieved by
orgasm. It occurs when blood flows into the penis but is
not adequately drained.
What causes priapism?
Common causes of priapism include:
Alcohol or drug abuse (especially cocaine)
Certain medications, including some antidepressants
and blood pressure medications
Spinal cord problems
Injury to the genitals
Anesthesia
Penile injection therapy (a treatment for erectile
dysfunction)
Blood diseases, including leukemia and sickle cell
anemia
How is priapism treated?
Treatment for priapism is a medical emergency, because
a prolonged erection can scar the penis and result in a
long term complication of erectile dysfunction if if not
treated. The goal of treatment is to relieve the erection
and preserve normal penile function. In most cases,
treatment involves draining the blood using a needle

Continued from page 4 Male Reproductive Problems:
Penis Disorders
lymphatic vessels. This inflammation can lead to the
formation of scar tissue.
Connective tissue disorders: According to the
National Institutes of Health, about 30% of men with
Peyronie's disease also develop disorders that affect
the connective tissue in other parts of their bodies,
such as the hands and feet. These conditions
generally cause a thickening or hardening of the
connective tissue. Connective tissue is specialized
tissue -- such as cartilage, bone, and skin -- that acts
to support other body tissues.
Heredity: Some studies suggest that a man who has
a relative with Peyronie's disease is at greater risk for
developing the disease himself.
How is Peyronie's disease treated?
There are two ways in which Peyronie's disease can be
treated: surgery or non-surgical treatment.
Because the plaque of Peyronie's disease often shrinks or
disappears without treatment, most doctors suggest
waiting one to two years or longer before attempting to
correct it with surgery. In many cases, surgery produces
positive results. But because complications can occur,
and because many of the problems associated with
Peyronie's disease (for example, shortening of the penis)
are not corrected by surgery, most doctors prefer to
perform surgery only on men with curvatures so severe
that sexual intercourse is impossible.
There are two surgical techniques used to treat
Peyronie's disease. One method involves the removal of
the plaque followed by placement of a patch of skin or
artificial material (skin graft). With the second
technique, the surgeon removes or pinches the tissue
from the side of the penis opposite the plaque, which
cancels out the bending effect. The first method can
involve partial loss of erectile function, especially
rigidity. The second method, known as the Nesbit
procedure, causes a shortening of the erect penis.
Penile implants can be used in cases where Peyronie's
disease has affected the man's ability to achieve or
maintain an erection.
A non-surgical treatment for Peyronie's disease involves
injecting medication directly into the plaque in an
attempt to soften the affected tissue, decrease the pain,
and correct the curvature of the penis. Vitamin E pills
haves also been shown to benefit some men with
Peyronie's disease.
Another, less invasive option is laser treatment to thin
the plaques of Peyronie's disease.
What is balanitis?
Balanitis is an inflammation of the head of the penis. A
similar condition, balanoposthitis, refers to inflammation
of the head of the penis and the foreskin. Symptoms of
balanitis include redness or swelling, itching, rash, pain
and a foul-smelling discharge.
What causes balanitis?
Balanitis most often occurs in men and boys who have
not been circumcised (had their foreskin surgically
removed), and who have poor hygiene. Inflammation can
occur if the sensitive skin under the foreskin is not
washed regularly, allowing sweat, debris, dead skin and
bacteria to collect under the foreskin and cause irritation.
The presence of tight foreskin may make it difficult to
keep this area clean and can lead to irritation by a foul-
smelling substance (smegma) that can accumulate under
the foreskin.
Other causes of balanitis may include:
Dermatitis/Allergy: Dermatitis is an inflammation of
the skin, often caused by an irritating substance or a
contact allergy. Sensitivity to chemicals in certain
products -- such as soaps, detergents, perfumes and
spermicides -- can cause an allergic reaction,
including irritation, itching, and a rash.
Infection: Infection with the yeast candida albicans
(thrush) can result in an itchy, spotty rash. Certain
sexually transmitted diseases -- including gonorrhea,
herpes and syphilis -- can produce symptoms of
balanitis.
In addition, men with diabetes are at greater risk for
balanitis. Glucose (sugar) in the urine that is trapped
under the foreskin serves as a breeding ground for
bacteria.
How Is balanitis treated?
Treatment for balanitis depends on the underlying cause.
If there is an infection, treatment will include an
appropriate antibiotic or antifungal medication. In cases
of severe or persistent inflammation, a circumcision may
be recommended.
Taking appropriate hygiene measures can help prevent
future bouts of balanitis, such as retracting the foreskin
daily and adequately cleaning and drying the head of the
penis. In addition, it is important to avoid strong soaps or
chemicals, especially those known to cause a skin
reaction.
What is phimosis?
Phimosis is a condition in which the foreskin of the penis
is so tight that it cannot be pulled back (retracted) to
reveal the head of the penis.
FEATURED ARTICLES
Male Fertility May Be in Trouble: Testosterone and
Sperm Counts Plummet
Alliance for Natural Health USA
21 August 2012

GMO foods could make it worse.
Testosterone deficiency is a serious health issue. It can
lead to loss of stamina and lean muscle mass, reduced
libido in both men and women, anxiety, depression, and
cognitive decline. Growing research also suggests low
testosterone levels might be linked to insulin resistance,
metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.
Many of the herbicides and pesticides used in
conventional farming are environmental estrogens.
This means that their molecules mimic the activity of
the human hormone estrogen, too much of which is not
good for men or women; it also affects testosterone
levels. Now GMO crops have likely exacerbated this
problem. According to a recent animal study published
in the journal Toxicology in Vitro, glyphosate (the
active ingredient in Roundup, Monsantos widely used
pesticide) often leaves a residue on Roundup Ready
cropsand this can affect testosterone levels and
mens sperm counts. It is actually toxic to testicle cells,
and significantly lowers testosterone synthesis.
In addition, GMOs themselves may cause infertility. In
a brand new Russian study on hamsters, scientists
observed that consumption of GM soybeans tended to
slow their sexual maturation process and completely
eliminated their ability to reproduce within just a few
generations. An Austrian study uncovered similar
infertility in third-generation mice that consumed GM
corn.
Most people think of testosterone as being a mens
issue, but women also need it in lower levels. Too low
levels have been linked to osteoporosis, muscle loss, and
a weakened sex drive. For women, too much or too little
testosterone can inhibit fertility and complicate
pregnancy as well as reduce interest in sex.
Mens sperm counts are falling dramatically in modern
society. In 1940, sperm counts were typically well above
100 million sperm cells per milliliter. According to a
Danish study, they have dropped to an average of 60
million per ml. Other studies find that between 15 and
20% of young men have sperm counts of less than 20
million per ml.
Despite all this, the biotech industry is fighting tooth and
nail to keep these toxic, genetically engineered foods on
your dinner plate. They are desperate to keep you from
knowing what youre eatingthats why they, together
with Big Food companies , are spending shocking
amounts of money to keep GMO foods from being
labeled as such.
Labeling GMOs is especially important now that we are
seeing so many other health problems from GMO foods.
In a ten-year long study on rats, mice, pigs, and salmon,
scientists in Norway found that genetically engineered
soy and corn causes obesity. It also causes significant
changes in the digestive system and major organs,
including the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and genitals. Rat
and hamster studies have also found that the animals
become sterile by the third generation.
Animals fed genetically modified soy and corn
specifically, soy and corn containing toxic proteins from
the bacteria Bacillus thuriengensis, which kills insects
that damage corn, soy, cotton, canola and other crops
were seen to be less able to digest proteins due to
alterations in the micro-structure of their intestines.
Continued on page 7

-7- Traditional African Clinic January 2013

Continued from page 6 Male Fertility May Be in Trouble:
Testosterone and Sperm Counts Plummet
They also suffered immune system alterations.
On top of that, glyphosphate (the herbicide used on
genetically modified soybeans) may be causing birth
defects in animal fetuses. Roundup-Ready GMO soy is
Argentinas main crop, and Monsantos Roundup weed-
killer is used in great quantities. Now scientists are seeing
brain, intestinal, and heart defects in amphibian embryos.
The scientists say the results are completely comparable
to what would happen in the development of a human
embryo.
Labeling GMO is a must. Please take action now to stop
the Big Food companies that are selling so-called natural
products from spending millions of dollars to deprive you
of your right to know what foods contain GMO. Please
take action now.
http://www.anh-usa.org/male-fertility-may-be-in-trouble-
testosterone-and-sperm-counts-plummet/

The Case of the Disappearing
Sperm: French Men's Sperm
Count Plummets over Last 16
Years
By Ethan A. Huff
December 14, 2012
(NaturalNews) The world is becoming an increasingly
hostile place for the survival and persistence of
masculinity, particularly with regards to male fertility and
vitality. A deadly combination of estrogenic toxins in the
food supply; harmful chemicals in the environment, and
poor lifestyle is causing an ongoing and drastic reduction
in men's sperm counts, according to a new study
published in the journal Human Reproduction, which
illustrates the continuing decline of men in today's world.
Researchers from France conducted their study
specifically on French men aged 18 to 70, tracking
average sperm counts across the country between the
years of 1989 and 2005. According to their findings,
sperm counts among all French men in this age range
dropped by about 1.9 percent per year on average, and by
32.3 percent on average over the course of the entire 16-
year period studied. The number of normally-shaped
sperm in men also dropped by an astounding 33.4 percent
during the study period.
"To our knowledge, this is the first study concluding a
severe and general decrease in sperm concentration and
morphology at the scale of a whole country over a sub-
stantial period," explained Dr. Joelle Le Moal, an
environmental health epidemiologist and one of the
study's authors, about the findings. "This constitutes a
serious public health warning."
Though some have since tried to downplay the findings,
claiming average sperm counts are still within an
acceptable and fertile range, the downward trend
observed in the study clearly illustrates a perpetual
decline in male fertility, which more than likely extends
far outside the borders of France and around the world.
Based on the figures, average sperm concentrations
dropped from 73.6 million per milliliter (mi/mL) among
35-year-old men in 1989 to 49.9 mi/mL among the same
age group in 2005, highlighting a disastrous situation.
Similar findings have been observed in the U.S. as well,
where sperm counts have been on the decline for more
than 50 years, according to researchers. Bisphenol-A
(BPA) and other plastics chemicals, pesticide and
herbicide residues on conventional food, fluoride in the
water supply, radiation-emitting mobile phones and
laptop computers, pharmaceutical drugs, soy-based
ingredients laced throughout the food supply -- these and
many other factors are all responsible for the massive
decline in male fertility both in the U.S. and abroad.
"It's most likely a reflection of the fact that many
environmental and lifestyle changes over the past 50
years are inherently detrimental to sperm production,"
says Professor Richard Sharpe, a fertility research expert
at the U.K.-based Medical Research Council (MRC),
about this pandemic problem.
http://www.naturalnews.com/z038351_sperm_count_French_m
en_scientific_study.html

The obelisk is an ancient phallic symbol of the
male energy and solar energy and the dome
represents the female or moon energy. Often they
are placed together or close to each other. This is
the symbolism of the Oval Office (the womb,
female) in the White House which looks out on the
Washington Monument, the vast stone obelisk
(phallic, male). These symbols attract and generate
the energy they represent: they are a physical
thought form. The obelisk also symbolizes the penis
of the Egyptian Sun god, Osiris. According to
legend, after Osiris had been sliced into pieces by
his rival, Set, the Queen Isis found all the pieces
except his willy.
David Icke; The Biggest Secret

FEATURED ARTICLES
Prostate Cases Treble in 20 Years: But as more are
diagnosed with cancer, fewer men die
By Sophie Borland
4 May 2012
Daily Mail

not they have the illness.
And even these checks will not necessarily determine
whether or not the cancer is aggressive and life-
threatening.
It means that thousands of men will undergo surgery,
chemotherapy or radiotherapy which have debilitating
side-effects for cancers which may never have caused a
problem.
Professor Malcolm Mason, of Cancer Research UK, said:
'Accurately diagnosing and predicting the need for
treatment of prostate cancer is fraught with difficulties
and there is no escaping the fact that we need a better tool
than PSA to help detect prostate cancers that actually
need treating.
'Men need to be counselled about the upsides and
downsides of having a PSA test and the uncertainties that
it can raise.
'We urgently need to find better tests that tell us more
about a man's prostate cancer. Is the disease going to sit
quietly in the background and never cause a problem or
do we need to treat it aggressively?
'If we can accurately answer these questions, we could
spare thousands of men unnecessary treatment that can
lead to side-effects like impotence and incontinence.'
Earlier this week American researchers claimed that
surgery to remove prostate cancer is often ineffective. A
study involving 731 patients found that those who had
operations were only 3 per cent more likely still to be
alive 12 years later compared to those who didn't have
treatment.
The researchers from the University of Minnesota said
this increase could well be down to chance.
There is no national screening programme for prostate
Continued on page 9
Just 14,000 diagnosed two decades ago before a
new screening programme started
But scientists say better test needed to help detect
prostate cancers that actually need treating
Men should get counselling about the
uncertainties positive screening can raise, expert
says
More than 40,000 men are being diagnosed with
prostate cancer in the UK every year, figures show.
The number of new cases annually has almost trebled
since 1989 when it stood at 14,000, according to the
charity Cancer Research UK.
This increase is mainly due to greater use of the
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test, which measures
levels of a chemical that is high when tumours are
present.

Detection: A magnified image of a prostate cancer cell
But although the test has been credited with detecting
some deadly cancer cases earlier, there are concerns it
often causes 'false alarms'.
Some two-thirds of men with raised PSA levels do not
have prostate cancer. They are forced to undergo
further unpleasant examinations to determine whether

Continued from page 8 Prostate Cases Treble in 20 Years

cancer in the UK but men who want a PSA test can
request one from their GP.
Figures from Cancer Research UK also show that the
death rate from prostate cancer has fallen by 11 per cent
in the past ten years.
Prostate cancer is the second most common form of the
illness in men after lung cancer. Although it leads to
10,000 deaths a year, in about 50 per cent of cases the
cancer is growing so slowly it is not life-threatening.
The PSA test involves a sample of blood being taken and
measured for levels of the prostate specific antigen.
But there are many reasons why readings can be high
and it is not necessarily due to the presence of cancer.
A urine infection can lead to a positive result, for
example. And some men have subsequently been
diagnosed with cancer even though their PSA test was
normal.
Earlier this year the NHS rationing body NICE
controversially decided to reject a drug for advanced
prostate cancer even though it can give patients precious
extra months of life.
In February the watchdog released draft guidelines that
said abiraterone was too expensive for use in England at
35,000 per patient per year.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2139078/Prostate-
cases-treble-20-years-But-diagnosed-cancer-fewer-men-
die.html

Prostate Cancer and the
African-American
Community
Black American men have the highest risk of prostate
cancer in the United States. They also have the highest
risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer and the
highest prostate cancer mortality rates.

There are two predominant theories as to why African-
American men have a higher risk of prostate cancer:
genetics and health care access. Some doctors believe that
genetics play an important role; others believe that limited
access to quality health care is to blame. A third theory
exists: some doctors believe that a traditional diet which is
high in saturated fat causes the higher prostate cancer risk.
However, the diets of many Americans, regardless of race,
have higher levels of fat than the diets of men of any other
nationality. Click to here to read more about prostate cancer
risk in the United States.
The most widely-accepted theory of the black mens higher
prostate cancer incidence and mortality rate melds the first
and second theories. Genetics (due to melanin levels in the
skin) may predispose African-American men, while limited
access to quality health care does not catch the disease in
earlier stages and does not get these men the best possible
treatment.
What Do African-American Genes have to do with
Prostate Cancer?
One of the most widely accepted theories is that black men
living in North America do not get the exposure to
ultraviolet (UV) light sufficient for the synthesis of Vitamin
D. Adequate levels of Vitamin D seem to have a protective
effect against cancer. Since Vitamin D production is
somewhat inhibited through higher levels of melanin, black
men living in equatorial areas of limited sunlight (such as in
the north) may not produce sufficient Vitamin D.
However, African-Americans must be extremely vigil-ant
about this disease. For an African-American man, the
chances of getting prostate cancer are 1 in 3 if you
have just one close relative (father, brother) with the
disease. The risk is 83 percent with two close relatives.
With three, its almost a certainty (97 percent).
There are no noticeable symptoms of prostate cancer while
it is still in the early stages. This is why testing is so
critical. Every African-American man, age 40 years or
older, should consider annual testing for prostate cancer.
Before the advent of early detection through PSA
screening, about three-fourths of all prostate cancer cases
were found in the late stages. With the widespread use of
screening, 89 percent of cases in African-American men are
now found early.
Nearly 100 percent of African-American men diagnosed
with early stage prostate cancer are still alive five years
from diagnosis. Of African-American men diagnosed in the
late stages of the disease, 29 percent survive five years (not
including those who died from causes other than prostate
cancer.)
http://zerocancer.org/education/prostate-cancer-and-the-african-
american-community/


Continued from page 2 Gender-Bending Chemicals put
Baby Boys at Risk of Cancer and Infertility
"The message is to avoid them, just as you should avoid
alcohol and drugs."
Professor Sharpe concluded that gender-bending
chemicals are "likely to account for a proportion" of birth
defects in baby boys and the testicular cancer and fertility
problems the boys may suffer later in life.
His report looked at studies into birth defects of boy's
genitals, low sperm counts and testicular cancer. Such
problems are collectively referred to as Testicular
Dysgenesis Syndrome (TDS).
Testosterone-disrupting chemicals found in pesticides,
drugs, plastics and household products created symptoms
of TDS in laboratory animals, experiments showed.
Some of the experiments showed that the chemicals work
in combination, causing problems at doses where the
individual chemicals should be harmless.
The evidence that the chemicals cause problems in
humans was weaker, but still showed a link between
environmental chemicals and male fertility problems, the
report said.
The latest figures suggest that one in six men in Britain
has a low sperm count and will struggle to father a child.
Doctors are also worried by rising levels of birth defects,
with 7 per cent of British boys born with partially
descended testes and seven in 1,000 with malformed
genitals.
The number of testicular cancer cases among men in their
20s and 30s has been doubling every 25 years.
Professor Sharpe said that TDS takes root in the period
between the eighth and 12th week of pregnancy.
During this period, exposure to hormone-mimicking
chemicals can interfere with testosterone production in a
foetus, preventing the sex organs from developing
normally.
Chemicals shown to cause problems include pesticides
such as DDT, fungicides such as vinclozolin; a group of
chemicals called PCBs used in electrical circuits, paints,
flame retardants and glues; and phthalates, which are
used to soften plastics.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/children_shealth/5315684/G
ender-bending-chemicals-put-baby-boys-at-risk-of-cancer-and-
infertility-report-finds.html

Continued from page 5 - Male Reproductive
Problems: Penis Disorders
What causes phimosis?
Phimosis, which is seen most often in children, may be
present at birth. It also can be caused by an infection, or
by scar tissue that formed as a result of injury or chronic
inflammation. Another cause of phimosis is balanitis,
which leads to scarring and tightness of the foreskin.
Immediate medical attention is necessary if the condition
makes urination difficult or impossible.
How is phimosis treated?
Treatment of phimosis may include gentle, manual
stretching of the foreskin over a period of time.
Sometimes, the foreskin can be loosened with medication
applied to the penis. Circumcision, the surgical removal
of the foreskin, often is used to treat phimosis. Another
surgical procedure, called preputioplasty, involves
separating the foreskin from the glans (head of the penis).
This procedure preserves the foreskin and is less
traumatic than circumcision.
What is paraphimosis?
Paraphimosis occurs when the foreskin, once retracted,
cannot return to its original location. It is a medical
emergency that can cause serious complications if not
treated.
What causes paraphimosis?
Paraphimosis may occur after an erection or sexual
activity, or as the result of injury to the head of the penis.
With paraphimosis, the foreskin becomes stuck behind
the ridge of the head of the penis. If this condition is
prolonged, it can cause pain and swelling, and impair
blood flow to the penis. In extreme cases, the lack of
blood flow can result in the death of tissue (gangrene),
and amputation of the penis may be necessary.
How is paraphimosis treated?
Treatment of paraphimosis focuses on reducing the
swelling of the glans and foreskin. Applying ice may help
reduce swelling, as may applying pressure to the glans to
force out blood and fluid. If these measures fail to reduce
swelling and allow the foreskin to return to its normal
position, an injection of medication to help drain the
penis may be necessary. In severe cases, a surgeon may
make small cuts in the foreskin to release it. Circumcision
also may be used as a treatment for paraphimosis.
What is penile cancer?
Penile cancer is a rare form of cancer that occurs when
abnormal cells in the penis divide and grow uncontrolled.
Certain benign (non-cancerous) tumors may progress and
become cancer.


Continued from page 10 Male Reproductive Problems:
Penis Disorders
What causes penile cancer?
The exact cause of penile cancer is not known, but there
are certain risk factors for the disease. A risk factor is
anything that increases a person's chance of getting a
disease. The risk factors for cancer of the penis may
include the following:
Uncircumcision: Men who are not circumcised at
birth have a higher risk for getting cancer of the
penis.
Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection: HPV
includes more than 100 types of viruses that can
cause warts (papillomas). Certain types of HPV can
infect the reproductive organs and the anal area.
These types of HPV are passed from one person to
another during sexual contact.
Smoking: Smoking exposes the body to many
cancer-causing chemicals that affect more than the
lungs.
Smegma: Oily secretions from the skin can
accumulate under the foreskin of the penis. The
result is a thick, bad-smelling substance called
smegma. If the penis is not cleaned thoroughly, the
presence of smegma can cause irritation and
inflammation.
Phimosis: This is a condition in which the foreskin
becomes constricted and difficult to retract.
Treatment for psoriasis: The skin disease psoriasis
is sometimes treated with a combination of
medication and exposure to ultraviolet light, which
may increase a person's risk for penile cancer.
Age: Over half of penile cancer occur in men over
age 68.
What are the symptoms of penile cancer?
Symptoms of penile cancer include growths or sores on
the penis, abnormal discharge from the penis, and
bleeding.
What treatments are given for penile cancer?
Surgery to remove the cancer is the most common
treatment for penile cancer. A doctor may take out the
cancer using one of the following operations:
Wide local excision takes out only the cancer and
some normal tissue on either side.
Electrodessication and curettage removes the
cancer by scraping the tumor with a curette (thin,
long instrument with a scraping edge) and applying
an electric current to the area to kill cancer cells.
Cryosurgery uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and kill the
cancer cells.
Microsurgery (Moh's surgery) is an operation that
removes the cancer and as little normal tissue as
possible. During this surgery, the doctor uses a
microscope to look at the cancerous area to make sure
all the cancer cells are removed.
Laser surgery uses a narrow beam of light to remove
cancer cells.
Circumcision is an operation that removes the
foreskin.
Amputation of the penis (penectomy) is an operation
that removes the penis. It is the most common and
most effective treatment of cancer of the penis. In a
partial penectomy, part of the penis is removed. In a
total penectomy, the whole penis is removed. Lymph
nodes in the groin may be taken out during surgery.
Radiation, which uses high-energy rays to attack cancer,
and chemotherapy, which uses drugs to kill cancer, are
other treatment options.
Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Urological Institute.
Reviewed by Daniel Perlman, MD on September 24, 2007 Portions of
this page The Cleveland Clinic 2000-2005; Last Editorial Review:
12/13/2007
http://www.medicinenet.com/penis_disorders/article.htm

5 Things You Didn't Know
About Your Penis
By Martin F. Downs
WebMD Feature
Here are some things you might have wondered about your
penis, but were afraid to ask.
No. 1: Your Penis Does Have a Mind of Its Own
You've probably noticed that your penis often does its own
thing. You may remember times when it was completely
inappropriate to have an erection; and yet you couldn't
wish it away.
It's true that you have less command over your penis than
body parts like your arms and legs. That's because the
penis answers to a part of the nervous system that's not
always under your conscious control. This is called the
autonomic nervous system, which also regulates heart rate
and blood pressure.
Sexual arousal usually isn't voluntary. The conscious mind
is complicit in it, but a lot of sexual arousal goes on in the


Continued from page 11 5 Things You Didn't Know About
Your Penis
sympathetic nervous system. In addition, impulses from
the brain during the REM phase of sleep cause erections,
whether you're dreaming about sex or about a test you
forgot to study for. Heavy lifting or straining to have a
bowel movement can also produce an erection.
Just as the penis grows without your consent, sometimes
it shrinks. "The flaccid penis varies in size considerably
within a given man," says Drogo Montague, MD, a
urologist at the Cleveland Clinic. Exposure to cold water
or air makes your penis shrink. That's a function of the
sympathetic nervous system.
Psychological stress also involves the sympathetic
nervous system, and stress has the same effect as a cold
shower, Montague says. When you're relaxed and feeling
well, your flaccid penis looks bigger than when you're
stressed out.
The penis is "kind of a barometer of the sympathetic
nervous system," Montague says. So the greeting, "How's
it hanging?" is more apt than you might have realized.
No. 2: Your Penis May Be a 'Grower' or a 'Show-er'
Among men, there is no consistent relationship between
the size of the flaccid penis and its full erect length.
In one study of 80 men, researchers found that increases
from flaccid to erect lengths ranged widely, from less
than a quarter inch to 3.5 inches longer.
Whatever the clinical significance of these data may be,
the locker-room significance is considerable. You can't
assume that a dude with a big limp penis gets much
bigger with an erection. And the guy whose penis looks
tiny could surprise you with a big erection.
An analysis of more than thousand measurements taken
by sex researcher Alfred Kinsey shows that shorter
flaccid penises tend to gain about twice as much length as
longer flaccid penises.
A penis that doesn't gain much length with an erection
has become known as a "show-er," and a penis that gains
a lot is said to be a "grower." These are not medical
terms, and there aren't scientifically established
thresholds for what's a show-er or a grower.
Kinsey's data suggest that most penises aren't extreme
show-ers or growers. About 12% of penises gained one-
third or less of their total length with an erection, and
about 7% doubled in length when erect.
Kinsey's data suggest that most penises aren't extreme
show-ers or growers. About 12% of penises gained one-
third or less of their total length with an erection, and

about 7% doubled in length when erect.
No. 3: Your Penis Is Shaped Like a Boomerang
Your penis is shaped like a boomerang. Just like you don't
see all of a big oak tree above ground, you don't see the
root of your penis tucked up inside your pelvis and attached
to your pubic bone.
In an MRI picture, the penis looks distinctly boomerang-
like, as noted by a French researcher who studied men and
women having sex inside an MRI scanner.
One method of surgical "penis enlargement" is to cut the
ligament that holds the root of the penis up inside the
pelvis. This operation may give some men a little extra
length if more of the penis protrudes from the body, but
there are side effects. This ligament, called the suspensory
ligament, makes an erection sturdy. With that ligament cut,
the erect penis loses its upward angle and it wobbles at the
base. The lack of sturdiness can lead to injury.
No. 4: You Can Break Your Penis
There is no "penis bone," but you can break your penis all
the same. It's called penile fracture, and it's not a subtle
injury. When it happens, there's "an audible pop or snap,"
Montague says. Then the penis turns black and blue. And
there's terrible pain.
Penile fracture is rare, and it typically happens to younger
men because their erections tend to be quite rigid.
Here's how to avoid penile fracture: don't use your penis
too roughly. A common way that penile fracture happens,
Montague says, is when a man is thrusting too hard and fast
during sex, and slams into his partner's pubic bone. Also, a
woman who moves wildly while on top of a man during sex
can break a man's penis.
Peyronie's syndrome is a related condition that tends to
show up more in older men, Montague says. An older
man's erection may not be as rigid, but still is hard enough
for sex. Over time, if the penis bends too much a certain
way during sex, small tears in the tissue can form scars, and
the accumulated scar tissue gives the penis an abnormally
curved shape.
Not all penis curvature is a problem, however. "There is a
lot of variability in what normal is," Cummings says.
No. 5: Most Penises in the World Are Uncut
A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
estimates that worldwide only 30% of males aged 15 and
up are circumcised.
Rates vary greatly depending upon religion and nationality.
Almost all Jewish and Muslim males in the world have
circumcised penises, and together they account for about


Continued from page 12 5 Things You Didn't Know About
Your Penis
70% of all circumcised males globally.
The United States has the highest proportion of males
circumcised for non-religious reasons. A whopping 75%
of non-Jewish, non-Muslim American men are
circumcised. Compare that to Canada, where only 30%
are. In the U.K. it's 20%; in Australia it's merely 6%.
The practice of circumcising baby boys for medical and
cosmetic reasons has become controversial in the U.S.
But recently the World Health Organization (WHO) and
the UUNAIDS recommended circumcision for adult
men, based upon evidence that men with circumcised
penises have a lower risk of being infected with HIV.
The CDC estimates that about 65% of all newborn boys
get circumcised in the U.S.
SOURCES:
Drogo Montague, MD, director, Center for Genitourinary
Reconstruction, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute,
Cleveland Clinic.
James Cummings, MD, chief, division of urology, Saint Louis
University School of Medicine. Masters and Johnson. Human
Sexual Response, Little, Brown, 1966.
Wessels, H. Journal of Urology, September 1996; vol 156: pp
996-997.
Jamison, P. Journal of Sex Research, 1988; vol 24: pp 177-
183.
Faix, A. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 2002; vol 28: pp
63-76.
WHO and UNAIDS: Male circumcision: Global trends and
determinants of prevalence, safety and acceptability,
February 2007.
WebMD Medical News: "Circumcision: New Weapon Against
AIDS?" CDC.
2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9
2561

Low Sperm Counts and
Deformed Penises: The
Chemical Industry Has a
Hold on Your Reproductive
Future
By Joshua Zaffos
June 26, 2008
Colorado Springs Independent
I am half the man my father is.
This disturbing fortune came to me about five years ago,
but not from an odd relative or a sadistic girlfriend.
Instead, this dinner-table diagnosis came from Theo (short
for Theodora) Colborn, an internationally known scientist
who has helped develop the field of research exploring
how chemical compounds interfere with the hormones that
guide human development.
Known as endocrine disruption, chemicals found in
computer screens and car seats, shower curtains and
shampoo, plastic water bottles and prophylactics are
skewing our odds against cancers and causing
developmental delays and reproductive roadblocks,
including declining sperm counts.
So, when Colborn informed me of my inferior manhood, I
took consolation in the fact that she was indicting my
entire generation -- and her own -- for loading our natural
environment, our workplaces and our homes with tens of
thousands of chemical compounds without really having a
clue about what we're doing. Our Stolen Future, the book
Colborn co-authored in 1996, first delivered this bad news
to the general public.
More than a decade later, scientists are still conducting
experiments and measuring results, from cramped
basement labs at universities to expansive high-country
lakes in the wilderness. The hypotheses generally aren't
questions of whether chemicals are pervading and
persisting in the environment, but rather how severely they
are stunting our development and health. The federal
government has investigated these questions with timidity,
if not contempt, operating a regulatory system practically
beholden to the chemical industry.
With half of my manhood at stake and hopes for a better
assessment in the future, I'm wondering how we can heed
the warning signs and reverse our chemical course.
A day in my half-life
For years, I started off each day drinking coffee out of a
metallic cup, likely coated with bisphenol-A, a chemical
commonly used to line plastic bottles and other food and
beverage cans and containers. Anyone who has lugged
around a Nalgene bottle made of polycarbonate plastic,
trying to save the Earth one paper cup at a time, has gotten
his or her share of bisphenol-A, which leaches from
containers into liquids to enter our bodies. A U.S. Centers
for Disease Control study detected bisphenol-A in 93
percent of all Americans.
Inside us, bisphenol-A mimics estrogen, plugging into
hormone receptors; this is endocrine disruption. In
pregnant or breastfeeding mothers and young and
prepubescent children, it can have critical impacts,
rewiring our developmental profiles and opening up our


Continued from page 13 Low Sperm Counts and Deformed
Penises
risks for cancers and physical and behavioral
abnormalities. Lab tests suggest that chronic, low-dose
exposure to bisphenol-A -- like drinking out of a coated
cup or polycarbonate bottle daily -- may cause women to
have greater chances of breast cancer and polycystic
ovary syndrome, a leading cause of infertility, and men
to have increased odds of prostate cancer and reduced
sperm counts.
That's a lot to think about during the day's first cup of
coffee or sip of water. Now I try to stick to ceramic
mugs and glasses.
As my body starts to properly caffeinate in the
mornings, I usually sit in front of a laptop and do
whatever it is writers do to put off writing -- checking e-
mails and boxscores -- until I'm warmed up. As a
computer warms up, particles inside start to fly and
some catch a ride on dust. For years, I breathed in
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from my
laptop.
These compounds are flame-retardants, nearly
universally used in couch cushions, televisions, cars and
carpets. PBDEs have similar chemical structures to
thyroid hormones, and, according to lab tests, they can
lower our bodies' production of the real thing.
Over time, thyroid-hormone deficiencies can hurt
metabolism. Hypothyroidism causes fatigue, depression,
anxiety, hair loss and a waning libido. Women with low
thyroid-hormone counts are five times more likely to
have children with IQs that qualify them as mildly
retarded, according to one study. A 2005 experiment
found that a single low dose of a common PDBE given
to rats in utero resulted in a class of hyperactive rodents
with persistent low sperm counts.
Contemplating my future as a fat, bald, sad, edgy, dull
and dim-witted bachelor isn't necessarily cause for
perilous concern. Still, a generation's lacking aesthetics
and sex drive is a wicked trade-off for the low
combustion factors of our workspaces, living rooms and
vehicles.
On the mornings when words don't flow from my
fingertips, I know it's time to take a shower, an effective
and healthy distraction. I used to have a vinyl shower
curtain and wash with whatever shampoo was cheapest
from the supermarket. Both those products generally
contain phthalates (pronounced "tha-lates"), compounds
that add flexibility and plasticity to fragrances and
cosmetics and almost anything made out of vinyl,
including children's toys and IV bags.
Phthalates are especially tenacious when it comes to
tweaking with men's development, affecting androgen, as
compared to estrogen, receptors. One of the first low-dose
studies on phthalates, from 1999, found that exposure of
pregnant female rats led to a dramatic increase in male
offspring with sexual abnormalities.
For humans, studies show that as many as one in 125
newborn boys in the U.S. now arrives from the womb with
a hypospadia, a condition in which the urethra does not
properly extend to the end of the penis, necessitating
surgery. Data suggests the incidence has doubled since the
1970s, and scientists believe phthalates or other endocrine-
disrupting chemicals are responsible.
Recent research on phthalates by Rao Veeramachaneni of
Colorado State University has used rabbits, which are better
human surrogates than rats because they have infant and
adolescent life stages; rodents basically start puberty once
they're born. The results show rabbits with in utero
exposure to one class of phthalate experienced a 43 percent
drop in sperm count compared with healthy animals.
Rabbits exposed to phthalates in utero or during
adolescence had almost twice as many abnormal sperm as
normal cases. These declines in sperm quality and quantity
are among the signs of "testicular dysgenesis," which also
includes increased rates of undescended testicles and, most
severely, testicular cancer.
Yet another study, led by Shanna Swan of the University of
Rochester, suggests prenatal exposure to phthalates
correlates with shorter "anogenital distance" (the space
from the anus to the testicles, less clinically known as the
taint) and greater probability of improper testicular descent
and smaller penile volume.
In other words, size does matter, just not necessarily the
way we act like it does.
Beast of body burden
I can try to avoid plastic bottles and vinyl shower curtains. I
can seek out a computer that doesn't use PBDEs; a number
of companies have voluntarily phased them out. My few
consumer actions are roughly equivalent to fending off an
infectious disease with a Kleenex.
One reason is that the federal government doesn't do much
to monitor or regulate chemical concentrations in the
environment.
Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
in 1976, the same year I was born. Under the law,
manufacturers register commercial chemicals and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency can test the safety of
chemicals -- produced after 1979 -- and regulate their use.
Or at least that's how it's supposed to work.


Continued from page 14 Low Sperm Counts and
Deformed Penises
From 1979 to 2004, the EPA received more than 32,000
chemical applications, but agency personnel performed
some level of review on fewer than one in eight cases.
Eight out of every 10 applications are approved with no
restrictions, often in less than three weeks. The agency
has implemented restrictions on only five chemical
classes, even though in the 1990s it reported that 16,000
compounds warranted concern because of their chemical
structure or volume of use.
"TSCA really doesn't have the teeth to ban chemicals,"
says Sonya Lunder, senior analyst with Environmental
Working Group, a D.C.-based watchdog organization.
Another catch is something called bioaccumulation.
Some chemicals persistently build up inside us, a tally
called a body burden. Mothers pass theirs onto babies in
utero and through breast milk. I inherit, so to say, the
body burdens of animals every time I eat a cheeseburger
or splurge on sushi. In 2001, a Canadian health official
estimated the average person consumes about half a
microgram of PBDEs every 10 days just through meat
and dairy. When it comes to endocrine disruption, you
are what you eat.
I have roughly 700 different synthetic chemicals in my
body. That number probably won't be going down any
time soon. Every single day, the United States produces
or imports 42 billion pounds of chemicals, about 140
pounds for every American. I also am what I eat out of,
and with, and around.
The same compounds that bioaccumulate in our bodies
also linger in the environment. The heavy-duty pesticide
DDT earned its notoriety -- and nearly worldwide
prohibition -- because its lethal toxicity could kill off
dozens of birds after an application. It is also a
"persistent organic pollutant" that remains in the
environment for a long time and can mimic estrogen and
lead to birth defects. It's probably fair to call DDT the
O.G. of endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Bans on DDT and other persistent organic pollutants led
to the engineering of the new class of chemicals we use
today. It's obvious how they've improved our lifestyles,
if not our lives. But studies suggest we have traded
obvious poisons for insidious ones.
Pollution in the park
Situated in the ice-sculpted Colorado valley of Glacier
Gorge, Mills Lake is considered one of the most
stunning features in Rocky Mountain National Park. At
nearly 10,000 feet and fed by snowmelt from the
Continental Divide, Mills should be among the purest
pools of mountain water in existence. But the presence
of "intersex" rainbow trout, males with some very female
characteristics, suggests otherwise.
This February, the National Park Service issued a report
through its Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment
Project (WACAP) detailing measurable levels of
chemicals and heavy metals throughout "pristine" corners
of our national parks.
"The transsexual fish was really something we hadn't
anticipated," says Dixon Landers, a U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency research scientist who participated in
the WACAP.
Based on the project's findings, Landers says most parks'
contaminant counts correlate with the local pollution
measured in the surrounding snowpack. In Rocky
Mountain National Park, that means mercury from power
plants along the Front Range and chemicals from
agricultural pesticides. Researchers also reported levels of
persistent organic pollutants, including DDT, once again
proving the compounds' lasting risks.
DDT, which hasn't been used in the U.S. since 1972,
could plausibly be responsible for transsexual fish in the
middle of the continent. Scientists also point out that
airborne pollution moves around the world, so organic
pesticides could be coming from countries that still use
them. Then again, the project also detected levels of
PBDEs in parks, suggesting another pathway.
In 2004, University of Colorado scientists surveyed fish in
Fountain Creek, downstream of Colorado Springs'
wastewater-treatment facilities, and found intersex
flathead chubs and other sexual deformities.
Around the same time that James Dobson was raising
questions over SpongeBob's sexual preferences, a much
more serious case of sexual deviancy was brewing in his
backyard stream.
The Fountain Creek results mirror earlier findings from
around the state. The same researchers have identified
intersex fish swimming below sewage plants in Boulder
and Denver; they couldn't find a single male white sucker
in the South Platte River downstream of the state capital.
The scientists reported many more female than male fish,
female fish with poor reproduction rates, stunted gonads
in both sexes, and males producing vitellogenin, the main
ingredient of yolks for offspring.
Concentrations of chemicals and steroid hormones,
including synthetic estrogen used in birth control and
synthetic testosterone used to bulk up livestock, are
typically higher in streams below treatment plants because
the contaminants accumulate at the facilities. That is one
of the reasons for treatment, but the various processes
Continued to page 16


Deformed Penises
used in most wastewater plants don't effectively
remove many of these compounds.
A forthcoming study from the University of Colorado
scientists and their colleagues has more specifically
analyzed why the fish in these locations are suffering
these maladies. The researchers report a "complex
mixture of endocrine-active chemicals" in Boulder
Creek, including bisphenol-A, steroid hormones and
alkylphenols, which are estrogen-mimicking
compounds used in air fresheners and laundry
detergents, and as a spermicide on condoms,
diaphragms and other contraceptives.
Other studies are advancing our understanding of
chemicals' impacts on life. A group of Colorado State
University researchers led by Thomas Borch, professor
of environmental chemistry, is looking at measurable
amounts of androgens and estrogens along the Cache la
Poudre River, upstream and downstream of Fort
Collins, to see what happens to the compounds over
time.
"This particular study stands out because we've tried to
address the question: What are the present compounds
being broken down to?" Borch says. "It's beyond the
fact that these could have endocrine-disrupting effects."
Borch refers to other research suggesting synthetic
chemicals can impact animals' levels of pheromones, a
class of hormones that cue behavioral responses in
other members of a species.
"We're just being able to reliably detect these
compounds," he adds.
Meanwhile, the mix of pharmaceuticals, including
antibiotics and mood stabilizers, steroid hormones and
other compounds passing through standard wastewater
treatment processes -- and into drinking water supplies
-- was the focus of a recent Associated Press
investigation. A Senate committee has announced it
will hold hearings on the topic.
A dangerous double standard
Congress, actually the U.S. House of Representatives,
is investigating the federal government's regulatory
behavior regarding chemicals. An ongoing inquiry
should help reveal the extent of industry influence over
recommended rules for synthetic compounds.
Rather than yielding a regulatory hammer, the EPA
generally allows the chemical industry to set its own
standards voluntarily and conduct its own evaluations
on endocrine disruption and chemical impacts on

children. In cases where chemicals have gone through
formal reviews, the results haven't always panned out for
public health and safety.
The Environmental Working Group recently exposed that
the EPA had removed a government scientist from an
external-review panel of deca-brominated diphenyl ester,
one of the fire-retardant PBDEs, after the American
Chemistry Council complained about her "appearance of
bias."
Other PBDEs have been outlawed in the U.S. since 2004
because of their effects on human thyroid systems and
brain development, and their rates of bioaccumulation;
body burdens drop when we stop using these chemicals.
The impacts of deca weren't as conclusive a few years ago,
but recent studies show the compound can break down into
other PBDEs and cause endocrine disruption.
Deborah Rice, an environmental toxicologist with the
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and a
former EPA scientist, has testified, to her state Legislature,
in favor of banning deca.
That was enough for the chemical industry to claim she
was unqualified to serve as the deca panel chair. The EPA
complied with the industry's complaint last summer, citing
the "perception of a potential conflict of interest."
"The American Chemistry Council's strong support of
science was the basis for its recent letter to the
Environmental Protection Agency regarding a member of
the agency's external peer-review panel for [PBDEs]," says
Tiffany Harrington, a spokeswoman for the council. "The
chairperson's pre-existing bias advocating the ban of deca-
BDE is not consistent with the scientific standards of an
independent peer review."
Even with an IQ possibly deflated by flame retardants,
Rice's prior recommendations, based on peer-reviewed
research, don't sound like "bias" to me. Meanwhile, 17
scientists with financial or other ties to the chemical
industry currently serve on seven EPA review panels,
according to the Environmental Working Group.
"There's a dangerous double standard coming out of the
EPA about who is biased," Lunder says.
So far, these cases haven't warranted the agency to remove
any panelists. The U.S. House Committee on Energy and
Commerce is now gathering agency documents on the issue
as part of another investigation into regulations on the use
of bisphenol-A, specifically in children's products, and the
chemical industry's possible manipulation of public opinion
relating to chemical safety.
"There's a dangerous double standard coming out of the


Deformed Penises
EPA about who is biased," Lunder says.
So far, these cases haven't warranted the agency to
remove any panelists. The U.S. House Committee on
Energy and Commerce is now gathering agency
documents on the issue as part of another investigation
into regulations on the use of bisphenol-A, specifically
in children's products, and the chemical industry's
possible manipulation of public opinion relating to
chemical safety.
"The public depends on EPA peer-review panels to
help ensure the products they use every day are safe,"
says Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., the committee
chair. "The EPA seems to have a backwards way of
composing these panels. The EPA is disallowing
scientists who have valid public-health concerns about
products, while encouraging participation by so-called
experts who are paid by the chemical industry."
In the midst of the congressional investigation,
bisphenol-A has gotten another once-over, even if U.S.
regulators aren't changing their stances. The Canadian
government announced it will likely label bisphenol-A
as a toxic compound. Wal-Mart declared it would
remove baby products with the substance from its
shelves in Canada and eventually the U.S. Nalgene
stated it would remove bisphenol-A from its water-
bottle products.
Perhaps most telling, officials at the U.S. National
Toxicology Program released an April report that
concluded the use of bisphenol-A, even at low levels,
should cause "some concern" toward health risks for
fetuses, babies and children. Despite the wave of
scientifically informed reports and consumer actions,
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, another
agency with regulatory oversight over chemicals,
claimed there was no reason for Americans to worry
themselves over bisphenol-A.
The Environmental Working Group is pushing for
TSCA reform and is also supporting private and local-
and state-level efforts to more effectively regulate
potentially harmful chemicals. Many computer
companies no longer use PBDEs, partly a result of
tougher chemical restrictions in Europe.
Corporations and academics are advocating for and
following through on "green chemistry" practices, a
comprehensive rethinking of manufacturing processes.
Some cities are promoting their own pharmaceutical
"takeback" programs, to limit the flushing of unused
pills. The federal government's takeback guidelines are
considered weak and confusing; in some cases, they
encourage flushing pills to avoid drug abuse.
In February, the EPA announced it would try to eliminate a
backlog of 8,000 untested chemicals through a new
"computational toxicology" initiative. Robert Kavlock,
director of the agency's National Center for Computational
Toxicology, says the program will use molecular and
cellular tests performed by automated robots, instead of
animal testing in labs. Whereas a chemical review through
animal-toxicology studies can take five years and cost
between $5 million and $10 million, the computational
program can test thousands of compounds at several
concentrations in a single afternoon.
The breakthrough sounds encouraging, but critics question
if molecular and cellular tests can capture health effects
that impair entire organisms. Kavlock says the program's
first phase will measure results against existing animal-
toxicity data for chemicals to address that concern.
Global warning
During my conversation with CSU's Thomas Borch, I ask
him to compare our understanding and acceptance of
endocrine disruption with that of another subtle, global
environmental epidemic: climate change. Borch says the
analogy is apt, believing that the impacts of endocrine-
disrupting chemicals we see today are comparable to the
signs of global warming that people began to acknowledge
in the 1990s. He recognizes this assessment might be
conservative; some colleagues, Borch adds, would say the
consequences of our society's chemical romance are
already measurable and apparent, and they demand
appropriate policy changes.
I started surfing through the evidence five years ago.
After first meeting Theo Colborn, I began spending time
with her, asking lots of questions and reading whatever she
handed me. I even worked for her for a short while,
organizing files and sorting through research papers and
reports.
Today, at 81, Colborn is sharp as a tack and president of
TEDX, Inc., an acronym for The Endocrine Disruption
Exchange that rhymes with a certain overnight-delivery
company. The nonprofit research clearinghouse compiles
and circulates peer-reviewed studies on low-dose chemical
exposure, allows scientists to compare results, and helps
the media and the public understand what we are doing to
our planet and our bodies.
One day, while I was helping Colborn at her home, where a
massive file cabinet piled high with draft studies and award
plaques sits in her kitchen, she opened a drawer to find a
report. Instead, she discovered a folder, filled with poetry.


Deformed Penises
"Oh! You need to have this," she told me and pulled
out a photocopy of a poem, which is frequently
attributed to Goethe and closes with the oft-quoted
couplet:
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it
now."
The inspirational verse on mind over matter is
intriguing, coming from Colborn. Backed by decades of
research and exchanges with fellow scientists, she
firmly believes chemicals amassing in our bodies may
not only outweigh, but be diminishing, our minds'
capabilities.
The words are a testimony to the ideal that if we are
willing to inform ourselves and commit to intelligent
decisions about our use of chemicals, it's not too late to
affect change and avert a global crisis.
Begin it now.
Joshua Zaffos writes from Fort Collins, Colorado
http://www.alternet.org/story/89453/

Smaller Penis (And Regret)
May Follow Prostate Cancer
Treatment
By Nick Mulcahy
January 07, 2013
Treatments for prostate cancer can result in a little-
mentioned adverse effect a smaller penis, according
to a new study.
In addition, men with reduced penile size were
significantly more likely to regret treatment than those
without size loss.
Reduced penile size is not a common adverse effect of
prostate cancer treatment; it occurred in only 25 (2.6%)
of the study's 948 men, according to the researchers,
led by Paul Nguyen, MD, a radiation oncologist from
the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and
Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Their
results were published in the January issue of Urology.
The researchers found significantly more complaints of
a shortened penis associated with surgery ( P = .004)
and radiotherapy plus androgen-deprivation therapy
(ADT) ( P =.016) than with radiotherapy alone.

The rate of reduced penile size was 3.73% for surgery (19 of
510), 2.67% for radiotherapy plus ADT (6 of 225), and 0%
for radiotherapy alone (0 of 213).
This study is "really of interest" because it has a large
number of patients and includes more than just surgery,
which has been studied most often, writes Luc Cormier,
MD, PhD, urologist at the Dijon University Hospital in
France, in an accompanying editorial comment.
The study's data on penis size come from a physician-
completed questionnaire about their patients who consented
to become part of the Comprehensive, Observational,
Multicenter, Prostate Adenocarcinoma (COMPARE)
registry, which was opened in 2004 at 150 sites in the
United States to track biochemical recurrence after primary
therapy. About 20% of the men were younger than 60 years,
and roughly three quarters were in their 60s and 70s.
The men probably would not mention size loss at clinic
visits if "more pressing" issues, such as prognosis and
oncologic control, were discussed, say the authors; hence,
underreporting was likely.
The adverse effect of penile shortening is "rarely
mentioned" by physicians, they point out.
"I would think that 10% or less of doctors who treat prostate
cancer routinely discuss reduction in penis size as a possible
side effect of therapy," Dr. Nguyen told Medscape Medical
News. He also said that the potential adverse effect of a
smaller penis is well known among clinicians.
If the potential for size loss was more widely discussed,
more men might consider active surveillance as a treatment
option, Dr. Nguyen acknowledged.
Sexual Functioning Also Involved
A smaller penis has far-ranging effects for a man, according
to the study results.
Reduced penile size was significantly associated with more
treatment regret (odds ratio [OR], 3.37; P = .0079) and an
increased risk for interference with close emotional
relationships (OR, 2.36; P = .044) on multivariate analysis,
adjusted for age, treatment type, and baseline comorbidity.
There was also a nearly significant impact on another
measure the "overall enjoyment" in life.
These data on emotional sequelae were derived from a
different questionnaire, which was completed by the patients
themselves. In the case of 2 measures ("interference with
close relationships" and "overall enjoyment"), the questions
were actually rooted in sexual function. Patients were asked,
for example, how often their sexual functioning "made it
difficult to enjoy your life." Thus, the findings about the
emotional sequelae of prostate cancer treatment are related
to sexual functioning. Continued on page 40


FEATURED ARTICLES
GM Soy Linked To Sterility, Infant Mortality
By Jeffrey Smith
April 26, 2010

This study was just routine," said Russian biologist
Alexey V. Surov, in what could end up as the
understatement of this century. Surov and his
colleagues set out to discover if Monsanto's
genetically modified (GM) soy, grown on 91% of US
soybean fields, leads to problems in growth or
reproduction. What he discovered may uproot a multi-
billion dollar industry.
After feeding hamsters for two years over three
generations, those on the GM diet, and especially the
group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed
devastating results. By the third generation, most GM
soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They
also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate
among the pups.
And if this isn't shocking enough, some in the third
generation even had hair growing inside their mouths -
a phenomenon rarely seen, but apparently more
prevalent among hamsters eating GM soy.
The study, jointly conducted by Surov's Institute of
Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of
Sciences and the National Association for Gene
Security, is expected to be published in three months
(July 2010) --so the technical details will have to wait.
But Surov sketched out the basic set up for me in an
email.
He used Campbell hamsters, with a fast reproduction
rate, divided into 4 groups. All were fed a normal diet,
but one was without any soy, another had non-GM
soy, a third used GM soy, and a fourth contained
higher amounts of GM soy. They used 5 pairs of
hamsters per group, each of which produced 7-8
litters, totally 140 animals.
Surov told The Voice of Russia,
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/04/16/6524765.html
"Originally, everything went smoothly. However, we
noticed quite a serious effect when we selected new
pairs from their cubs and continued to feed them as
before. These pairs' growth rate was slower and reached
their sexual maturity slowly."
He selected new pairs from each group, which generated
another 39 litters. There were 52 pups born to the
control group and 78 to the non-GM soy group. In the
GM soy group, however, only 40 pups were born. And
of these, 25% died. This was a fivefold higher death rate
than the 5% seen among the controls. Of the hamsters
that ate high GM soy content, only a single female
hamster gave birth. She had 16 pups; about 20% died.
Surov said "The low numbers in F2 [third generation]
showed that many animals were sterile."
The published paper will also include measurements of
organ size for the third generation animals, including
testes, spleen, uterus, etc. And if the team can raise
sufficient funds, they will also analyze hormone levels
in collected blood samples.
Hair Growing in the Mouth
Earlier this year, Surov co-authored a paper in Doklady
Biological Sciences showing that in rare instances, hair
grows inside recessed pouches in the mouths of
hamsters.
"Some of these pouches contained single hairs; others,
thick bundles of colorless or pigmented hairs reaching as
high as the chewing surface of the teeth. Sometimes, the
tooth row was surrounded with a regular brush of hair
bundles on both sides. The hairs grew vertically and had
sharp ends, often covered with lumps of a mucous."
(The photos of these hair bundles are truly disgusting.
Trust me, or look for yourself.)
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?ob
jectID=4888#hair
At the conclusion of the study, the authors surmise that


Continued from page 19 GM Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant
Mortality
such an astounding defect may be due to the diet of
hamsters raised in the laboratory. They write, "This
pathology may be exacerbated by elements of the food
that are absent in natural food, such as genetically
modified (GM) ingredients (GM soybean or maize
meal) or contaminants (pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy
metals, etc.)." Indeed, the number of hairy mouthed
hamsters was much higher among the third generation
of GM soy fed animals than anywhere Surov had seen
before.
Preliminary, but Ominous
Surov warns against jumping to early conclusions. He
said, "It is quite possible that the GMO does not cause
these effects by itself." Surov wants to make the
analysis of the feed components a priority, to discover
just what is causing the effect and how.
In addition to the GMOs, it could be contaminants, he
said, or higher herbicide residues, such as Roundup.
There is in fact much higher levels of Roundup on these
beans; they're called "Roundup Ready." Bacterial genes
are forced into their DNA so that the plants can tolerate
Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Therefore, GM soy
always carries the double threat of higher herbicide
content, couple with any side effects of genetic
engineering.
Years of Reproductive Disorders from GMO-Feed
Surov's hamsters are just the latest animals to suffer
from reproductive disorders after consuming GMOs. In
2005, Irina Ermakova, also with the Russian National
Academy of Sciences, reported that more than half
the babies from mother rats fed GM soy died within
three weeks
jectID=299
This was also five times higher than the 10% death rate
of the non-GMO soy group. The babies in the GM
group were also smaller and could not reproduce. (see
photo)
jectID=4888#size
In a telling coincidence, after Ermakova's feeding trials,
her laboratory started feeding all the rats in the facility a
commercial rat chow using GM soy. Within two
months, the infant mortality facility-wide reached 55%.
When Ermakova fed male rats GM soy, their testicles
changed from the normal pink to dark blue! Italian
scientists
jectID=4888#testes
similarly found changes in mice testes (PDF), including
damaged young sperm cells. Furthermore, the DNA of
embryos from parent mice fed GM soy functioned
differently.
http://www.somloquesembrem.org/img_editor/file/Vecchioetal
2004.pdf
An Austrian government study published in November
2008 showed that the more GM corn was fed to mice, the
fewer the babies they had (PDF), and the smaller the
babies were.
http://www.biosicherheit.de/pdf/aktuell/zentek_studie_2008.pdf
Central Iowa Farmer Jerry Rosman also had trouble with
pigs and cows becoming sterile. Some of his pigs even
had false pregnancies or gave birth to bags of water. After
months of investigations and testing, he finally traced the
problem to GM corn feed. Every time a newspaper,
magazine, or TV show reported Jerry's problems, he
would receive calls from more farmers complaining of
livestock sterility on their farm, linked to GM corn.
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine accidentally
discovered that rats "raised on corncob bedding neither
breed nor exhibit reproductive behavior." Tests on the
corn material revealed two compounds that stopped the
sexual cycle in females "at concentrations approximately
two-hundredfold lower than classical phytoestrogens."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240732/
One compound also curtailed male sexual behavior and
both substances contributed to the growth of breast and
prostate cancer cell cultures. Researchers found that
the amount of the substances varied with GM corn
varieties. The crushed corncob used at Baylor was likely
shipped from central Iowa, near the farm of Jerry Rosman
and others complaining of sterile livestock.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1314908/
In Haryana, India, a team of investigating veterinarians
report that buffalo consuming GM cottonseed suffer from
infertility, as well as frequent abortions, premature
deliveries, and prolapsed uteruses. Many adult and young
buffalo have also died mysteriously.
Denial, Attack and Canceled Follow-up
Scientists, who discover adverse findings from GMOs are
regularly attacked, ridiculed, denied funding, and even
fired. When Ermakova reported the high infant mortality
among GM soy fed offspring, for example, she appealed
to the scientific community to repeat and verify her
preliminary results. She also sought additional funds to
analyze preserved organs. Instead, she was attacked and
vilified. Samples were stolen from her lab, papers were
burnt on her desk, and she said that her boss, under
pressure from his boss, told her to stop doing any more


Continued from page 20 GM Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant
Mortality
GMO research. No one has yet repeated Ermakova's
simple, inexpensive studies.
In an attempt to offer her sympathy, one of her colleagues
suggested that maybe the GM soy will solve the over
population problem!
Surov reports that so far, he has not been under any
pressure.
Opting Out of the Massive GMO Feeding Experiment
Without detailed tests, no one can pinpoint exactly what is
causing the reproductive travesties in Russian hamsters
and rats, Italian and Austrian mice, and livestock in India
and America. And we can only speculate about the
relationship between the introduction of genetically
modified foods in 1996, and the corresponding upsurge in
low birth weight babies, infertility, and other problems
among the US population.
But many scientists, physicians, and concerned citizens
don't think that the public should remain the lab animals
for the biotech industry's massive uncontrolled
experiment.Alexey Surov says, "We have no right to use
GMOs until we understand the possible adverse effects,
not only to ourselves but to future generations as well. We
definitely need fully detailed studies to clarify this. Any
type of contamination has to be tested before we consume
it, and GMO is just one of them."
http://www.rense.com/general90/soy.htm

Cottonseed Derivative
'Gossypol'... UC Professor
Eyes Permanent Sterilant to
Cull US Population
September 19, 2012
During a speech earlier this year given by University of
California-Riverside professor Richard Cardullo, the
cottonseed derivative Gossypol is being proposed as an
adequate sterilant to bring down the birthrate in the
United States.
Stating that the substances permanent sterilization effects
on males is already being considered for widespread use
in China and many third world countries, Cardullo calls it
an option for use within the United States.
In addition to Gossypol, the professor advised the
attending students to lower their standard of living if the
earth is to continue carrying humans on its surface.
Interesting to note that the professor has recently been
selected by the National Science Foundation, the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) to join the Partnership for
Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE)
program, funded by the federal government.
As part of the universitys online science lecture series,
recorded on the campus earlier this year, the professors
lecture Is Earth Overpopulated is a classic neo-
Malthusian regurgitation claiming the planet cannot
carry much more people.
If you want to minimize environmental impact, perhaps
you should consider lowering your standard of living, for
instance.
Cardullo also told people could reduce human impact on
the earth by becoming vegetarians:
Although the professor tells his listening audience to
lower their standard of living to minimize human
impact on the earth, he stresses that this in itself isnt
sufficient to lower fertility in the United States. Also, the
professor continues, famine, disease, war and so on do
not have the ability to effectively cull the human
population.
One of the things we know is the production of meat is
incredibly expensive, he said. You are going to start
hearing more and more about humans carbon footprint,
and one of the biggest contributions to that carbon
footprint is the production of meat. We could do a lot
simply by just becoming more vegetarian.
() we have got to do something about population as
well. The United States, we are very affluent. we
currently have a population of 313 million people.
Altogether we gain one person every 15 seconds.
If we want to take the population down to 150 million,
all it would require in the next 100 years is to lower that
birth rate because we are not going to do it through any
other method, right? That would be horrible.
If we want to decrease the population, we could do it in
an number of different ways.
Then the professor goes on to point at the screen, on
which are depicted several disease-spreading insects.
These are all whats called vectors carriers of disease
which we are familiar with () horrible things (). Im
going to show you things that effects populations more
than anything (), its those, states the professor as
he points to an image of sperm.
Many scientists want to know: are there ways, are there


Continued from page 21 Cottonseed Derivative 'Gossypol'...
new ways, that we can control population or fertility
rates, by targeting specific cells, sperm or eggs, so that
individuals can make the decision to keep those rates
low.
A bit later on in the speech, the professor eyes cotton
derivative Gossypol, which- as scientists have learned-
cause sterility in males by targeting the sperm. Citing
Chinese and American research on Gossypol, Cardullo
mentions that Gossypol has the potential of killing
humans, causing not just temporary but permanent
sterility in males.
() ultimately the World Health Organization argued
against using it. But interestingly enough, there are
countries in the world (such as China, Nigeria, Brazil
etc.) using it as a permanent method for controlling
fertility in males, which is an option.
The permanent sterility effects of Gossypol were
discovered back in the 1970s, and were further picked up
by the main financial contributor of anti-fertility drugs in
the 20th century, the Rockefeller Foundation.
The Foundation, it seems, investigated Gossypols anti-
fertility effect as well as the possibility of using the
substance for widespread use. The 1985 Rockefeller
Foundations annual report underlined its ongoing
dedication towards finding good use for Gossypol.

Indeed, gossypol, a toxic polyphenol derived from the
cotton plant, was identified early on in the Foundations
research as an effective sterilant. The question was, how
to implement or integrate the toxic substance into crops.
Another long-term interest of the Foundation has been
gossypol, a compound that has been shown to have an
antifertility effect in men.
By the end of 1985, the Foundation had made grants
totaling approximately $1.6 million in an effort to support
and stimulate scientific investigations on the safety and

efficacy of gossypol.
In the 1986 Rockefeller Foundation annual report, the
organization admits funding research into the use of
fertility-reducing compounds in relation to food for
widespread use:
Male contraceptive studies are focused on gossypol, a
natural substance extracted from the cotton plant, and
identified by Chinese researchers as having an anti-
fertility effect on men.
Before widespread use can be recommended, further
investigation is needed to see if lowering the dosage can
eliminate undesirable side-effects without reducing its
effectiveness as a contraceptive.
The Foundation supported research on gossypols safety,
reversibility and efficacy in seven different 1986 grants.
It seems that the funded scientists have indeed found a
way of lowering the dosage of gossypol, circumventing
the toxicity of the substance, so as to suppress or even
eliminate these undesirable side-effects, which include:
low blood potassium levels, fatigue, muscle weakness
and even paralysis.
If these effects could be eliminated without reducing the
anti-fertility effects, the Foundation figured, it would be a
highly effective and almost undetectable sterilant.
Although overtly, research into and development of
gossypol as a anti-fertility compound was abandoned in
the late 1990s, the cottonseed containing the substance
was especially selected for mass distribution in the
beginning of the current decade. Around 2006 a media-
campaign was launched, saying the cottonseed could help
defeat hunger and poverty.
In 2006, NatureNews reported that RNA interference (or
RNAi) was the way to go. On the one hand it would cut
the gossypol content in cottonseeds by 98%, while
leaving the chemical defenses of the rest of the plant
intact.
Furthermore, the article quoted Dr. Deborah P. Delmer,
the Rockefeller Foundations associate director of food
security, who was quick to bury any concern:
Deborah Delmer, associate director of the Rockefeller
Foundation in New York City and an expert in
agricultural food safety, points out that a benefit of using
RNAi technology is that it turns off a gene process rather
than switching on a novel function.
So instead of introducing a new foreign protein, youre
just shutting down one process, Delmer says. In that
sense, I think that the safety concerns should be far less
than other GM technologies. Continued on page 23


Continued from page 22 - Cottonseed Derivative 'Gossypol'...
A 2006, National Geographic article Toxin-Free
Cottonseed Engineered; Could Feed Millions Study Says,
quotes the director of the Laboratory for Crop
Transformation (Texas A&M Universtity), Keerti Singh
Rathore as saying:
A gossypol-free cottonseed would significantly
contribute to human nutrition and health, particularly in
developing countries, and help meet the requirements of
the predicted 50 percent increase in the world population
in the next 50 years.
Rathores study, states the article, represents the first
substantiated case where gossypol was reduced via
genetic engineering that targets the genes that make the
toxin.
I bring into recollection the statement made by the
Rockefeller Foundation in its 1986 annual report, which
reads:
Before widespread use can be recommended, further
investigation is needed to see if lowering the dosage can
eliminate undesirable side-effects without reducing its
effectiveness as a contraceptive.
In the 1997 Foundational report, Rathore is mentioned
(page 68). A postdoctoral fellowship-grant was given to a
certain E. Chandrakanth for advanced study in plant
molecular biology under the direction of Keerti S.
Rathore, Laboratory for Crop Transformation, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas.
Compromising connections, in other words, for someone
who claimed academic objectivity in regards to gossypol
and its sterilizing effects. Rathore explained the workings
of RNAi in a 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
Cottonseed toxicity due to gossypol is a long-standing
problem, Rathore said, and people have tried to fix it
but havent been able to through traditional plant
breeding.
My area of research is plant transgenics, so I thought
about using some molecular approaches to address this
problem.
Rathore also mentioned the desired main funder of his
work without actually saying the name:
we are trying to find some partners and will probably be
looking at charitable foundations to help us out in terms
of doing all kinds of testing that is required before a
genetically engineered plant is approved for food or feed.
We are in the very early stages and have a lot of ideas in
mind, but we need to pursue those. Hopefully, we can

find some sort of partnership that will allow us to do
them.
He also expressed the final adaptation of the cottonseed
for widespread use is something of the long term:
() right now there are many hurdles when you are
dealing with a genetically modified plant. But I think in
the next 15 or 20 years a lot of these regulations that we
have to satisfy will be eliminated or reduced
substantially.
The Foundation, as is evident from the statements of
Rockefellers own Deborah Delmer, has been more than
interested. The scientific community, we see, now tells
young students that using such sterilants are a viable
option to reduce the US population.
Given the fact that the professor has been selected by
large governmental organizations under the general
guidance of Obamas science czar John P. Holdren, we
must wonder if the option of using Gossypol as a
sterilent in the United States may have been inspired by
Holdren and Ehrlich in their 1977 book Ecoscience,
when they wrote:
Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods is a
suggestion that seems to horrify people more than most
proposals for involuntary fertility control.
Indeed, this would pose some very difficult political,
legal, and social questions, to say nothing of the technical
problems. No such sterilant exists today, nor does one
appear to be under development.
To be acceptable, such a substance would have to meet
some rather stiff requirements: it must be uniformly
effective, despite widely varying doses received by
individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and
sensitivity among individuals; it must be free of
dangerous or unpleasant side effects; and it must have no
effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old
people, pets, or livestock.
BlackListedNews
http://www.knowthelies.com/node/8167

Cooking With Poison
6 February 2008
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Cut-price cooking oil used in most Malian households
has been found to contain gossypol, a toxic substance that
is known to cause sterility, cancer and inhibit growth.
Only two out of 57 oil producers studied around the


Continued from page 23 Cooking With Poison
country had the necessary equipment to produce safely-
refined cooking oil, revealed a November 2007
investigation by the Mali government. The rest were
producing oil containing gossypol, a harmful poison.
"The results are alarming...after evaluating the oil mills,
we realised most of them did not have proper refining
equipment," Adama Konat, the government industries
director told IRIN.
Gossypol is naturally produced by cotton plants to slow
down the reproduction of insects that eat cotton seeds,
and is eliminated if the oil refining process is conducted
properly.
The majority of Malians buy the oil for cooking since, at
an average of US$1.25 a litre, it is about half the price of
imported oils.
Government order
Responding to the possible threat to consumers, on 15
January the government ordered 104 factories across the
country to close down - a move some consumer groups
say will not work unless it is accompanied by systems to
monitor oil quality.
Most cottonseed in Mali is produced by small companies,
but a handful of large ones have the right equipment and
are capitalising on the closures to increase their market
share.
Gossypol is linked with a host of health problems,
including permanent infertility or sterility in men,
irregularity of menstruation and termination of
pregnancies in women, and gastric problems, according
to Sanagar Ibrahim, a nutritionist and a member of the
Mali consumers association (ASCOMA).
Adama Haidara doctor at the Hope Clinic, a medical
centre in Sikoro near Bamako, backed this up, stressing it
is also linked to cardiac arrests and cancer.
"The risks to the consumer after a long period of
absorption of non-refined oil are enormous."
Updating too costly
The government has ordered producers to update their
equipment, but not all can afford to and some have been
forced to shut down production for good.
"Personally, I can't afford to install a refinery system, so I
closed my factory, and will sell it," Seydou Traor, an
oil-producer in Fana, 120 km east of Bamako, told IRIN.
For Adama Tangara, who works with one of these firms,
the answer is clear-cut, "Small oil producers can either
buy new equipment or get out of the market."

Meanwhile, Malians are taking their anger out on the
government, accusing it of not regulating the industry
properly.
"The government had no controls in place, no follow-up,
nothing...the quality of the oil produced, and the health of
consumers mattered little to it," said Seydou Samak, a
Bamako resident who used to frequently cook with the
oil.
"The doctor has arrived after the death. It's always like
that. It took us being poisoned for the government to
intervene," complained Oumar Traor, a member of the
Mali Coalition for the Protection of Consumers
(REDECOMA).
Industries minister Konat defended the government's
decision. "All the producers who had been approved were
far from meeting the requirement to produce quality
products... hence our decision to immediately close all
the plants that did not meet these standards."
Consumer policy needed
Members of the consumer's group ASCOMA, which
claims it was the first organisation to draw the dangers of
gossypol in cooking oil to the government's attention,
agreed that the government has work to do if Malians are
not to be hit by a similar crisis.
"We salute the government's decision to close the
factories, but that is not enough. It needs to put
monitoring in place to control the quality of...all the
products on the market," Colibably Salimata Diarra,
President of ASCOMA told IRIN.
She urged the government to create a labelling system so
consumers can source the oil they have bought, to launch
a campaign to alert the public to potential health risks,
and to develop a national consumer policy to bring more
accountability into the cooking-oil market.
All eyes are now on the government's next steps. If there
is no progress, some are urging strong action. "If the state
does not do this, consumers must form a common block,
and sue the State in front of a tribunal," said Traor.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the
United Nations ]
http://allafrica.com/stories/200802061032.html


Daily Soda Hikes Prostate
Cancer Risk
November 27, 2012
Men who drink one normal-sized soft drink per day
are at greater risk of getting more aggressive forms
of prostate cancer, according to a Swedish study
released Monday.
"Among the men who drank a lot of soft drinks or
other drinks with added sugar, we saw an increased
risk of prostate cancer of around 40 percent," said
Isabel Drake, a doctoral student at Lund University.
The study, to be published in the upcoming edition
of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
followed over 8,000 men aged 45 to 73 for an
average of 15 years.
Those who drank one 11-fluid-ounce soft drink a day
were 40 percent more likely to develop more serious
forms of prostate cancer that required treatment.
The cancer was discovered after the men showed
symptoms of the disease, and not through the screening
process known as prostate-specific antigen (PSA).
Those who ate a diet heavy on rice and pasta increased
their risk of getting milder forms of prostate cancer,
which often required no treatment, by 31 percent, while a
high intake of sugary breakfast cereals raised the
incidence of milder forms of the cancer to 38 percent,
Drake told AFP.
While further research was needed before dietary
guidelines could be changed, there are already plenty of
reasons a person should cut back on soft-drink
consumption, she noted.
The men in the study had to undergo regular medical
examinations and kept a journal of their food and drink
intake.
Previous studies have shown that Chinese and Japanese
immigrants in the U.S. develop prostate cancer more
often than peers in their home countries.
Further research on how genes respond to different diets
would make it possible to "tailor food and drink
guidelines for certain high-risk groups," Drake said.
2012 AFP/Relaxnews
http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/Daily_Soda_Hi
kes_Prostate/2012/11/27/488081.html

Glyphosate Kills Rat Testis
Cells
Dr. Eva Sirinathsinghji
February 27, 2012
Institute of Science in Society
Another link between Roundup and infertility
A new study finds that Monsantos glyphosate-based
herbicide Roundup Bioforce as well as glyphosate
alone reduced testosterone levels in testicular cells at
very low concentrations; and at higher concentrations
still 10 times below agricultural use the cells died in
24-48 hours.
The study, carried out by Gilles-ric Sralini and his
colleagues at the Universit de Caen Basse-Normandie
in France [1], was published just ahead of reports on
glyphosate contamination of groundwater in Catalonia,
Spain [2], and the presence of glyphosate in urine
samples of Berlin city residents at 4-20 times the level
allowed in drinking water (o.1 micrograms per litre, or
0.1 parts per billion (ppb)) [3]. American consumers
exposed to glyphosate through residual levels in
genetically modified (GM) foods are likely to have
even higher levels in their system; although no studies
appear to have been done.
These studies are emerging amid growing concern for
the effects of environmental contaminants on
decreasing levels of male fertility in humans and
animals in industrialised nations [4], and there are
already indications that glyphosate herbicide is linked
to infertility and other reproductive problems.
Endocrine dysfunction at very low doses
Endocrine disruption can impact a wide range of
physiological functions that includemetabolism, growth
and development, tissue function, behaviour, mood and
reproduction. Healthy levels of testosterone in men are
necessary for sperm production among other things.
With previous links of pesticides to infertility, the
researchers were interested in whether glyphosate and
its formulations can induce endocrine disruption in
testicular cells.
The effects of Roundup Bioforce and glyphosate
alone were tested on three types of rat testicular cell:
Leydig cells that produce testosterone, Sertoli cells that
nurture germ cells through spermatogenesis, and germ
cells that mature into sperm.
Doses of 1ppm (0.0001%) of both glyphosate and
Roundup Bioforce reduced testosterone levels in


such as the activation of caspase 3/7 enzymes and the
release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria. In
addition, there are variations of cell death that can
include necrosis-like programmed cell death, apoptosis-
like programmed cell death that lacks caspase 3/7
activation, as well as secondary necrosis where
apoptotic cells eventually also lose membrane integrity.
The experiments monitored membrane integrity,
caspase 3/7 activation as well as chromatin
condensation. Leydig cells showed the strongest
necrotic response, with significant membrane
degradation after 1 hour of exposure to 0.1 % Roundup.
Degradation reached 5 times that of control untreated
cells at a higher concentration of 1 %, peaking at
around 6 hours but remaining significant after 48 hours.
No membrane degradation was found in cells exposed
to glyphosate alone. Thus, the effect may be due to
adjuvants present in the commercial formulation such
as polyoxyethyleneamine (POEA), which is added to
allow glyphosate to penetrate plant leaves. There was
no significant caspase 3/7 activation other than a small
peak after 6 hours exposure. Chromatin condensation
was apparent after 24 hours following application of
1% Roundup, as consistent with apoptosis.
Sertoli cells also showed signs of necrosis, with
membrane degradation occurring in response to 0.1%
Roundup within 24 hours, although to a lesser extent
than Leydig cells. Germ cells appeared almost
insensitive, with only a slight, but statistically
significant membrane degradation following exposure
to 1 % Roundup. In contrast to Leydig cells, germ cells
as well as Sertoli cell/germ cell co-cultures showed an
apoptotic response within 48 hours to 1 % glyphosate.
However, there was no response to Roundup. This
disparity, as speculated by the authors may be due to
distinct membrane properties that allow glyphosate to
enter germ cells more easily. This result may also be an
in vitro artefact that should be investigated further in
animal experiments.
The findings clearly show cell death responses in
testicular cells, most notably in the Leydig cells.
Further experiments are needed to clarify the type of
cell death involved. As mentioned above, cell death is a
complicated process.
Question of dosing
The concentration of the herbicides used in the
experiments ranged from 0.0001 % (1 ppm) of
Roundup Bioforce, (corresponding to 0.366ppm of
pure glyphosate) to agricultural levels of 1 %
(10,000ppm).
Continued from page 25 Glyphosate Kills Rat Testis Cells
Leydig cells by as much as 35 %, and a significant
increase in expression of aromatase was found within 24
hours. Aromatase is an enzyme that converts testosterone
to oestrogens, and its activity is important for maintaining
a healthy balance between the two hormones. These
effects of supposedly non-toxic dilutions of the herbicide
underlie glyphosates ability to disrupt the endocrine
system.
These results build on a long list of previous findings.
Male prepubescent rats exposed to glyphosate showed
reduced testosterone levels as well as disruption of
testicular morphology and a delay in the onset of puberty
[5]. The male offspring of rat mothers exposed to
glyphosate during gestation exhibited abnormal sexual
behaviour and abnormal levels of testosterone and
estradiol, early puberty, and increased sperm count [6].
Glyphosate exposure reduced testosterone levels in mouse
Leydig cells [7], and depressed aromatase activity in
human placental cell lines [8]. The effects were more
pronounced when commercial formulations were used.
Hormonal disruption and/or reproductive problems
occurred in both humans and animals followed
environmental exposure to sprayed herbicides or herbicide
residues in GM feed [9] (see [10] Ban Glyphosate
Herbicides Now, SiS 43, [11] Lab Study Establishes
Glyphosate Link to Birth Defects,SiS48) Regions of high
glyphosate use in Argentina have seen rises in birth
defects, infertility and cancers, to the point that
Argentinean doctors are calling for a complete ban of
pesticide use near residential areas and a complete ban of
aerial spraying (see [12] Argentinas Roundup Human
Tragedy, SiS 48 [13] and Pesticide Illnesses and GM
Soybeans, SiS 53). Livestock consuming large amounts of
GM feed have shown increased infertility, still births, and
pseudo-pregnancies, thought to be due, at least in part, to
direct endocrine-disrupting effects of glyphosate (see [14]
USDA Scientist Reveals All, SiS 53).
Higher doses kill cells
Sralini and colleagues also tested whether Roundup
and/or glyphosate kill testicular cells, and whether this
occurs through inducing necrosis (premature cell death
caused by external stimuli such as toxins, inflammation,
infection or trauma) or apoptosis (programmed cell death).
Necrosis is first marked by a loss of cell membrane
integrity, while apoptosis is a tightly regulated process that
is marked by morphological changes such as cytoplasmic
shrinkage, chromatin condensation (the compaction and
fragmentation of nuclear chromatin, with chromatin being
the native organisation of DNA wrapped around histone
proteins in the nucleus), as well as biochemical changes


Continued from page 26 - Glyphosate Kills Rat Testis Cells
The lowest concentration shown to have an endocrine
effect was within the range of a previous study published
by Monsanto reporting the presence of glyphosate
concentrations of up to 0.233ppm in American farmers
[13]. Further, the permitted level of glyphosate residue on
food or feed in the US is 400 ppm, or 400 times the
lowest concentration tested by Seralini and colleagues.
Thus, the concentrations used in the study are very
relevant to human exposure as well as exposure of other
animals. Of particular concern is the scarcity of published
data regarding the possible bioaccumulation of this
herbicide, leaving us only able to speculate how much is
in our bodies.
With the cell death experiments, significant results were
seen with doses of 0.1%, or 1000ppm. Although this
concentration is relatively high, and well above permitted
drinking water concentrations, it is 10 times below that
used in agricultural practice, and 8 times below the
maximum level of glyphosate residue permitted in GM
feed. Moreover, as shown by the endocrine disruption
experiments, cell death is not the only parameter of acute
toxicity, so while higher doses may be necessary to kill
cells, low doses can disrupt endocrine function without
killing the cells, but nevertheless impact a wide range of
physiological functions, resulting in disease.
Not addressed in this study is the chronic effect of
glyphosate-based herbicide exposure; as only acute
effects over 48 hours were assessed. Chronic exposure
has not been sufficiently tested, and needs to be
investigated. Furthermore, regulatory tests are usually
done, not with commercial formulations, but with
glyphosate alone. As demonstrated in these and other
experiments, the adjuvants that enhance glyphosates
action alter the toxicity of Roundup, resulting in differing
effects from those of glyphosate alone.
To conclude
Evidence linking glyphosate to birth defects and
reproductive problems in both the female and male is
surely more than sufficient justification for banning this
herbicide [10].
The paucity of studies assessing the presence of
glyphosate and its commercial formulations in humans
also needs to be addressed.
A fully referenced version of this article is posted on ISIS
members website and is otherwise available for download
here
http://farmwars.info/?p=7951

Study Shows Obesity
Increases Risk of Prostate
Cancer by Altering Gene
Regulation
September 25, 2012
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in
men and early treatment is usually very successful.
However, like other cancers, obesity increases the risk
of aggressive prostate disease. New research, published
in BioMed Centrals open access journal BMC
Medicine, finds that the fat surrounding the prostate of
overweight or obese men with prostate cancer provides a
favorable environment to promote cancer growth.
Fat is a generally underrated organ. Not only is it an
energy store but it secretes a wide range of growth
factors, cytokines and hormones, including leptin and
adiponectin, and is a major player in the immune
system, which protects the body from infection and
disease. But too much fat can cause these systems to go
haywire and can increase risk of diabetes, cardiovascular
disease and cancer.
An international team led by Prof Gema Frhbeck and
Dr Ricardo Ribeiro analyzed fat, from around the
prostate, taken from patients undergoing surgery for
prostate disease. Samples were included from men with
benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostate cancer
(PC), and from men where their cancer was no longer
confined to the prostate. The men were also classified as
being either lean (BMI<25) or overweight /obese
(BMI>25).
Regardless of type of prostate disease the overweight
men had different levels of gene activity in the fat
surrounding their prostates compared to the lean men.
This included genes which encode proteins involved in
immunity and inflammation (such as LEP, which
encodes the protein leptin), and cell growth and
proliferation (including ANGPT1 which encodes
angiopoietin 1), fat metabolism and programmed cell
death. Additionally the activity of more genes was
altered between hyperplasia and prostate cancer, and
between cancer and non-confined cancer, suggesting a
gradual increase in dysregulation during cancer
progression.
Prof Frhbeck explained, Both LEP and ANGPT1
encode proteins which are thought to have roles beyond
adipose tissue itself, especially because prostate cancer
cells have receptors for leptin, and angiopoietin 1.


Continued from page 27 Study Shows Obesity Increases Risk
of Prostate Cancer by Altering Gene Regulation
Taken together with the abnormal activity levels of other
genes they will ultimately foster fat mass growth, reduce
immune surveillance, and promote the formation of new
blood vessels, so producing a favorable environment for
prostate cancer progression.
Dr Ribeiro continued, In an increasingly obese population,
understanding how fat, especially the fat surrounding the
prostate, can influence the growth and severity of prostate
cancer may provide an opportunity for implementing
personalized lifestyle and therapeutic strategies.
This article is part of the thematic series Metabolism, Diet
and Disease from BMC Biology and BMC Medicine.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112700707/study-shows-
obesity-increases-risk-of-prostate-cancer-by-altering-gene-
regulation/

Prostate Cancer as an
Environmental Disease: an
Ecological Study in the French
Caribbean islands, Martinique
and Guadeloupe.
Belpomme D, Irigaray P, Ossondo M, Vacque D, Martin M.
ARTAC, 75015 Paris, France. artac.cerc@wanadoo.fr
Abstract
Using a transdisciplinary methodological approach we have
conducted a multifactorial analysis in Martinique and
Guadeloupe in order to elucidate the aetiology of prostate
cancer. In 2002, world age standardized rates of prostate
cancer were 152 new cases per 100,000 person-years in the
two islands; one of the highest worldwide rates and much
higher than those reported for other Caribbean islands and
metropolitan France. Using a linear regression analysis, we
found that the growth curves of incidence rates for
Martinique and metropolitan France have been significantly
diverging since 1983. That these curves are not parallel
suggests that although a Caribbean genetic susceptibility
factor may be involved in carcinogenesis, this factor cannot
per se account for the observed growing incidence. On the
basis of mapping analysis of soil pollution, we further
showed that water contamination by pesticides originates
from banana plantations. Moreover, we have established
retrospectively that general population subjects investigated
in 1972 in Martinique for the presence of organo-chlorinated
pesticides in their adipose tissue had been contaminated by
extremely high levels of DDT, DDE, alpha, beta and gamma
HCH,aldrin and dieldrin. Our study leads to the
conclusion that the growing incidence of prostate
cancer cannot be related either to a modification of
ethnographic factors nor to a change in lifestyle and
therefore suggests that environmental factors such as
the intensive and prolonged exposure to carcinogenic,
mutagenic and reproductive toxin pesticides may
cause prostate cancer.
Int J Oncol. 2009 Apr;34(4):1037-44.
PMID:19287960
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19287960

Special Health Report:
Prostate Problems in
Afrikan/Black Men
By Kwame Osei
According to research in the US and UK, Prostate
cancer is amongst THE TWO biggest killers of
Afrikan men. This special report seeks to ask what
prostate cancer is, its causes and what can be done to
prevent the disease.
The prostate is partly muscle and gland. It is about the
size of a walnut with a donut shape. It is directly
underneath the bladder and surrounds the tube
(urethra) that allows urine to flow out of the bladder
and pass out through the penis.
The prostrate secretes a thin cloudy alkaline fluid that
helps make up seminal fluid. The muscular
contractions of the prostate squeeze the prostatic fluids
and help mix it with semen and sperm - The muscles
help to ejaculate.
There are many types of prostate diseases and many
factors that can cause prostate problems. There are two
main categories of prostate problems - They are:
Prostatic Hypertrophy
Prostatic Hypertrophy is the enlargement of the
prostate. It can slow down, interrupt, block, or stop the
flow of urine as well as cause urine to stay in the
bladder too long, resulting in infections and/or
inflammation. This can lead to kidney disease and
destroy the kidney.
A better understanding of how men respond to their
sense of a change in their identity could help
researchers find better ways to help men recover, the
researchers wrote in their study, published online Sept.
18 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.


Continued from page 28 Special Health Report: Prostate
Problems in Afrikan/Black Men
Prostatitis
Prostatitis is the inflammation of the prostate. Disease
can directly and indirectly affect the prostate such as
Sugar Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Rheumatism,
Arthritis, Varicose Veins, as and Hypoglycemia, which
damages prostate nerves.
There are early warnings of prostate problems. These
include premature baldness and/or ejaculation can
indicate weakness and/or deterioration of the prostate.
Young boys who dribble urine after it stops flowing and
often leave urine stains in their underwear may be
indicating the beginning of prostate problems. Men that
need to shake their penis several times because urine
dribbles after urination stops may have the onset of
problems. Usually, early warnings are ignored until the
male reaches middle age and has an enlarged prostate,
cancer of the prostate or infertility.
Infertility is rising, as twenty-five percent of married
couples cannot have children. It has been steadily
decreasing each year. Imbalanced hormone levels
(estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) can result in
decreased sperm counts. Excess estrogen in processed
foods lowers the progesterone and testosterone level,
which lowers the sperm count and deteriorates the
prostate.
There are estrogen and steroid-type chemicals in meats,
milk (dairy), eggs and fish.
Excess estrogen weakens the prostate and causes cancer
of the prostate in men and given Afrikan/Black peoples
intolerance to lactose because of our melanin content is
something we should seriously consider.
Therefore, the consumption of excess estrogen in cow's
milk starts the deterioration of the prostate.
Prostaglandin hormones, as well as Adrenalin hormones
are released as a reaction to High Blood Pressure, Stress,
Diabetes, Obesity, Drugs, Junk Food, fish, Meat, Egg,
and Dairy consumption.
Prostaglandins cause prostate muscle contraction and are
anti-inflammatory. They can be high in semen. An overly
high prostaglandin level weakens the tissue of the
prostate; the prostate reacts by getting thicker, developing
scar tissue and becomes hypertrophied (enlarged).
The prostate is harmed by white sugar, alcohol, vinegar,
salt, processed foods, the toxic synthetic chemicals in
commercial After-shave, deodorants, colognes, cough
suppressants and allergy remedies.

They enter the blood and prostate. They cause cellular
waste to be suppressed (kept) in the prostate and alter
normal function. Also Sexual intercourse with
ejaculation causes the same nutrients' energy loss as
running 20 miles.
In conclusion then, a lifestyle with junk foods and
excessive sex will eventually destroy the prostate.
Therefore my advice to Afrikan/Back men would be to
eliminate white bread, white rice, Chicken, fish, red
meat, milk, eggs, salt etc from their diet and EAT more
fruits, vegetables, pulses (nuts - sesame seeds, pumpkin
seeds, monkey nuts, cashew nuts), whole meal brown
bread, brown rice, sea salt etc.
In addition to this cutting down on the level of sexual
activity that one does to maybe once or twice a week.
http://www.bidii.co.uk/pdfs/Article_ProstateProblems.pdf

Why Men feel less manly
after Prostate Cancer
By Karen Rowan
October 15, 2012
MyHealthNewsDaily
Men with prostate cancer often experience erectile
dysfunction as a side effect of their treatment, and
many find this to be upsetting to the point where it
undermines their wellbeing. Moreover, men's distress
about ED often does not improve over time in some
men, it worsens.
A new study sheds light on the causes of this prolonged
distress. While some researchers have thought that the
severity of a man's ED is linked with how distressed he
feels, the new findings show that regardless of men's
ED severity, they are much more likely to be distressed
when they feel they've lost their masculinity as a result
of treatment.
Not all men experience this feeling of lost masculinity,
said study researcher Talia Zaider, a clinical
psychologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center in New York City. But those who do are most at
risk of feeling deeply troubled, embarrassed or
ashamed about their ED.
A feeling of lost masculinity is an aspect of prostate
cancer treatment that's not often talked about, Zaider
said. "Gender norms work against men," and can keep
them from discussing it, she said.


FEATURED ARTICLES
Statin Use Linked to Low Libido and Erectile
Dysfunction
Sexual side effects amongst statin users warrant new research studies. Learn the early signs
of low testosterone and how to increase its production
By Kathryn Picoulin
May 16, 2010
ponsible for the libido and sex drive, as well as mood
levels, muscle mass and strength and bone strength.
When cholesterol production is inhibited by statin drugs
steroid hormone production drops. As testosterone levels
drop the sex drive decreases and erectile dysfunction
increases. The balance of hormones, especially
testosterone is essential for erectile function.
Erectile dysfunction also known as impotence affects
40% of the men in the US as is defined as the inability to
achieve or maintain an erection 25% or more of the time.
Early signs of testosterone deficiency include change in
moods, irritability, reduced sex drive, decreased athletic
performance, lack of energy, and sleepiness after meals.
Research Linked Statin Drug to Changes in Sex
Function
Many studies have linked statin drugs to lowered libido
and erectile dysfunction. Researchers at the University of
Florence in Italy reported a twofold increase in a
condition in which men produce insufficient amount of
testosterone among statin users.
A study that followed some 106,000 men over a period
of 21 years reported erectile dysfunction was three times
greater among statin users. Onset of ED occurred within
29 days of starting the drug. Recovery from the side
effect once the statin drug was stopped occurred in only
57% of the subjects.
Increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish
and flaxseed helps increase testosterone production.
Studies have shown that a diet low in carbohydrates,
higher in protein and moderate in healthy fats results
The use of statin drugs had jumped by 88% in a five-
year period, according to the Federal Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality. It is expected to
continue to climb based on new guidelines issued by
several medical establishments.
Individuals are being urged to begin statin therapy
regardless of whether their cholesterol is elevated or
not. The American Academy of Pediatrics is
recommending children to begin taking statins. The
drug companies are campaigning for an additional 36
million Americans for statin therapy.
Cholesterol is a vital part of each cell membrane in
the body. It is a necessity for brain function and
hormonal balance. Statin drugs used to block the
bodys production of cholesterol will affect all
hormones that are dependent on the availability of
cholesterol.
Among its many functions cholesterol is not only the
building block of steroid hormones, but also part of
the receptor site for the entry of these hormones into
the cell.
Steroid Sex Hormones Dependant on Available
Cholesterol
Steroid hormones include the adrenal hormones,
such as aldosterone and cortisone and the sex
hormones, such as testosterone, estrogen and
progesterone.
The two most important steroid hormones produced
by the testes and ovaries are testosterone and
estradiol. They are responsible for stimulating sexual
responses in the human body.
Testosterone is the principle male sex hormone res-


Continued from page 30 Statin Use Linked to Low Libido
and Erectile Dysfunction
in more sustained testosterone levels.
Further studies have shown that exercising for up to 60
minutes helps to increase testosterone levels.
Sources:
1. Statin Side Effects: Can They Lower Libido? ,
Mayoclinic.com Health Library, May 2006
2. Harvey et al., Biochemistry, Baltimore: Lippincott, 2005
3. Do C, et al, Statins and Erectile Dysfunction, Drug Safety,
2009
4. King, Michael W Ph.D Introduction to the Steroid Hormones
/ IU School of Medicine
5. Witzmann, Rupert. Steroids: Keys to life, New York 1977
6. How Does the Body Use Cholesterol, Cholesterol Doctor
7. McVary, K. T., Erectile dysfunction, New England Journal of
Medicine,2007
8. Rizvi, K., et al, Do Lipid Lowering Drugs Cause Erectile
Dysfunction? Family Practice, 2002
Copyright Kathryn Picoulin
http://suite101.com/article/statin-use-linked-to--low-libido-and-
erectile-dysfunction-a237851

Medications that can cause
Erectile Dysfunction (ED)

Many commonly prescribed medications can cause
erectile dysfunction (ED) in men and female sexual
dysfunction in women. If you find a medication that you
are currently taking on the list below and it is causing
problems with erections, have a talk with your doctor
about helping you find a substitute that may be less likely
to cause erectile dysfunction.
Antihypertensive (blood pressure medicines):
Associated with decreased libido, decreased arousal and
orgasmic disorder in women.

Associated with decreased libido, decreased arousal,
orgasmic disorder and erectile dysfunction in men. High
blood pressure medicines and diuretics (water pills):
Atenolol (Tenormin)
Bethanidine
Bumetanide (Bumex)
Captopril (Capoten)
Chlorothiazide (Diuril)
Chlorthalidone (Hygroton)
Clonidine (Catapres)
Enalapril (Vasotec)
Furosemide (Lasix)
Guanabenz (Wytensin)
Guanethidine (Ismelin)
Guanfacine (Tenex)
Haloperidol (Haldol)
Hydralazine (Apresoline)
Hydrochlorothiazide (Esidrix)
Labetalol (Normodyne)
Methyldopa (Aldomet)
Metoprolol (Lopressor)
Minoxidil (Loniten)
Nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia)
Phenoxybenzamine (Dibenzyline)
Phentolamine (Regitine)
Prazosin (Minipress)
Propranolol (Inderal)
Reserpine (Serpasil)
Spironolactone (Aldactone)


Continued from page 31 Medications that can cause
Triamterene (Maxzide)
Verapamil (Calan)
Commonly used medications are:
Beta Blockers: Inderal, Lopres- sor, Corgard, Blo-
cadren, Tenormin, Toprol
Calcium Channel Blockers: Adalat, Procardia,
Calan, Isoptin, Verelan, Cardizem, Dilacor XR,
Tiazac, Norvask
Alpha Blockers: Doxazosin, Prazosin, Terazosin
Diuretics: Diuril, Aldactone, Lasix
Medications used to treat depression, anxiety and
sedatives:
Associated with erectile dysfunction, orgasmic disorders
in men and orgasmic disorders, loss of sexual desire and
arousal in women.
Antidepressants and other psychiatric medications
commonly used :
Amitriptyline (Elavil)
Amoxapine (Asendin)
Buspirone (Buspar)
Chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
Clomipramine (Anafranil)
Clorazepate (Tranxene)
Desipramine (Norpramin)
Diazepam (Valium)
Doxepin (Sinequan)
Fluoxetine (Prozac)
Fluphenazine (Prolixin)
Imipramine (Tofranil)
Isocarboxazid (Marplan)
Lorazepam (Ativan)
Meprobamate (Equanil)
Mesoridazine (Serentil)
Nortriptyline (Pamelor)
Oxazepam (Serax)

Phenelzine (Nardil)
Phenytoin (Dilantin)
Sertraline (Zoloft)
Thioridazine (Mellaril)
Thiothixene (Navane)
Tranylcypromine (Parnate)
Trifluoperazine (Stelazine)
Antidepressants: Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox,
Serzone, BuSpar, Norpramin, Prolixin, Lithium,
Mellaril, Nardil, Serax, Anafranil, Elavil, Tofranil,
Sinequan, Pamelor
Neuroleptics: Thorazine, Haldol, Zyprexa
Sedatives: Librium, Valium, Xanax, Quaalude
(methaqualone), barbiturates, Ativan
Antihistamines:
Associated with lack of lubrication in women leading to
dyspareunia. In men, erectile dysfunction and decreased
libido.
Cimetidine (Tagamet)
Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine)
Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
Hydroxyzine (Vistaril)
Meclizine (Antivert)
Nizatidine (Axid)
Promethazine (Phenergan)
Ranitidine (Zantac)
Dramamine, Benadryl, Vistaril, Antivert, Phenergan
Medication used to treat dyslipidemia:
Associated with erectile dysfunction in men. Commonly
used medications are the fibrates such as gemfibrozil and
statins, such as simvastatin. For more information click
here
Fibrates > gemfibrosil, bezafibrate, fenofibrate,
ciprofibrate.
Statins > simvastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin,
atorvastatin, cerivastatin, colestipol, cholestyramine.
Anti-Diabetic Drugs:
Diabetes itself is the main cause of erectile dysfunction.


Continued from page 32 Medications that can cause Erectile
Dysfunction (ED)
However several reports indicates that using anti-diabetic
drugs is associated with ED.
Glimepiride (amaryl)
Medication used to treat cancer:
Associated with decreased libido and erectile
dysfunction in men and dyspareunia in women.
Chemotherapy and hormonal medications:
Antiandrogens (Casodex, Flutamide, Nilutamide)
Busulfan (Myleran)
Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)
Ketoconazole
LHRH agonists (Lupron, Zoladex)
Tamoxifen, Lupron, Flutamide, Nilutamide, Myleran,
Cytoxan, Ketoconazole, Zoladex, Casodex
Birth Control:
Associated with decreased libido, arousal disorder and
vaginal dryness in women.
Ortho 7/7/7, Tricyclen, Cyclen, Depo Provera
Anti Parkinsons:
Associated with erectile dysfunction and increased
libido in men and women. Parkinsons disease
medications:
Benztropine (Cogentin)
Biperiden (Akineton)
Bromocriptine (Parlodel)
Levodopa (Sinemet)
Procyclidine (Kemadrin)
Trihexyphenidyl (Artane)
Cogentin, Akineton, Parlodel, Sinemet, Kemadrin,
Artane
Non-steroidal Anti Inflammatory:
Associated with decreased lubrication in women and
erectile dysfunction in men.
Naproxen (Anaprox, Naprelan, Naprosyn)
Indomethacin (Indocin)
lbuprofen
Opiate Analgesics (painkillers)
Codeine
Fentanyl (Innovar)
Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
Meperidine (Demerol)
Methadone
Morphine
Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percodan)
Other medications:
Associated with various sexual disorders. Other
medications:
Aminocaproic acid (Amicar)
Atropine
Clofibrate (Atromid-S)
Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril)
Cyproterone
Digoxin (Lanoxin)
Disopyramide (Norpace)
Estrogen
Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar, Avodart)
Furazolidone (Furoxone)
H2 blockers (Tagamet, Zantac, Pepcid)
Indomethacin (Indocin)
Lipid-lowering agents
Licorice
Metoclopramide (Reglan)
NSAIDs (Ibuprofen, etc.)
Orphenadrine (Norflex)
Prochlorperazine (Compazine)
Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed)
Amicar, Atropine, Compazine. Flexeril, Lanoxin,
Norpace, Proscar, Propecia
Non Prescription/ Illegal Drugs:
Alcohol can cause decreased libido in men and women


Continued from page 33 - Medications that can cause
as well as orgasmic disorders and erectile dysfunction in
men. Heroin and morphine can cause decreased libido in
men and women and can cause ejaculatory disorders in
men.
Over time, amphetamines and cocaine can cause erectile
dysfunction in men. Marijuana can cause vaginal dryness
in women.
IMPORTANT NOTES!
DO NOT stop your medication before you consult your
doctor. If you think you got ED from the medications
youre taking, you better talk to your doctor and your
doctor may give you another prescription which is safer
for your sexual health.
If you do have experience about ED yourself and if you
thought its caused by the medication you are taking
please share it with us.
References:
1. http://www.seekwellness.com/mensexuality/medications.ht
m
2. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004024.
htm
3. http://www.webmd.com/erectiledysfunction/guide/drugs-
linked-erectile-dysfunction
4. http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/amaryl/drugs+that+may+ca
use+impotence
http://yuanadesukma.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/list-of-
medications-that-may-cause-erectile-dysfunction/

What is Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as impotence, is
the inability to achieve or sustain an erection for
satisfactory sexual activity. Erectile dysfunction is
different from other conditions that interfere with male
sexual intercourse, such as lack of sexual desire
(decreased libido) and problems with ejaculation and
orgasm (ejaculatory dysfunction). This article focuses on
the evaluation and treatment of erectile dysfunction.
How common is erectile dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction (ED, impotence) varies in severity;
some men have a total inability to achieve an erection,
others have an inconsistent ability to achieve an erection,
and still others can sustain only brief erections. The
variations in severity of erectile dysfunction make
estimating its frequency difficult. Many men also are
reluctant to discuss erectile dysfunction with their doctors
due to embarrassment, and thus the condition is under-
diagnosed. Nevertheless, experts have estimated that
erectile dysfunction affects 30 million men in the United

States.
While erectile dysfunction can occur at any age, it is
uncommon among young men and more common in
the elderly. By age 45, most men have experienced
erectile dysfunction at least some of the time.
According to the Massachusetts Male Aging Study,
complete impotence increases from 5% among men 40
years of age to 15% among men 70 years and older.
Population studies conducted in the Netherlands found
that some degree of erectile dysfunction occurred in
20% of men between ages 50-54, and in 50% of men
between ages 70-78. In 1999, the National Ambulatory
Medical Care Survey counted 1,520,000 doctor-office
visits for erectile dysfunction. Other studies have noted
that approximately 35% of men 40-70 years of age
suffer from moderate to severe ED, and an additional
15% may have milder forms.
What is normal penis anatomy?
The penis contains two chambers, called the corpora
cavernosa, which run the length of the upper side of the
penis (see figure 1 below). The urethra, which is the
channel for urine and ejaculate, runs along the
underside of the corpora cavernosa. Filling the corpora
cavernosa is a spongy tissue consisting of smooth
muscles, fibrous tissues, spaces, veins, and arteries. A
membrane, called the tunica albuginea, surrounds the
corpora cavernosa. Veins located in the tunica
albuginea drain blood out of the penis.



Continued from page 34 - What is Erectile Dysfunction?
How does erection occur?
Erection begins with sexual stimulation. Sexual
stimulation can be tactile (for example, by touching the
penis) or mental (for example, by having sexual
fantasies). Sexual stimulation or sexual arousal
generates electrical impulses along the nerves going to
the penis and causes the nerves to release nitric oxide,
which in turn increases the production of cyclic GMP
(cGMP) in the smooth muscle cells of the corpora
cavernosa. The cGMP causes the smooth muscles of the
corpora cavernosa to relax and allow rapid blood flow
into the penis. The incoming blood fills the corpora
cavernosa, making the penis expand.
How is erection sustained?
The pressure from the expanding penis compresses the
veins (blood vessels that drain the blood out of the
penis) in the tunica albuginea, helping to trap the blood
in the corpora cavernosa, thereby sustaining erection.
Erection is reversed when cGMP levels in the corpora
cavernosa fall, causing the smooth muscles of the
corpora cavernosa to contract, stopping the inflow of
blood and opening veins that drain blood away from the
penis. The levels of the cGMP in the corpora cavernosa
fall because it is destroyed by an enzyme called
phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5).
What are some of the risk factors for erectile
dysfunction?
The common risk factors for ED include the following:
Advanced age
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes mellitus
High cholesterol
Cigarette smoking
Recreational drug use
Depression or other psychiatric diseases
What are the causes of erectile dysfunction?
The ability to achieve and sustain erections requires
1. a healthy nervous system that conducts nerve
impulses in the brain, spinal column, and penis,
2. healthy arteries in and near the corpora cavernosa,
3. healthy smooth muscles and fibrous tissues within
the corpora cavernosa,
4. adequate levels of nitric oxide in the penis.
Erectile dysfunction can occur if one or more of these

requirements are not met. The following are causes of
erectile dysfunction:
Aging: There are two reasons why older men are
more likely to experience erectile dysfunction than
younger men. First, older men are more likely to
develop diseases (such as heart attacks, angina,
cardiovascular disease, strokes, diabetes mellitus, and
high blood pressure) that are associated with erectile
dysfunction. Second, the aging process alone can
cause erectile dysfunction in some men, primarily by
decreasing the compliance of the tissues in the
corpora cavernosa, although it has been suggested,
but not proven, that there is also decreased production
of nitric oxide in the nerves that innervate the
corporal smooth muscle within the penis.
Diabetes mellitus: Erectile dysfunction tends to
develop 10-15 years earlier in diabetic men than
among nondiabetic men. In a population study of men
with type I diabetes for more than 10 years, erectile
dysfunction was reported by 55% of men 50-60 years
of age. The increased risk of erectile dysfunction
among men with diabetes mellitus may be due to the
earlier onset and greater severity of atherosclerosis
that narrows the arteries and thereby reduces the
delivery of blood to the penis. When insufficient
blood is delivered to the penis, it is not possible to
achieve an erection. Diabetes mellitus also causes
erectile dysfunction by damaging both sensory and
autonomic nerves, a condition called diabetic
neuropathy. Smoking cigarettes, obesity, poor control
of blood glucose levels, and having diabetes mellitus
for a long time further increase the risk of erectile
dysfunction in diabetes. In addition to atherosclerosis
and/or neuropathy causing ED in diabetes, many men
with diabetes also develop a myopathy (muscle
disease) as their cause of ED in which the compliance
of the muscles in the corpora cavernosa is decreased,
and clinically this presents as an inability to maintain
the erection.
Hypertension (high blood pressure): People with
essential hypertension or arteriosclerosis have an
increased risk of developing erectile dysfunction.
Essential hypertension is the most common form of
hypertension; it is called essential hypertension
because it is not caused by another disease (for
example, by kidney disease). It is not clearly known
how essential hypertension causes erectile
dysfunction; however, those with essential
hypertension have been found to have low production
of nitric oxide by the arteries of the body, including
the arteries in the penis. High blood pressure also the


Continued from page 35 What is Erectile Dysfunction?
arteries in the penis. High blood pressure also
accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis, which
in turn can contribute to erectile dysfunction.
Scientists now suspect that the decreased levels of
nitric oxide in patients with essential hypertension
may contribute to erectile dysfunction.
Cardiovascular diseases: The most common cause
of cardiovascular diseases in the United States is
atherosclerosis, the narrowing and hardening of
arteries that reduces blood flow. Atherosclerosis
typically affects arteries throughout the body and is
aggravated by hypertension, high blood cholesterol
levels, cigarette smoking, and diabetes mellitus.
When coronary arteries (arteries that supply blood to
the heart muscle) are narrowed by atherosclerosis,
heart attacks and angina occur. When cerebral
arteries (arteries that supply blood to the brain) are
narrowed by atherosclerosis, strokes occur. Similarly,
when arteries to the penis and the pelvic organs are
narrowed by atherosclerosis, insufficient blood is
delivered to the penis to achieve an erection. There is
a close correlation between the severity of
atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries and erectile
dysfunction. For example, men with more severe
coronary artery atherosclerosis also tend to have
more erectile dysfunction than men with mild or no
coronary artery atherosclerosis.
Some doctors suggest that men with new onset
erectile dysfunction should be evaluated for silent
coronary artery diseases (advanced coronary artery
atherosclerosis that has not yet caused angina or heart
attacks).
Cigarette smoking: Cigarette smoking aggravates
atherosclerosis and thereby increases the risk for
erectile dysfunction.
Nerve or spinal cord damage: Damage to the spinal
cord and nerves in the pelvis can cause erectile
dysfunction. Nerve damage can be due to disease,
trauma, or surgical procedures. Examples include
injury to the spinal cord from automobile accidents,
injury to the pelvic nerves from prostate surgery for
prostate cancer (prostatectomy), radiation to the
prostate, surgery for benign prostatic enlargement,
multiple sclerosis (a neurological disease with the
potential to cause widespread damage to nerves), and
long-term diabetes mellitus.
Substance abuse: Marijuana, heroin, cocaine,
methamphetamines, crystal meth, and alcohol abuse
contribute to erectile dysfunction. Alcoholism, in
addition to causing nerve damage, can lead to atrophy
(shrinking) of the testicles and lower testosterone
levels.
Low testosterone levels: Testosterone (the primary
sex hormone in men) is not only necessary for sex
drive (libido) but also is necessary to maintain nitric
oxide levels in the penis. Therefore, men with
hypogonadism (diminished function of the testes
resulting in low testosterone production) can have
low sex drive and erectile dysfunction.
Medications: Many common medicines produce
erectile dysfunction as a side effect. Medicines that
can cause erectile dysfunction include many used to
treat high blood pressure, antihistamines,
antidepressants, tranquilizers, and appetite
suppressants. Examples of common medicines that
can cause erectile dysfunction include propranolol
(Inderal) or other beta-blockers, hydrochlorothiazide,
digoxin (Lanoxin), amitriptyline (Elavil), famotidine
(Pepcid), cimetidine (Tagamet), metoclopramide
(Reglan), indomethacin (Indocin), lithium (Eskalith,
Lithobid), verapamil (Calan, Verelan, Isoptin),
phenytoin (Dilantin), and gemfibrozil (Lopid).
Depression and anxiety: Psychological factors may
be responsible for erectile dysfunction. These factors
include stress, anxiety, guilt, depression, widower
syndrome, low self-esteem, posttraumatic stress
disorder, and fear of sexual failure (performance
anxiety). It is also worth noting that many
medications used for treatment of depression and
other psychiatric disorders may cause erectile
dysfunction or ejaculatory problems.
http://www.medicinenet.com/impotence_ed/article.htm#what_i
s_erectile_dysfunction

Third Female Lawmaker
introduces Bill to Limit Mens
Viagra Access
By Liz Goodwin
March 12, 2012
Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner is the third
female lawmaker to introduce a bill that would limit
men's access to Viagra and other erectile dysfunction
drugs to make a statement about the dozens of anti-
abortion bills that have passed statehouses around the
country over the last year.
Turner is opposed to a proposed bill that would prohibit


Continued from page 36 Third Female Lawmaker
introduces Bill to Limit Mens Viagra Access
abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can
happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The
Dayton Daily News reports that Turner's bill would
mandate that men seeking Viagra be "tested for heart
problems, receive counseling about possible side
effects and receive information about 'pursuing
celibacy as a viable lifestyle choice.'"
Turner said on MSNBC Monday that the bill is about
showing "men as much love in the reproductive
health arena as they have shown us over the years. My
Senate Bill 307 is all about the love and making sure
we look out for men's sexual health."
Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, the heartbeat bill's sponsor,
told the Dayton Daily News that the comparison
between Viagra and abortions isn't valid.
Turner is one of several female Democratic state
lawmakers who are wielding the power of sarcasm to
protest a wave of anti-abortion legislation.
In January, Virginia state Sen. Janet Howell introduced
an amendment to the state's controversial ultrasound
bill, which required women seeking abortions to first
undergo a vaginal ultrasound. The amendment, which
failed, said that all men seeking Viagra would have to
first get a rectal exam. The ultrasound bill passed after
Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell successfully
requested that the vaginal ultrasound requirement be
removed. Women seeking abortions will still have to
receive an external ultrasound under the new bill.
Earlier this month, Illinois state Rep. Kelly Cassidy
introduced an amendment to another bill that would
require women to get ultrasounds before being allowed
to get abortions. The amendment mandated that men
seeking Viagra watch a graphic video about the drug's
potential side effects. "If they are serious about us not
being able to make our own health care decisions, then
I'm just as serious about them not being able to make
theirs," she said.
Missouri state Rep. Stacey Newman, a Democrat,
introduced legislation that would allow men to get
vasectomies only if their life depended upon the
procedure, which was similar to Georgia state Rep.
Yasmin Neal's bill. "In determining whether a
vasectomy is necessary, no regard shall be made to the
desire of a man to father children, his economic
situation, his age, the number of children he is currently
responsible for, or any danger to his wife or partner in
the event a child is conceived," the tongue-in-cheek
Missouri bill reads.
According to the abortion rights group the Guttmacher
Institute, a record-breaking 92 new abortion-restricting
laws were passed in 2011. Two of those laws mandated
that women have ultrasounds and look at the images
before being allowed to get an abortion.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/third-female-lawmaker-
introduces-bill-limit-men-viagra-204340160.html

CULTURAL STUDIES; Viagra:
The Thrill That Was
By HILARY STOUT
June 5, 2011

IT isn't often that an article in AARP's magazine gets the
attention of People, the London tabloids, The Huffington
Post and the celebrity blogosphere. But so it was last year
when Michael Douglas, upon turning 65, sat down for an
interview with the mass-circulation periodical for the
over-50 set, and in the process uttered a word heard
round the world: ''Viagra.''
''Michael Douglas Takes Viagra'' announced headlines in
The New York Daily News and on sites like
whyfame.com and hotfeeder.com, among others.
''Michael Douglas Admits: I Have to Take Viagra'' (The
Daily Mail). ''Michael Douglas: Thank Goodness for
Viagra'' (the Huffington Post).
And so on.
For the record, the exact quote was subtler (though the
meaning seemed unmistakable), spoken during musings
about his life with Catherine Zeta-Jones, the gorgeous
(and quarter-century younger) actress he married in 2000:
''God bless her that she likes older guys. And some
wonderful enhancements have happened in the last few
years -- Viagra, Cialis -- that can make us all feel
younger.''
This was a man transformed, waxing poetic on the joys


Continued from page 37 CULTURAL STUDIES; Viagra:
The Thrill That Was
of fatherhood the second time around, that special
feeling of knowing his was the ''first face'' his children
see when they wake up and that sweet satisfaction from
helping them get ready for school.
It could be argued that this new persona would never
have existed but for the aforementioned little pill. At the
very least, it seems to have played a role not only in
fulfilling a marriage but also in the birth of the two
children who turned the Hollywood playboy into a
sentimental Mr. Mom.
With media images abounding these days of virile older
men -- Hugh Hefner, 85, and Crystal Harris, 25,
announcing their engagement; 80-year-old Rupert
Murdoch with his elementary-school-aged daughters; the
74-year-old Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi,
and that 18-year-old party girl -- one has to wonder if
Viagra has again worked its magic. (Do they or don't
they? Only their pharmacists know for sure.)
And now we have evidence that 54-year-old Osama bin
Laden had what has been referred to as an ''herbal
version of Viagra'' in his medicine chest at the compound
where he was hiding out with multiple wives.
All of this raises the question of just what the far-
reaching implications of Viagra (and similar drugs) are,
beyond the specific medical achievement of providing a
treatment, in the form of increased blood flow, for
millions of men with erectile dysfunction.
More than any pill ever to be dispensed, Viagra has
played to the yearnings of American culture: eternal
youth, sexual prowess, not to mention the longing for an
easy fix.
From the first announcement of the drug's existence,
fantasies went into overdrive; with the popping of a pill,
lackluster marriages would be repaired. Or a generation
of newly virile men would be on the make, hooking up
with younger partners, maybe even getting a chance at
righting any wrongs they had committed as fathers of
young children years earlier. At the very least, everyone
would be having great sex well into their twilight years.
It hasn't worked out quite that way. Thirteen years after
Viagra hit the market like a bolt of lightning (Dr. Jed
Kaminetsky, a New York University urologist, said that
at first he was so besieged with requests for prescriptions
that he had to start seeing patients on weekends to keep
up with the demand), we have not turned into a Viagra
Nation.
Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, said that it has been

prescribed to more than 35 million men worldwide. For
many men, it has been a wonder drug, doctors like Dr.
Kaminetsky agree.
But recently the market for Viagra-type drugs has stalled
in the United States. Last year the total number of
prescriptions for so-called ED drugs declined by 5
percent in the United States after growing just 1 percent
annually the previous four years, according to IMS
Health, a heath-care data and consulting firm. (Viagra
prescriptions were off 7 percent; those for Levitra
plummeted 18 percent.)
The drop seems all the more significant given that the
population is aging, so there are surely more men who
potentially need the drug.
There could be many reasons for the dip: effectiveness (it
doesn't work for everyone) or insurance payments, to
name a few.
But another number is perhaps more telling: doctors
widely observe that 40 to 50 percent of men who are
given a first prescription do not end up refilling it.
Perhaps the mentality is, as Dr. Kaminetsky suggested:
''Having that blue pill is sort of like when they were kids
but they walked around with a condom in their wallet:
they may never have sex but they were ready.''
Abraham Morgentaler, the director of Men's Health
Boston and author of the book ''The Viagra Myth,'' said
he was startled by the expectations that people initially
poured into one little pill. It became, at least
subconsciously, a panacea for all that was missing in their
life. ''Men look to these types of pills as a savior for other
aspects of their lives where things are not going well,'' he
said.
But there's only so much increased blood flow can do. Dr.
Morgentaler cited two patients, one who stopped using
Viagra shortly after he began and one who never used his
prescription. The first man said that once he was able to
perform again, he realized that the problems in his
marriage went well beyond sex; soon after he began
taking the drug, he and his wife separated. The second, a
man in his 70s, said he and his wife realized the
emotional connection was already there, so they decided
not to use his prescription.
Neither has there been a boomlet of babies as a result of
Viagra. In 2000, Ken Gronbach, a demographer, hailed
the certain arrival of a ''Viagra Generation,'' a
demographic of children who would never have been
born but for the existence of the drug.
But population statistics suggest his predictions have not
come to pass. Fatherhood rates among older men,


Continued from page 38 - CULTURAL STUDIES; Viagra:
The Thrill That Was
always minuscule, have not risen since Viagra came on
the market. According to the National Center for Health
Statistics, they amounted to 0.3 live births per 1,000
men over age 55 from the mid 1990s through 2005
before dropping to 0.2 births per thousand in 2006, then
rising to 0.4 in both 2007 and 2008, the latest year for
which statistics are available. That puts birthrates of
men over age 55 exactly where they were in the early
'80s.
The real effect of Viagra seems to be subtler. A 62-
year-old man, who asked that his name not be
disclosed, described in an interview how his experience
helped change his attitudes about aging. The man, a
widower who has been in a long-term relationship since
2004, said he initially looked to ED drugs as a savior.
''This is going to give me back everything,'' he said.
But that wasn't the case. The man said he has ended up
using the drugs on and off for the last 10 years. But he
no longer believes they are necessary. ''In some ways
it's a nice addition, but not so important that I need to
have it every time,'' he said. ''We've sort of made an
adjustment.''
Therapists and others who counsel people on
relationships say that the very existence of pills like
Viagra have heaped expectations on an age group that
may have more concerns than just whether they can
still have sex. (It's stressful enough at 30. But 70?)
Leonore Tiefer, a clinical psychologist and sex
therapist in New York, recalled two patients, a couple
in their 70s, both widowed. Their experiment with
Viagra had been unsuccessful. ''They were eager for
companionship but somehow they both felt they ought
to be having sex,'' she said. ''I said you are supposed to
be free of this kind of imperative at this point in your
life. Why do you think you ought to be doing this?''
The ensuing dialogue, she said, went along the lines of
the following:
''I thought you wanted to.''
''I thought you would have wanted to.''
It turned out neither one of them cared.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E3DF1
73FF936A35755C0A9679D8B63&ref=viagradrug&pagewa
nted=2

Continued from page 29- Why Men feel less manly
after Prostate Cancer
In the study, about one-third of men who had been treated
for prostate cancer in the last year reported feeling their
masculinity was diminished, and that they had lost a vital
part of their identity, Zaider said.
A better understanding of how men respond to their sense
of a change in their identity could help researchers find
better ways to help men recover, the researchers wrote in
their study, published online Sept. 18 in the Journal of
Sexual Medicine.
Zaider and colleagues interviewed 75 men, whose
average age was 60, who had received prostate cancer
treatment in the previous year.
The men answered questions about their level of erectile
function, how happy they were with their sex lives, the
degree to which they felt a loss of masculinity, and the
amount of "marital affection" they felt in their
relationship (all men in the study were living with a
spouse or partner). The men's spouses were also
interviewed.
"Men who felt they'd lost their masculine identity were
very likely to be stressed by their ED. The two seemed to
go closely together," Zaider said. "That link was there
whether they had severe or mild ED."
The researchers also found that among men who felt a
lost of their masculinity, those in relationships with a
high degree of affection were less likely to feel distress
over their ED.
But women don't always understand their husbands'
feelings. "I've worked with couples, and when the man
talks about how upset he is about his loss of erectile
function, the wife says, 'but you're alive, and we're OK,'"
Zaider said. "For men, it's not just about their function
it signifies a loss of who they are. There are feelings of
incompleteness."
The findings make a case for involving men's partners in
interventions aimed at helping men cope with their
distress, she said. The researchers have begun a trial to
test the effectiveness of such an intervention.
"Perhaps in the context of a strong, affectionate and
communicative relationship, men can revise their ideas
about what makes them a man and, in turn, adjust better
to ED," Zaider said.
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/15/14454493-why-
men-feel-less-manly-after-prostate-cancer?


Untreatable Gonorrhoea
spreading around World:
WHO
By Kate Kelland
Reuters
June 06, 2012
LONDON (Reuters) - Drug-resistant strains of
gonorrhoea have spread to countries across the world, the
U.N. health agency said on Wednesday, and millions of
patients may run out of treatment options unless doctors
catch and treat cases earlier.
Scientists reported last year finding a "superbug"
gonorrhoea strain in Japan that is resistant to all
recommended antibiotics and warned then that it could
transform a once easily treatable infection into a global
health threat.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said those fears
are now reality, with many more countries around the
world, including Australia, France, Norway, Sweden and
Britain, reporting cases of the sexually transmitted
disease resistant to cephalosporin antibiotics - normally
the last option for drugs against gonorrhoea.
"Gonorrhoea is becoming a major public health
challenge," said Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan, from the
WHO's department of reproductive health and research.
"We are very concerned about recent reports of treatment
failure from the last effective treatment option - the class
of cephalosporin antibiotics," she added. "If gonococcal
infections become untreatable, the health implications
are significant."
Gonorrhoea is a bacterial sexually transmitted infection
which, if left untreated, can lead to pelvic inflammatory
disease, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths, severe eye
infections in babies, and infertility in both men and
women.
It is one of the most common sexually transmitted
diseases in the world and is most prevalent in south and
southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In the United
States alone, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of cases is
estimated at around 700,000 a year.
The WHO called for greater vigilance on the correct use
of antibiotics and more research into alternative
treatments for so-called gonococcal infections. The
emergence of drug-resistant or superbug strains of
gonorrhoea is caused by unregulated access to and
overuse of antibiotics, which helps fuel natural genetic
mutations within the bacteria.
Experts say an added problem with gonorrhoea is that its
strains tend to retain their genetic resistance to previous
antibiotics even after their use has been discontinued.
"TIP OF THE ICEBERG"
The United Nations' health agency said it does not yet how
far or wide drug resistance in gonorrhoea has spread, as
many countries lack reliable data. But it put the number of
people who have contracted it in the millions.
"The available data only shows the tip of the iceberg," said
Lusti-Narasimhan. "Without adequate surveillance we
won't know the extent of resistance to gonorrhoea and
without research into new antimicrobial agents, there could
soon be no effective treatment for patients."
Experts say the best way to reduce the risk of even greater
resistance developing - beyond the urgent need to develop
effective new drugs - is to treat gonorrhoea with
combinations of two or more types of antibiotic at the same
time. This technique is used in the treatment of some other
infections like tuberculosis in an attempt to make it more
difficult for the bacteria to learn how to conquer the drugs.
Gonorrhoea can be prevented through safer sexual
intercourse. The WHO said early detection and prompt
treatment, including of sexual partners, is essential to
control sexually transmitted infections.
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/untreatable-gonorrhoea-
spreading-around-world-who

Continued from page 18 Smaller Penis (And
Regret) May Follow Prostate Cancer Treatment
Size Loss: Perceived, Not Measured
This study did not include actual measurements of patients'
penises. Instead, the problem of size loss was culled from
physician-completed questionnaires about their patients. In
effect, a patient had to complain about their "perceived
reduction in penile size."
Other studies have put a ruler to work.
In one study, stretched penile length was measured before
and after bilateral nerve-sparing surgery; it showed a
significant decrease in length at 1 month, from 11.77 to
11.13 cm (J Endourol. 2011;25:65-69).
In a prospective study of men receiving ADT alone as
initial therapy for prostate cancer, there was a significant
decrease in the mean penile length at 15 months, from
10.76 to 8.05 cm (J Sex Med. 2011;8:3214-3219). That
study found no significant relation between potency and
penile shortening. Continued on page 48


Volume 8 Issue 1 NEWSLETTER January 2013
FEATURED ARTICLES
Study: Chemical Pollution linked to Upsurge in
Homosexuality, Transgenderism
By Terrence Aym
April 5, 2012

In recent years the percentage of the population
identifying themselves as gay or transgender has risen.
Some have attributed it to a greater willingness to come
"out of the closet."
But now, two studies shed more light on why
homosexuality may be increasing.
A breakthrough study, conducted by medical researchers
at the Stockholm Brain Institute in Sweden, has found
that the brains of homosexual men and heterosexual
women have striking similarities. The strongest
correlation is between amygdala activity and the physical
size of the brain. The researchers report that the region of
the brain that's affected is directly responsible for
aggression, emotional response and feelings of anxiety.
In the case of gay men and straight women the amygdala
is virtually identical.
Similarities also exist between the brains of lesbians and
straight men.
Another study, published by the International Journal of
Andrology, zeroes in on an environmental pollutant and
shows how it can mutate key areas of the brain affecting
the tendency towards sexual preference.
In conjunction with other studies revealing links between
environmental toxins that affect the development of the
amygdala in fetuses and infants, questions raising about
the possibility that certain pollutants are impacting
sexuality during early childhood.
The Stockholm study, "Brain similarities between
homosexuals and opposite sex" appears in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Because this finding touches upon strong political nerves,
the report is controversial. But the history of science
surging forward has often been controversial. In extreme
cases, new knowledge is so reviled by a culture or society
that scientists are threatened with death.
Galileo Galilei's astronomical observations threatened
the power structure of the Vatican during the 17th
Century. Evolution threatens those that believe in
Creationism, and the biological-environmental causes
of some homosexuality threatens those groups that
promote the sexual preference as one of choice, and
those that deny that exposure to certain chemical
pollutants are changing the physiology of the human
race.
The study found the characteristics shaping the
preference for the same sex is governed by the
chemistry taking place in the womb during fetal
development.
Neurologist Ivanka Savic-Berglund, the study's author,
explained, that the traits are steered towards
heterosexual or homosexual tendencies during
pregnancy and extend into early infancy.
According to the research, environmental social factors
such as family structure, cultural mores, and
psychological factors have little or no impact on sexual
preference.
Commenting on the finding, Dr. Dean Hamer, a
molecular biologist at the National Institutes of Health,
said: "This is yet another in a long series of
observations showing there's a biological reason for
sexual orientation. It's not just a reflection of people's
behavior, nor is it a choice, nor is it something in their
rearing environment. [The Stockholm Brain Institute
findings] shows that it's something that people are born
with."
To determine if the physiology of the brain really
drives sexual preferences, the scientists worked with a
group of 90 subjects. The members of the group had 25
heterosexuals and 20 homosexuals of each sex.


Continued from page 41- Study: Chemical Pollution linked to
Upsurge in Homosexuality, Transgenderism
Using high tech medical tools like magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET)
scanning, the team obtained hard evidence that
heterosexual men and homosexual women possess
asymmetrical brains. They discovered the same
physiology exists between the brains of heterosexual
women and gay men.
The reserachers also found that the blood flow to the
amygdala revealed that lesbians and heterosexual men
had more blood going to the region affecting aggressive
behavior, while straight women and gay men had a
greater blood flow to those parts of the brain governing
both anxiety and fear.
Research finds links between environmental
pollutants and abnormal brain development
Some toxic chemicals don't kill outright; instead
they mutate cells, change DNA, or affect the physiology
of sexual development.
As far back as 2000 a study conducted of fish exposed to
pollution in the Potomac River revealed a whopping
eight out of 10 males had morphed into females. The
scientists were not only stunned, they were horrified.
The biological dysfunctions were found to have come
about through exposure to endocrine disruptor.
Bisphenol-A and other phthalates are endocrine
disruptors and are part of the chemical composition of
plastic bottles that contain water, fruit juices and
carbonated drinks. The phthalates can leak out over time
and poison the product resulting in abnormal fetal brain
development if the fetus is exposed to the toxins in the
mother's blood.
Another incident occurred some years later in the Great
Lakes. That disaster not only affected fish, but humans
eating the fish. An outbreak of thyroid problems was
followed by pregnant women giving birth to low-weight
babies having disproportionately smaller heads and IQs
below average.
The culprit that time was polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs).
But some environmental poisoning is more subtle, takes
longer to discover, and is more insidious. It can be
especially difficult to determone the real truth through
scientific data when various groups have drawn up battle
lines and have already determined what the know is
"true."
At one time psychologists believed that homosexuality

was an aberrant behavior and a mental illness.
Psychology books had whole chapters focused on
homosexuality, its diagnosis and possible therapy to
treat it. Those books gradually disappeared as the gay
movement arose during the 1970s and 1980s.
Certain religious groups are very politically active
against homosexuality and the gay lifestyle. They
believe that homosexuality is a choice and that those
who embrace same sex relationships, bi-sexual
lifestyles, or claim they are transgender have
consciously made the decision to do so.
Yet over the past 20 years objective studies have
revealed just the opposite. The brains of homosexuals
are different than the brains of heterosexuals of the
same sex.
Now the how and whys some brains are changed
chemicallyeither in the womb or suring early
infancyare beginning to be answered.
Another factor is the hormone Androstendione. A
research psychologist at Villanova University, Dr.
Ingeborg Ward, studied how chemicals in treated male
rats increased stress levels and led to increased
production of the hormone. Ward discovered the
hormone affects male brain development adversely
during early development, in effect it tends to feminize
it.
Ward noted: "The present data support the
hypothesis that exposure of pregnant rats to
environmental stressors modifies the normal process of
sexual behavior differentiation in male fetuses by
decreasing functional testosterone and elevating
androstenedione levels during prenatal development.
During stress conditions plasma testosterone emanating
from the gonads decreases while adrenal
androstenedione rises. The molecular structure of the
two androgens, being very similar, it is postulated that
the two hormones compete for the same receptor sites."
Although that sheds light on how the male brain may
be mutated towards female tendencies, what about
lesbians?
An article written by Dan Eden, "Homosexuality is not
a choice," addresses how the same biological
dysfunction could apply to females: "The developing
female fetus is expecting no pre-natal testosterone. This
molecule is significant only if the fetus is destined to be
male.
Androstenedione, produced by maternal stress, closely
resembles testosterone. Even a small amount of this


particularly pesticides and plasticizers, are suspected
endocrine disruptors based on limited animal studies.
3. What are some likely routes of exposure to
endocrine disruptors?
Exposure to endocrine disruptors can occur through
direct contact with pesticides and other chemicals or
through ingestion of contaminated water, food, or air.
Chemicals suspected of acting as endocrine disruptors
are found in insecticides, herbicides, fumigants and
fungicides that are used in agriculture as well as in the
home. Industrial workers can be exposed to chemicals
such as detergents, resins, and plasticizers with
endocrine disrupting properties. Endocrine disruptors
enter the air or water as a byproduct of many chemical
and manufacturing processes and when plastics and
other materials are burned. Further, studies have found
that endocrine disruptors can leach out of plastics,
including the type of plastic used to make hospital
intravenous bags. Many endocrine disruptors are
persistent in the environment and accumulate in fat, so
the greatest exposures come from eating fatty foods
and fish from contaminated water.
4. How do we know that endocrine disruptors are
dangerous?
Many plant and animal species are showing signs of ill
health due to exposure to endocrine disrupting
chemicals. For example, fish in the Great Lakes, which
are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) and other man-made chemicals, have
numerous reproductive problems as well as abnormal
swelling of the thyroid glands. Fish-eating birds in the
Great Lakes area, such as eagles, terns, and gulls, have
shown similar dysfunctions.
Scientists have also pointed to endocrine disruptors as
the cause of a declining alligator population in Lake
Apopka, Florida. The alligators in this area have
diminished reproductive organs that prevent successful
reproduction. These problems were connected to a
large pesticide spill several years earlier, and the
alligators were found to have endocrine disrupting
chemicals in their bodies and eggs.
Should humans be concerned for their health based
on evidence that fish, birds and alligators have been
affected?
Yes. All vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
and mammals, including humans) are fundamentally
similar during early embryonic development. Scientists
can therefore use the evidence acquired on other
species to make predictions about endocrine disrupting
effects on humans.
Continued from page 42 - Study: Chemical Pollution linked to
Upsurge in Homosexuality, Transgenderism
molecule during the critical first trimester of pregnancy
could be enough to make the developing hypothalamus
defeminized or masculine. So the same mechanism can
possibly explain both male and female homosexuality."
Evidence phthalates increasing tendency towards
homosexuality
The per-reviewed International Journal of Andrology
recently published a new study, "Decrease in Anogenital
Distance among Male Infants with Prenatal Phthalate
Exposure," that analyzed two phthalates. The study shows
that exposure to anti-androgen phthalates can significantly
and adversely affect the development of masculinity in the
male brain.
Dr. Shanna H. Swan, a professor of Obstetrics and
Gynecology and the director of the University of
Rochester Medical Center for Reproductive
Epidemiology, was the lead author. She has called for
more research into the long range effects of phthalates on
the brain.
The good news may be the chemical culprit that's
mutating brain development may have been found.
The bad news is: phthalates are found everywhere.
http://www.helium.com/items/2311729-chemical-pollution-
linked-to-upsurge-in-homosexuality-transgenderism

Endocrine Disruptors
1. What is the endocrine system?
The endocrine system is a complex network of glands and
hormones that regulates many of the body's functions,
including growth, development and maturation, as well as
the way various organs operate. The endocrine glands --
including the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, thymus, pancreas,
ovaries, and testes -- release carefully-measured amounts
of hormones into the bloodstream that act as natural
chemical messengers, traveling to different parts of the
body in order to control and adjust many life functions.
2. What is an endocrine disruptor?
An endocrine disruptor is a synthetic chemical that when
absorbed into the body either mimics or blocks hormones
and disrupts the body's normal functions. This disruption
can happen through altering normal hormone levels,
halting or stimulating the production of hormones, or
changing the way hormones travel through the body, thus
affecting the functions that these hormones control.
Chemicals that are known human endocrine disruptors
include diethylstilbesterol (the drug DES), dioxin, PCBs,
DDT, and some other pesticides. Many chemicals,


Continued from page 43 Endocrine Disruptors
6. Is there direct evidence that humans are
susceptible to endocrine disruption?
Yes. In the 1950s and 1960s pregnant women were
prescribed diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic
estrogen, to prevent miscarriages. Not only did DES fail
to prevent miscarriages, but it also caused health
problems for many of these women's children. In 1971,
doctors began reporting high rates of unusual vaginal
cancers in teenage girls. Investigations of the girls'
environmental exposures traced the problem to their
mothers' use of DES. The girls also suffered birth
defects of the uterus and ovaries, and immune system
suppression.
7. Are children at greater risk from endocrine
disruptor exposure?
Yes. Because endocrine disruptors affect the
development of the body's vital organs and hormonal
systems, infants, children and developing fetuses are
more vulnerable to exposure. And as was the case with
DES, parents' exposure to certain chemicals may
produce unexpected -- and tragic -- effects in their
children, even decades later.
8. These days don't chemicals have to be safe to be
allowed on the market?
No. The majority of the more than 2,000 chemicals that
come onto the market every year do not go through
even the simplest tests to determine toxicity. Even when
some tests are carried out, they do not assess whether or
not a chemical has endocrine interfering properties.
9. What can I do to reduce my risk of exposure?
Educate yourself about endocrine disruptors, and
educate your family and friends.
Buy organic food whenever possible.
Avoid using pesticides in your home or yard, or on
your pet -- use baits or traps instead, keepin your
home especially clean to prevent ant or roach
infestations.
Find out if pesticides are used in your child's school
or day care center and campaign for non-toxic
alternatives.
Avoid fatty foods such as cheese and meat
whenever possible.
If you eat fish from lakes, rivers, or bays, check
with your state to see if they are contaminated.
Avoid heating food in plastic containers, or storing
fatty foods in plastic containers or plastic wrap.

Do not give young children soft plastic teethers or toys,
since these leach potential endocrine disrupting
chemicals.
Support efforts to get strong government regulation of
and increased research on endocrine disrupting
chemicals.
http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/qendoc.asp

Radiation Exposure and
Sperm: Basics Every Man
Should Know
By Tinamarie Bernard
March 31, 2011

You light up my sperm? What a man should know if
contemplating fatherhood.
Male fertility depends on healthy sperm. Just as there are
ways a man can enable optimum sexual fitness via diet
(whats good for the heart is often good for a mans libido)
and erectile supplements for example, we are now more
keenly aware of how certain toxins can permanently alter
sperm production and function. The recent disasters around
the globe, particularly the nuclear reactor crisis in Japan,
highlights how these forces often out of our individual
control. With concerns of radiation exposure on the top of
peoples minds, we at Greenprophet.com want to offer basics
every man in the Middle East should know with regards to
radiation exposure and his sexual health.
To impregnate his partner, a mans body must produce
appropriate levels of testosterone and other hormones
involved in the production of sperm in the testicles. There has
to be enough sperm, carried via semen, to be ejaculated out
of the penis. And the motility and morphology of sperm must
be such that they can reach and penetrate a womans ova. It
should be noted that globally, sperm counts have been
declining.


Continued from page 44 - Radiation Exposure and Sperm:
Basics Every Man Should Know
Greenprophet.com reported on the forty percent decline
in sperm count among Israelis, attributing these changes
to cell phone use and hormone exposure. A low sperm
count is considered fewer than 20 million sperm per
milliliter of semen.
What about environmental elements that can harm
sperm?
The Mayo Health Clinic sites heat, toxins and chemicals
as common sources of concern.
Pesticides. Some men exposed to pesticides such as
ethylene dibromide and organophosphates have
lowered sperm counts. Pesticide exposure has also
been linked to testicular cancer. Most studies have
been done on men who work in agriculture or live in
agricultural areas.
Heavy metal exposure. Exposure to lead or other
heavy metals also may cause infertility.
Exposure to radiation or X-rays. Exposure to
radiation can reduce sperm production. It can take
several years for sperm production to return to
normal. With high doses of radiation, sperm
production can be permanently reduced.
Overheating the testicles. Frequent use of saunas or
hot tubs may temporarily lower your sperm count.
Sitting for long periods or wearing tight clothing also
may increase the temperature in your scrotum and
reduce sperm production.
Prolonged bicycling. Prolonged bicycling is another
possible cause of reduced fertility due to overheating
the testicles. In some cases, bicycle seat pressure on
the area behind the testicles (perineum) can cause
numbness in the penis and erectile dysfunction.
Its the third item on that list raising questions these days.
According to the Health Physics Society, a USA-based
scientific organization comprised of 6000 professionals
members who specialize in radiation safety, the common
concern about testicular radiation exposure is birth
defects.
Referencing to large population studies, one of which
looked at thousands of patients who were exposed to
radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after 50 years of
studying this population, there has been no demonstrable
increase in genetic disease. What was learned is that the
risk is extremely small and that you need very large
populations to demonstrate this risk. In other words, the
risk from the radiation is too small to be detected amid
the spontaneous incidence of mutations and the heredi-
tary component of mutations that may affect the
offspring.
The National Cancer Institute in the United States has
studied thousands of male patients exposed to radiation
therapy as part of cancer treatment. Families of these
individuals also have not demonstrated an increase in
birth defects or miscarriage. Still, the author cautions
that infertility or sterility may occur after exposure,
though birth defects are unlikely.
Studies of the atomic bomb survivors indicate even in
the high-exposure group that there is not an increased
incidence of chromosome abnormalities or genetic
disease in the next generation. That is also the case for
studies from the National Cancer Institute, which
indicate that patients who had cancer and received
chemotherapy and radiation did not have an increased
incidence in genetic disease or birth defects in the next
generation, although they did have problems with
infertility.
They advise men whove had even diagnostic
exposures to radiation to wait for at least two
spermatogenesis cycles, which is about four months
before attempting to impregnate their partner. It takes
approximately 48 days for new sperm cells to form, and
14 days for them to reach maturation. In general, the
more frequently a man ejaculates, including via
masturbation, the more efficient his sperm-production
will be.
In previous articles, we discussed the risks of exposure
to toxins on a mans sperm and offspring that suggest
even small changes in diet can have long-term
deleterious consequences.
For specifics from the Health Physics Society on the
Japanese fukushima reactor, visit their site.
:: Mayo Clinic and Robert Brent, MD, PhD, Health
Physics Society
http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/03/radiation-exposure-
sperm/

Israeli Sperm Count Drops A
Whopping Forty Percent
By Maurice Picow
May 12, 2009
It could be something out of the worst nightmare of a
Woody Allen flick like Everything you wanted to
know about sex but are afraid to ask.


Continued from page 45 Israeli Sperm Count Drops a
Whopping Forty Percent
But there may be truth in some recent findings about a
radical reduction in male sperm count by Dr. Ronit
Haimov Kochman from Hadassah Hospitals Mt.
Scopus campus in Jerusalem.
The study was conducted between 2004 and 2008, and
found that the amount of sperm in Israeli males who
took part in the study has dropped by a whopping 40%
over a decade earlier. Environmental factors, including
cell phone use, are to blame.
Why this has happened appears to be due to a number
reasons including changes in diet (more use of alcohol,
eating fast foods, etc.) as well as increased use of
cellular phones.
The increased use of cell phones appear to be one of the
most acute reasons for loss of male sperm count, that in
males studied, dropped from 107 million sperm cells
per cubic cm of test fluid, or semen, to only 67
million. That means a drop of the little squiggly rascals
of around 40%.
Radiation from cell phones, especially those carried in
one pockets (hey, where else are we going to carry
one?) seem to be especially good at zapping the lil
critters; but even the water the people drink seems to
have an effect as well.
Whats even more worrisome is that not only the
number of sperm has dropped significantly but the
quality as well; which could have an effect on ones
with XY chromosomes that are supposed to involved in
producing male offspring and are said to be more
vulnerable to conditions while en route to the ova in the
female body.
Dr. Haimov-Kochman went on to say that if this keeps
up, male sperm count will be down to only around 20
million per cubic cm by the year 2030, which will have
a definite effect on human reproduction.
It also appears that hormone imbalance may also be a
factor as too much female estrogen hormones also has a
role in problems dealing with human reproduction.
Many men acquire female estrogen hormones when
they get older which often accounts for problems with
the prostate gland, larger breasts in men, and even
prostate cancer. The increase in estrogen hormones,
including that in women also seems to be effected by
diet, including eating certain fruits and animals given
estrogen to increase milk production. And of course,
the use of estrogen-packed birth control pills used by
women, and which make their way to our drinking
water, isnt helping the situation either.
Prof. Levenfeld, head of the Israel Fertility Institute at
Beershevas Soroka Medical Center, added that there
appears to be an overall reduction in male sperm counts
and sperm quality all over the world, also as the result of
conditions similar to those in Israeli men involved in the
study.
Before making definite conclusions, however, Prof.
Levenfeld suggested that studies be made on a new group
of test subjects who dont zap their privates with cell
phone radiation and who eat a more healthy diet. If
anyone reading this article saw the movie Children of
Men which portrayed a childless world in about the year
2030, the future might seem very chilling indeed.
http://www.greenprophet.com/2009/05/israel-sperm-count-
environment/

The Dental Connection to
Infertility
Mark A. Breiner, DDS
The FDA and EPA have advised that women who might
become pregnant, women who are pregnant, nursing
mothers and young children should limit their intake of
fish. Why? Because of the mercury levels in fish.
As we will see, mercury has profound effects
on fertility.
What everyone seems to ignore when the topic of
mercury is discussed is the fact that according to the
World Health Organization the major source of
mercury for a human being is from dental "silver"
fillings. You get more mercury from your mercury laden
dental fillings then you do from your food or from the
environment.
The mercury in a silver amalgam filling accounts for
about 50% of a dental restoration. If you have these
fillings, then you are inhaling toxic mercury vapor every
day. Anything you do to stimulate the filling will cause
large increases in the amount of vapor coming off the
filling. If you chew, grind, brush, bleach your teeth, have
them polished by a hygienist or have them touched with a
drill you greatly increase the amount of mercury coming
from the filling. It comes out in a vapor form which
allows it to easily pass to all your tissues and organs,
including those of reproduction.
Men, Mercury and Reproduction
Mercury has an affinity for sperm. Mercury and other
heavy metals are found in male ejaculate and seminal


Continued from page 46 The Dental Connection to
Infertility
fluid, with the heaviest amount in the sperm.
Besides the fact that mercury disrupts all living systems
via many different pathways, there are two ways mercury
in male reproductive fluids may be a problem with
respect to infertility. 1) A women may be hypersensitive
or allergic to mercury and thus have antibodies to
mercury which will then react with the sperm and kill
them. 2) Sperm with low motility are low in zinc and
manganese; these are needed in the enzyme systems
necessary for sperm motility. Mercury inhibits zinc and
manganese. Thus there can be an indirect effect of
mercury on sperm. Selenium is also involved in sperm
motility as well as in normal development of sperm.
Selenium has a very high affinity for mercury and is one
of the body's natural protectors against mercury. If the
selenium is tied up with mercury it is not available for
other important functions like healthy sperm.
Another side effect of mercury in humans is loss of
libido. We can all appreciate how this can have an effect
on fertility! Guess what was always used in contraceptive
gels because it kills sperm? Right ... mercury. Mercury
also inhibits the synthesis of DNA in sperm forming cells.
DNA is what carries our genetic information.
I had a patient who came to remove his mercury fillings
specifically because of his low sperm count and motility.
He was a chiropractor and had researched the issue. He
and his wife had been trying to have a baby for a few
years and finally went for testing. His wife was fine, but
he was not. Six months after removal of the fillings and
detoxification of metals from his body, his wife became
pregnant. They now have three beautiful children.
So much for the men, what about the other half?
Women are not as simple as men (but all you women
know that). There is a lot more going on and therefore a
lot more areas mercury can have an impact. Remember
mercury from fillings comes off in the vapor form. It has
no electrical charge-it is elemental mercury. It goes to the
blood and in one minute circulates to the whole body.
Having no charge it easily passes to various tissues and
organs and then becomes charged. It then binds to
proteins and is thus called inorganic mercury. Mercury
can destroy the biological function of any protein it
binds to.
According to the Center for Disease Control one in
twelve women of child-bearing age already have
unsafe blood levels of mercury. This is scary because
blood is not even a good indicator of mercury-it is when it
leaves the blood and binds to proteins that it becomes a
problem.
Remember a woman's body is very complex. With all the
rising and falling of various hormones, mercury
accumulates in the hypothalamus and pituitary. Both
of these hormone producing glands are responsible for
the proper functioning of the female hormones. Fertility
is based on the functional integration of the
hypothalamus, pituitary, ovaries and uterus. The
hypothalamus produces Gonatatrophin Releasing
Hormone which tells the pituitary to release the Follicle-
Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone
(LH). Studies on women who work around mercury
show menstrual cycle disturbances, hypomenorrhea,
or hypermenorrhea. I know from my own experience in
practice, that many women have all sorts of problems
with their periods. Very often they report tremendous
improvement when the mercury is removed and chelated
out of their bodies. Also with mercury poisoning we
know there is an increased rate of spontaneous abortion
and neonatal mortality. We especially see this in female
dentists and assistants.
Some studies suggest endometriosis is linked to abnormal
immune function. Mercury weakens the immune
system. One of the ways it does this is by depleting the
adrenal glands of B-5 and ascorbic acid. This causes a
decrease in adrenal hormones which then leads to
decreased immune function. Add stress, which can also
ultimately decrease adrenal function and you have a
recipe for problems. I find it is helpful to supplement all
mercury-toxic patients to support the adrenal glands. Also
the pituitary is important in adrenal functioning.
Mercury loves to accumulate here. Mercury interferes
with an enzyme called cytochrome P450. This enzyme is
important in the production of progesterone, a major
female hormone. The list goes on and on.
A study was done in Hong Kong on 150 infertile couples
undergoing in-vitro fertilization versus 20 fertile couples.
The infertile couples had significantly higher blood
mercury then the fertile group. Over 1/3 of infertile men
had abnormally high mercury and about 1/4 of the
infertile females had high mercury levels. They blamed it
on sea food consumption. Considering they looked only
at blood, fish may have been the culprit. Mercury in the
blood often will reflect fish intake. However, fish is not
usually a major source of one's mercury. Too bad they
did not run tests to check on the tissue burden of mercury.
Nevertheless, this study reinforces the fact that mercury
levels need to be investigated when dealing with
infertility, both in the male and the female. Suffice it to
say, I believe that any couple having trouble conceiving
should be checked for heavy metal toxicity.
As one new patient said, "When I decided to become


Continued from page 47 The Dental Connection to
Infertility
pregnant I did all I could to be as healthy as possible. I
made sure I ate healthy foods, abstained from all alcohol
and stopped eating fish. I am really upset that nowhere
did I read or did anyone tell me that "silver" fillings are a
major source of mercury. Maybe that is why I had
trouble getting pregnant and when I did I lost two babies
in utero."
The American Dental Association likes to say that
mercury in a filling is no longer mercury and therefore is
safe. This is absurd. Just remember mercury is mercury
and mercury is toxic. 2005, Mark A. Breiner, DDS
http://www.wholebodymed.com/library_education_details.php
?pid=31

Continued from page 40 Smaller Penis (And
Regret) May Follow Prostate Cancer Treatment
However, some researchers have suggested that the loss
of erectile function related to ADT might contribute to
shortening, note Dr. Nguyen and his coauthors.
Dr. Cormier does not put much stock in actual
measurements, which could be "stressful" for patients.
"The patients' perception of penile length is the key
point," he writes. But this is tricky, Dr. Cormier says.
"Sexual activity needs to be thoroughly measured, owing
to the obvious relationship with the patients' perception
of penile length. Finally, the psychological effect of
disease recurrence might modify patients' perception of
penile length," he writes.
No validated self-administered questionnaire exploring
all these domains exists, Dr. Cormier explains. His
speculations do not, however, address a key study
finding that radiotherapy was not associated with any
size loss, but surgery and ADT were.
Dr. Nguyen and his coauthors state that radiation could,
in fact, cause shrinkage.
They observe that other researchers have speculated that
"long-term inflammatory changes to the
microvasculature, neural tissues, and structural changes
to the corporeal smooth muscle, all resulting from
external-beam radiation therapy...can contribute to
penile length changes."
It is unclear why penile reduction occurs after
surgery. The authors suggest that denervation
atrophy associated with erectile dysfunction and
possibly fibrosis of the cavernous smooth muscle
might occur.

Urology. 2013;81:130-135, 134. Abstract, Editorial comment
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/777197

Millions of Fewer Girls Born
Due to Nuclear Radiation?
"Unexpected" findings suggest bomb tests, plant
accidents boosted male births
BY KER THAN
June 2, 2011
National Geographic News
Nuclear radiation from bomb tests and power plant
accidents causes slightly more boys than girls to be born, a
new study suggests. While effects were seen to be regional
for incidents on the ground, like Chernobyl, atmospheric
blasts were found to affect birth rates on a global scale.
The result: Millions fewer females have been born
worldwide than would otherwise be expected, researchers
estimate. And given Japan's current nuclear troubles,
another boy boomlet could be on the way, experts say.
For the new study, scientists analyzed population data
from 1975 to 2007 for 39 European countries and the
United States.
They found an increase in the number of male births
relative to female births in all of the countries investigated
from 1964 to 1975and in many eastern European
countries for several years after 1986.
In "normal" circumstances, male births outnumber female
births by a ratio of 105 to 100, study co-author Hagen
Scherb said. "It's not known what is the
biological reason for this ratio," he added. "It's a natural
constant, like the constant of gravity."
The statistical bumps observed in the study are in addition
to that slight natural imbalance.
The 1960s and '70s increase is attributed in the study to the
global dispersal of radioactive atoms from atmospheric
atomic bomb tests. The tests lofted radioactive atoms high
into the atmosphere, where air currents caught the atoms
and then dispersed them around the planet.
Open-air nuclear tests were most common from the late
1940s until 1963, when the Limited Test Ban Treaty sent
such testing underground, at least for signatories the
United States, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom.
Chernobyl's Hidden Fallout?
The scientists think the second spike in their data is due


Continued from page 48 Millions of Fewer Girls Born Due
to Nuclear Radiation?
to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in which a nuclear
reactor exploded in Ukraine, which was then part of the
Soviet Union.
In Chernobyl's case, the effect was more localized, since
the radioactive release occurred on the ground.
"The closer the country was to Chernobyl, the stronger
the effect," said Scherb, a biostatistician at the German
Research Center for Environmental Health in Munich.
For example, more males were born relative to females
in neighboring Belarus than in France, hundreds of miles
away (regional map).
No post-Chernobyl effect was seen in the U.S., which
was presumably too far away for the radioactive atoms to
reach in sufficiently high amounts, Scherb added.
In both instances, the increase in the ratio of male to
female births was meagerless than one percent.
But the effect lasted years before leveling off or
reversingnot surprising, since radioactive atoms can
remain harmful for several years, the study authors say.
And even with such a small increase in the percentage of
male births, the global release of nuclear radiation has,
over decades, led to several million fewer girls being
born worldwide than would otherwise be expected, the
authors estimate.
Female Chromosomes Especially Vulnerable?
The biological mechanism behind the skewed sex ratio
wasn't investigated in the study. But previous radiation
experiments on animals suggest the boost in males may
be due to damage to X chromosomes in sperm, Scherb
said.
In humans, a sperm cell contains either an X or Y
chromosome, while an egg contains no Y chromosome.
If an embryo has an XY combination, it will become a
boy. An XX combination results in a girl.
It's not known exactly why X chromosomes in sperm
would be more likely to sustain radiation damage than Y
chromosomes or in X chromosomes in eggs, Scherb said.
Perhaps it's because X chromosomes are simply bigger
targets or because eggs insulate their chromosomes
better than sperm cells do, he speculated.
It could also be that, because X chromosomesbeing
larger than Y chromosomescarry more genes, X
chromosome damage is more likely to result in a fatally
deformed embryo, he said.
Whatever the exact mechanism, the result of
disproportionately damaged X chromosomes should be
fewer daughters and more sons, the authors sayprecisely
the effect seen in the new study.
"Most Convincing Documentation"
The new study is "the most convincing documentation" to
date that radiation can lead to sex bias in humans,
according to geneticist Karl Sperling of the Institute of
Medical Genetics and Human Genetics in Berlin.
The findings challenge the conventional belief that
exposure to nuclear radiation has no, or negligible, genetic
effects in humans, added Sperling, who wasn't involved in
the study, published in the latest issue of the journal
Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
For the scientific community, Dr. Scherbs findings are
completely unexpected [but] statistically well proven,
Sperling wrote in an email.
U.S. West Coast to See Spike in Boy Births?
Though based largely on Cold War-era statistics, the
findings are newly relevant, according to study co-author
Scherb.
In the wake of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant accident, radiation could once again lead to a gender
bias in humans, he said. "We do not know how much
radioactivity was emitted through Fukushima and how it
will spread throughout the world," he said.
"Maybe it's confined to just Japan ... but if it gets in the
water and the air, it's possible that we could see a similar
effect, especially on the West Coast of America."
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110602-
millions-fewer-girls-nuclear-radiation-births-science/

Disappearing Muscles, Lack
of Energy, Mood Swings,
Snoring... Is your Man
suffering Low Testosterone?
By Anna Hodgekiss
11 October 2011
Tired? Prone to weight gain? It might not just be lack of
sleep or simple greed thats the problem. If youre a man,
your excuse could be low testosterone.
For years, many medics regarded the idea of low
testosterone as a bit of a joke. Now it is increasingly being
recognised by the medical profession as a key factor in
mens health.
Scientists at the University of California, for instance,


Continued from page 49 Disappearing Muscles, Lack of
Energy, Mood Swings, Snoring
have found that low levels may drastically increase the
risk of death in men aged over 50.
A study of 800 men found that those with low levels had
a 33 per cent increased risk of dying over an 18-year
period than those with higher levels.
As many as ten per cent of British men are thought to
suffer from low testosterone or testosterone
deficiency syndrome. Yet many men may not be aware
that it is even a problem.
Three-quarters of men have not heard of the condition,
according to a study of more than 1,000 British men
presented last week at the Mens Health World Congress
in Vienna.
Furthermore, while 85 per cent of the 220 British GPs
also questioned in the study considered it a medical
condition worthy of treatment, 90 per cent admitted they
were not aware of how it should be treated.
Testosterone deficiency syndrome is caused when the
testicles, which produce testosterone, do not function
normally, or when the bodys overall hormone
production is out of balance.
Age is a risk factor (testosterone levels fall by around
one per cent a year by the time a man is 30) age-
related low testosterone is commonly referred to as the
male menopause, or andropause.
Other causes of low testosterone include diabetes,
obesity and excessive alcohol consumption, explains
Professor Tom Trinick, consultant physician at the
Ulster Hospital in Belfast, a leading authority on
testosterone deficiency.
Obesity, diabetes and alcohol lead to fat forming around
the middle this pumps out the female hormone
oestrogen, counteracting testosterone.
Other men produce testosterone but may be resistant to
it, just like diabetics are resistant to insulin, says Dr
Malcolm Carruthers, founder of The Centre for Mens
Health in London.
But men dont have to be fat to get testosterone
deficiency syndrome, says Dr Geoff Hackett, a
consultant in the urology department at the Birmingham
Heartlands Hospital, a GP, and one of the co-authors of
last weeks study.
I have a patient with low testosterone who is extremely
fit he runs triathlons and is perfectly slim.
Damage to the testes as a result of mumps or
chemotherapy for cancer can also affect testosterone
levels, adds Pierre-Marc Bouloux, professor of
endocrinology at University College London and The
London Clinic.
As well as raising the overall risk of premature death, low
testosterone is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes which
can, in turn, lead to lower testosterone, explains Dr
Hackett.
Just like raised cholesterol can cause high blood pressure
and high blood pressure can cause high cholesterol, you
just treat both rather than ask which came first.
Low testosterone is linked to other, more immediate
problems men need the hormone for muscle strength,
healthy bones, positive mood and energy.
Too little can lead to weight gain, loss of facial and body
hair, and joint pain. Low testosterone also causes hot
flushes.
Its also, not surprisingly, vital to a mans potency and
sex drive, says Hugh Jones, honorary professor of
andrology at Barnsley Hospital and the University of
Sheffield.
Many men in the UK blame their age or their
relationship for problems with their sex lives, when
actually it could be due to a hormonal imbalance.
Under guidelines drawn up last year by the British
Society for Sexual Medicine, diagnosis of the condition
should be based upon symptoms such as weight gain,
poor morning erection, low sexual desire and erectile
dysfunction, combined with a blood test taken in the
morning on more than one occasion.
Often the diagnosis and treatment are not clear cut, so a
short-term trial on testosterone replacement therapy for
three to six months is used to help clarify whats wrong.
Gels and injections are the most common means of
application; a single jab can last three months.
When testosterone replacement therapy is prescribed, it
can change the lives of patients and their wives, says Dr
Hackett. Your GP should always be your first port of
call with any concerns about low testosterone.
However, others have yet to be convinced that the
problem is as widespread as some say. Some men do
have low levels, but the root cause may be lifestyle
factors such as obesity and lack of exercise, says
professor Bouloux.
We must be careful that this is not being driven by the
drug industry. Obese men, for example, often find that
once they lose weight, hormone levels bounce back.


FEATURED ARTICLES
Low-T Syndrome: Another Word for Male
Menopause
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
ABC News, August 10, 2009
Low-T Syndrome Is Real, Some Doctors Say, and a
Money Maker for Drug Companies
By the time Dan hit 57, he didn't recognize himself. He
was always tired, fell asleep after dinner and was angry
all the time.
"My libido was less and I was beginning to have a loss
of erection while having sex, but I thought that was part
of the normal aging process," said Dan, who did not
want his real name to be used.
"I had just changed doctors and he asked me, 'Are you
more grumpy and less interested in things like sex?'"
Dan, now a 60-year-old California counselor, said.
"Yeah, I am more grumpy, get less enjoyment out of
life and certainly am having less sexual activity with
my wife of 40 years," Dan answered. "I had excellent
health all my life and he said there was a name for it --
male menopause."
The doctor ordered a series of blood tests and found
Dan had low levels of testosterone. "My levels were in
the basement," he said.
Dan, according to his doctor, has andropause, what is
now euphemistically being called low-T syndrome.
Television ads for low-T syndrome have cropped up on
prime-time nightly news programs, joining direct-to-
consumer drug ads for erectile dysfunction, or "ED," as
well as other aging ailments such as high cholesterol,
enlarged prostates and dry eyes.
Andropause is a "term of convenience" in describing
the complex symptoms in aging men with low
testosterone levels, according to one study at the
University of Toronto Department of Medicine.
Some studies show only 25 percent of all men with low
testosterone levels ever experience symptoms such as

Dan's, as well as bone loss and fracture, sleep disturbances
and lethargy.
The very existence of andropause is contentious and large-
scale studies on hormone treatment are only a decade old.
Many say the underlying cause of some men's complaints
are part of the normal aging process.
Two Canadian studies cited by the National Institutes of
Health illustrate the debate on low testosterone and its
treatment.
Dr. Richard Casey, director of the Male Health Centers in
Oakville, Ont., argues that andropause is primarily market-
driven, "largely promoted by industry, accepted by a
handful of physicians and embraced by some patients who
are looking for an antidote to aging."
"We need to resist the marketing efforts and consider the
science," writes Casey. "The range of normal testosterone
levels is quite broad; levels depend on time of day and no
consensus exists on what measurement of testosterone
correlates best with symptoms or treatment success."
But Dr. Alvaro Morales of Queens University in Ontario
supports the concept of "testosterone deficiency syndrome"
(TDS) and advocates well-monitored therapy.
"The absurd view that TDS is an invention of industry
blatantly and conveniently ignores medical observations
and reports going back 500 years and accelerating since the
mid 20th century," writes Morales in his study. "It does not
merit further discussion."
'Male Menopause Is Real'
"Male menopause is real," said Jed Diamond, a
psychologist and author of a series of books on the topic,
including, "Irritable Male Syndrome."
"I describe it as adolescence, the second time around," he
said. "Everybody goes through it, just as no one can say I


Continued from page 51 Low-T Syndrome: Another Word
for Male Menopause
didn't go through puberty. Some have a fairly easy time
and, for some, it's more difficult."
Part of the normal part of aging, male menopause is
accompanied by a gradual decline in their sexuality,
mood and overall energy. For most men, it arrives
between the ages of 40 to 55, but for some it happens as
early as 35 and as late as 65.
Not All Men Have Symptoms of Low Testosterone
"Men are more in denial about this than women," said
Diamond, who has a Ph.D. in international health and a
master's degree in social work. "It's taken guys a little
longer for the medical evidence to come out and for
doctors to find ways to treat this. But more men are
getting help."
More men are also taking testosterone treatment in
creams, gels or injections, Diamond said.
Dan began a holistic course of treatment that included
testosterone shots and more exercise, better eating habits,
herbal supplements, as well as a multivitamin and zinc.
"Those made a big difference," he said. "But exercise has
been the most profound thing. Without it, the other
wouldn't work. I do weights and yoga twice a week."
After Treatment, Noticing Fewer Aches and Pains
"After a year, the injections worked," Dan said. "It's not
like I am doing physical feats that I was not doing before,
but I was noticing a change when I would take groceries
out of the car and move wood into the pile. Before, I used
to groan as I did it and had more aches and pains."
Diamond, who runs the Men Alive Clinic in Willits,
Calif., said all men treat menopause differently. Some are
in denial and others treat it medically. But male
menopause is more complex than just increasing
testosterone levels -- involving hormonal fluctuation,
changes in brain chemistry, interpersonal and societal
changes.
"The changes have to do not only with hormones, but
also sex changes that have to do with relationships and
self-esteem changes. We evaluate all of these different
areas," he said, "We don't just look at the test."
Unlike women's hormone replacement therapy, which
uses estrogen from horses, doctors treat men with bio-
identical testosterone, Diamond said. "Biologically, it's
the same and it isn't as expensive and they can
manufacture it in large quantities," he said.
That's why doctors say the pharmaceutical companies are
pushing treatment for low-T syndrome on television.
Interestingly, direct-to-consumer advertising is only
allowed in two countries in the world -- New Zealand
and the United States.
"The drug companies want to figure out new ways of
making money," said Dr. Robert Butler, president of
the International Longevity Center in New York City
and author of the landmark book, "Human Aging."
All men do not experience low testosterone levels, he
said. "Not everyone goes through a decline, though
there is a small category of men in their 50s and 60s,
but it's a new market," he said.
Men should be monitored while taking testosterone
because it can cause problems for those with heart
conditions or prostate cancer that is underway, Butler
said.
"I don't fault [the drug companies] for being good
marketers," he said. "But I think the public should
beware in terms of endangering themselves."
But Dan said he has confidence in his doctor and,
oddly, the regimen has had the least impact on his sex
life.
"I don't have to be fearful and anxious and I feel like I
am equipped to meet whatever comes my way," he
said. "When you are 18 to 20, you think you are
immortal. At 30 and 40, you think you have the world
by the tail."
"I began to lose that sense for no good reason," Dan
said. "Now, I feel a psychological sense of
completeness and robustness and maleness."
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MensHealthNews/story?id=82
79787&page=2#.UOxNVqyO498

Continued from page 50 - Disappearing muscles,
lack of energy, mood swings, snoring...
Another common argument against testosterone
replacement therapy has been that it may increase the
risk of prostate cancer.
However, a new study by Dr Carruthers and Mark
Feneley, a consultant urological surgeon at University
College London, which followed more than 1,500 men
who had received testosterone replacement therapy for
up to 15 years, found men taking it were at no more
risk of cancer than those not given the treatment. This
would suggest doctors should feel happy to recommend
testosterone therapy.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-
2047662/Disappearing-muscles-lack-energy-mood-swings


Aggression in Men: Hormone
Levels Are a Key
By DANIEL GOLEMAN
July 17, 1990
WHEN men are domineering and intensely competitive,
it may be just another case of raging hormones,
specifically the male sex hormone testosterone,
researchers say.
Scientists have long linked abnormally high levels of
testosterone to an unusually early involvement with sex
and drug use and to certain violent crimes, like
particularly vicious rapes. But now a series of new
findings show that high testosterone levels play a role in
the normal urge for the upper hand.
Those men who are most likely to try to dominate in a
social situation, be it in a prison yard or a board room, are
likely to have higher testosterone levels than their peers,
new data show.
Scientists caution against placing too much stock in the
importance of hormones like testosterone in human
affairs, since so many other factors, from childhood
experiences to social status, shape the expression of a
given behavior like dominance or competitiveness.
''This doesn't mean that people can't be dominant or
aggressive without high testosterone,'' said Dr. Robert
Rose, a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota
medical school. ''A woman, of course, can be as
competitive as a man, even though her testosterone levels
are much lower.''
Scientists emphasize that the effects of hormones on
human behavior are small relative to social and
psychological factors, showing up most clearly in studies
of large numbers of people. And Dr. Rose is among a
group of scientists who are skeptical that the hormone is a
strong and direct cause of specific human behavior. He
cites a series of studies, most involving small numbers of
people, that have posted contradictory findings.
''In animals behavior like mating, nesting and aggression
is much more tightly linked to hormones than is true in
humans,'' Dr. Rose said. ''In humans hormones only set
the stage, while social factors determine if and how they
are expressed.''
Still, a growing body of new evidence portrays a distinct
role for testosterone among men jockeying for power.
High testosterone levels have long been known to typify
the dominant males in groups of primates like baboons,
and in unusual groups of men like prison inmates and
hospitalized psychiatric patients. But the recent research
has found the same differences in men who seek social
dominance in normal realms of life.
''Hormonal secretions create a propensity for certain
behaviors,'' Dr. Rose said. ''Testosterone seems most
strongly linked to competitiveness and dominance.''
The findings apply only to men. After puberty,
testosterone levels in men are about 10 times higher
than in women.
''The highest testosterone level in women tends to fall
within the low range for men, so that the hormone is a
far greater factor for men than women,'' said Dr.
Richard Udry, head of a center for population study at
the University of North Carolina, who is studying the
effects of testosterone on sexuality. But researchers
agree with Dr. Rose that other factors can make women
just as competitive as men.
The newest and strongest evidence about the effect of
testosterone comes from a study of 1,706 men in the
Boston area, aged 39 to 70. The men were selected at
random as part of a larger study on aging. Those who
agreed to participate were interviewed in their homes
and given psychological tests, and blood samples were
taken.
Those who had higher levels of testosterone and related
hormones had a personality profile that researchers
described as ''dominant with some aggressive behavior.''
''The picture we get is of a man who attempts to
influence and control other people, who expresses his
opinions forcefully and his anger freely, and who
dominates social interactions,'' said John B. McKinlay, a
psychologist at the New England Research Institute in
Watertown, Mass., who was on the research team.
The study, which will be published in Psychosomatic
Medicine, is considered significant because it is the first
to examine so many randomly chosen men. Most
studies of testosterone in humans have been on small
numbers in select populations, like prison inmates.
Other studies, Dr. McKinlay noted, have found that men
high in the trait of social dominance tend to rise to
positions of leadership in business and other
organizations. But for many others, some traits
associated with testosterone present an obstacle to
success.
Exactly how a man's high testosterone level is expressed
depends in part on his social class, another new study
has found. For men of lower social and economic status,
it is likely to show up as a readiness for fights, a history


Continued from page 53 Aggression in Men: Hormone
Levels Are a Key
of minor crimes, and chronic trouble with parents,
teachers and peers in childhood. But that is not true at
higher social and economic rungs, where the display of
dominance is more subdued, researchers say.
Study of Vietnam Veterans
The findings are from data collected by the Federal
Centers for Disease Control from 4,462 Vietnam veterans
who were studied starting in 1985 to assess long-term
effects of military service. The men's social and
economic standing was rated as high if they fell into the
top half of the United States population in both income
and education level, and low if they fell into the bottom
half.
An analysis of data on their testosterone levels was
reported in the current issue of Psychological Science by
James Dabbs Jr., a psychologist at Georgia State
University.
''The overall picture among the high-testosterone men is
one of delinquency, substance abuse and a tendency
toward excess,'' Dr. Dabbs said. ''They have more trouble
with people like teachers while they are growing up, have
more sexual partners, are more likely to have gone
AWOL in the service and to have used hard drugs. But
that was so mainly for men who had low income and
little education.''
There is disagreement over the social effect of
testosterone on high status men. Dr. McKinlay sees these
results from the study of veterans as dovetailing with his
own on testosterone and social dominance, with high
status men having different outlets for their impulse to
dominate.
''How hormone levels are expressed depends on social
factors,'' he said. ''You can drive a fast car instead of
stealing them, for instance. Social dominance could be
channeled into organizational leadership if you have the
opportunities.''
An Obstacle for Some
On the other hand, Dr. Dabbs believes that many men
with high testosterone levels are too impatient and
aggressive to find their ways to positions of responsible
leadership. Men with the highest testosterone levels were
two and a half times more likely to be low-status as high.
The traits of some men with high testosterone may not
suit them to rising in organizations where cooperation
and consensus are valued, Dr. Dabbs noted. He cited
other studies showing that among rapists, high levels are
found in those who committed the most vicious attacks,

and that among young men, schoolyard bullies have high
levels of the hormone.
''Those successful in the business world use the
machinery of social power, and many men with high
testosterone may not be patient or docile enough to learn
that mastery,'' he Dabbs said. ''They'd rather be out doing
something physical. They're showoffs and swaggerers,
anti-social and selfish.''
In a comparison of men in occupations ranging from the
ministry, medicine and college professors to actors,
football players and firemen, Dr. Dabbs found that
testosterone levels correlated with certain vocations.
Ministers were low in the hormone, while actors and
football players had the highest levels. That study will be
published in The Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology.
''I was surprised that actors had such high levels,'' Dr.
Dabbs said. ''But I found that among the Vietnam
veterans, those who described themselves as entertainers
also had high testosterone. There is a certain renegade
quality to acting as a career.''
Dr. Dabbs is now studying lawyers to see if those
specializing in litigation have higher testosterone levels
than lawyers who do not fight it out in court.
In a series of other recent findings, fluctuations in
testosterone levels in the 20 to 30 percent range have
been found to reflect competitive triumphs and defeats.
While most studies have focused on testosterone's
influence in causing traits, these studies suggest that the
hormone may be sensitive to the ups and downs of
competition.
For instance, in one study the testosterone levels of the
six members of the University of Nebraska varsity tennis
team were monitored before and after six meets.
Players with the highest testosterone levels before each
match were the most ''psyched,'' feeling optimistic about
the match. Afterward, testosterone levels rose in those
who won. How well the players felt they performed was
also strongly related to the hormone levels: the better the
player evaluated his own performance, the higher the
level.
''There is a link between triumph and testosterone levels,
which possibly could account for the momentum of a
losing or winning streak,'' said Alan Mazur, a sociologist
at Syracuse University who was an author of the study.
The results were published in Hormone and Behavior in
1989.


Continued from page 54 Aggression in Men: Hormone
Levels Are a Key
Triumph and Humiliation
In the same vein, an earlier study by Dr. Mazur showed
rises in the testosterone levels of men in the hours after
being awarded their M.D. degrees. And, conversely,
research by Dr. Rose found that testosterone levels fell in
men going through harassment during the first few weeks
of officers' candidate school.
Dr. Mazur sees testosterone at play in the small contests
that establish pecking orders among men in social life.
''The sporting contest is an analog for any social
competition,'' he said. ''It needn't be physical. We've
found the same hormone changes in chess matches.''
''Finding your place in the hierarchy is a basic part of
primate life, and testosterone is tightly linked to the
outcome of battles for dominance in other species,'' he
added. ''In humans, of course, face-to-face dominance is
highly symbolic. I'd guess that any meaningful elevation
of status would raise testosterone levels, and a blow to
your status would lower them, though it hasn't been
measured yet.''
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/17/science/aggression-in-
men-hormone-levels-are-a-key.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

When a Penis is a Weapon
By Mary Knudson
March 10, 2011

A New York Times story about 18 teenagers and men
raping an 11-year-old girl is generating a lot of
repercussion for the Times because of the way the story
was written. What seems to be missing in the
understanding of the reporter and the papers editors is
that when a penis is used for violence, it is no different
from a gun or a knife or a club. In rape, the penis is a
weapon.
Would the newspaper have written the story in the same
way if the 11-year-old child were stabbed or clubbed by
18 men? I think not. There is terribly, distressingly
something associated with the act of sex that in the eyes
of some lets the crime of rape off with much less cry for
punishment, much less sympathy for the victim. It is
impossible to even imagine the incredible deep physical
and psychological trauma these teenagers and young
men inflicted one by one each one responsible for his
own indecent, illegal act upon this helpless child. An
affidavit said the rapists threatened the child with a
beating if she did not comply.
As others have pointed out here and here, and, Im sure,
elsewhere, there are significant problems with the NYT
story.
There is a quote from a woman who knows several of
the males charged in the crime who remarked These
boys have to live with this the rest of their lives. There
is no quote expressing outrage and sorrow for the child
who was raped, first in a house, then in a filthy
abandoned trailer.
Then there was this paragraph:
Residents in the neighborhood where the abandoned
trailer stands known as the Quarters said the
victim had been visiting various friends there for
months. They said she dressed older than her age,
wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a
woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage
boys at a playground, some said.
Excuse me? Is this blame the victim, the child who was
playing dress-up? Where are the quotes from anyone
who knew the little girl and could express who she
really was? Who could express the anguish they felt for
what happened to her?
A science story has recently been making the rounds
about the history of the penis: male chimpanzees have
knobby spines on their penis that humans lost during
evolution. Makes me wish that females had retractable
spines in their vaginas that were more like needles than
knobs and, when being attacked, the female could
release her spines and sink them into the intruding
penis. If the little girl who was gang raped could have
done that, maybe the 17 teenagers and men who heard
the screams of the first would have tucked their
collapsing penises into their pants and run for the
woods.
http://blogs.plos.org/blog/2011/03/10/when-a-penis-is-a-
weapon/


Rape and HIV as Weapons of
War
By Obijiofor Aginam
June 27, 2012

UN Photo/Louise Gubb
Based on his chapter in a recently published book, UNU-ISPs
Obijiofor Aginam discusses the indiscriminate deployment of
rape by combatants and the breakdown of public health
infrastructure in war/conflict zones, and calls for effective
reparation for HIV-infected victims of rape in post-conflict
societies.
While the history of wars and conflicts is replete with
systematic incidents of sexual violence against vulnerable
women, modern-day wars have witnessed large-scale
indiscriminate deployment of rape as a weapon of war
by combatants. In recent armed conflicts such as in the
former Yugoslavia, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Sierra
Leone and Rwanda the widespread use of rape as a tool
of warfare has become a conspicuous phenomenon.
One striking difference between the use of rape as a
weapon of war in pre-1990 conflicts and in latter-day wars
is the emergence and willful transmission of HIV to the
victims. Serious questions have been raised in the social
science literature about the actual time of transmission and
infection, and whether the intent of the perpetrators
could conclusively be to infect the victim with HIV.
Nonetheless, there is evidence from the victims accounts
confirming the deliberate nature of these acts.
In her 2004 book, The Right to Survive: Sexual Violence,
Women and HIV/AIDS, Franoise Nduwimana reported
the testimony of one of the many rape victims during the
genocide:
For 60 days, my body was used as a thoroughfare for all
the hoodlums, militia men and soldiers in the district.
Those men completely destroyed me; they caused me so
much pain. They raped me in front of my six children.
Three years ago, I discovered I had HIV/AIDS. There is
no doubt in my mind that I was infected during these
rapes.
This is an example of the persuasive proof that rape was
widespread during the Rwandan conflict, and that there
was clear intent by the perpetrators to infect their
victims with HIV.
Women who were victims of rape during conflicts have
an inalienable right to reparation, psychological and
physical rehabilitation, access to social measures, and
health security. In efforts to reconstruct post-conflict
societies, the disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration (DDR) processes should include
sustainable policies and programmes aimed at holistic
reparation for victims of rape during wars and conflicts.
Conflict, war and disease in history
The emergence of HIV/AIDS in the past two decades,
and the complex interaction between the virus and
conflicts, has reinforced both the human and state
security dimensions of disease. Whilst the state security
dimension focuses on the collapse of the apparatus of
governance, the human security dimension focuses on
threats to the vulnerable groups, especially women and
girls, during conflicts.
Although the history of wars and conflicts is replete
with massive and systematic sexual violence against
vulnerable women, modern-day wars in African nations
and elsewhere are increasingly characterized by the use
of rape as a weapon of war, the intentional or willful
transmission of the HIV to innocent victims, and the
neglect of these victims in post-conflict reconstruction
programmes.
The securitization of HIV/AIDS has led to intense
academic and policy debates since the popularization of
the notion of human security by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) in 1994. Human
security recognizes the emergence of new threats to the
security of peoples: safety from chronic threats such as
hunger, environmental degradation and natural
disasters, disease and repression.
The International Crisis Group, in its 2001 report
entitled HIV/AIDS As a Security Issue categorized
HIV/AIDS as a personal security issue, economic
security issue, communal security issue, national
security issue and international security issue. The
Commission on Human Security noted that human
security embraces far more than the absence of violent
conflict, and one of the bodys core policy conclusions
focuses on the health challenges for human security in
three key areas: global infectious disease, poverty-


Continued from page 56 Rape and HIV as Weapons of War
related threats, and violence and crisis. HIV/AIDS neatly
fits into these three categories because it is a global
pandemic; it is poverty-related, at least in most poor
countries, and the pandemic is exacerbated in complex
ways.
Although one school of thought led by some
prominent African and Africanist scholars, especially
Allan Whiteside, Alex de Wall and Tsadkan Gebre-
Tensae has strongly contested the common assertion
that wartime rape is a significant factor in the spread of
HIV either by design or as a by-product of systematic
sexual violence, they nonetheless concede that there is
strong evidence to support and prove this assertion at
least in the case of the Rwandan genocide. The case of
Rwanda, they argue, was a concerted and systematic
attempt to completely eradicate a population and is an
exceptional case by any standards.
The structural problem with the scholarship and school of
thought of Whiteside, de Wall and Gebre-Tensae is the
fact that, as de Brouwer and Chu stated, the magnitude
of sexual violence in conflict situations will never be
fully known, since the stigma associated with being a
victim discourages women and girls from reporting the
crime.
This is particularly true of most African conflict
situations where cultural and traditional practices, beliefs
and norms shape societal values and ethics. While rape
has been systematically deployed in past, recent and
ongoing conflicts, we may not be able to empirically
determine the linkages between these acts and
transmission of HIV.
Relying on unofficial statistics and data, Stefan Elbe
observed that human rights workers in Sierra Leone
reported that during the countrys eight-year civil war,
armed rebels and insurgent forces raped thousands of
women. It is estimated that between 200,000 and
500,000 women were raped during the genocide in
Rwanda that lasted 100 days.
In the one hundred days of genocide that ravaged the
small Central African nation of Rwanda... an
estimated 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were
raped Sexual violence occurred everywhere, and no
one was spared.
Anne-Marie de Brouwer and Sandra Ka Hon Chu
The Men Who Killed Me: Rwandan Survivors of Sexual
Violence (2009)
In the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of
Congo, various civil society groups and United Nations
agencies have reported widespread, systematic rape in-
volving thousands of women and young girls. These
rapes and other acts of sexual violence are being
performed with impunity and brutality, and in flagrant
violation of age-old laws, customs and norms of war
by virtually all sides to the conflict civilians,
militiamen, armed groups and members of the
Congolese Armed Forces.
During the Liberian civil war, between 1999 and 2003,
about 49 percent of women between ages fifteen and
seventy experienced at least one act of sexual violence
from a soldier or armed militia member. In Sierra
Leone, about 64,000 internally displaced women
experienced war-related sexual violence between 1991
and 2001.
When compared with the atrocities and gross
violations of the dignity and basic rights of vulnerable
women in the conflicts in the Balkans, which often
involved mass rape and cleansing of ethnic minorities,
it is fair to state that this is not, therefore, an African
phenomenon. Going as far back as World War I
(19141918), Brouwer and Chu stated that rape,
forced prostitution and other forms of sexual violence
were prevalent in Europe during World War I (largely
by the German army and the armies of other Axis
powers); in Asia during World War II (involving the
Japanese Imperial Army); in Europe during World
War II (involving the German army); and in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and Kosovo during the Balkan conflicts
in the 1990s.
It is obvious that armed militias and combatants may
have started using HIV as a weapon of war going by
the evidence from the Rwandan genocide, and the
ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. As already stated, one striking phenomenon of
modern-day wars is the willful transmission of HIV.
Notwithstanding the seriousness of the questions that
have been raised concerning whether the actual intent
of the perpetrators of rape could have been to infect
the victim with the virus, Elbe cites the account of one
rape victim in Rwanda who the rapists taunted by
saying: We are not killing you. We are giving you
something worse. You will die a slow death. There is
also another account that captured women in Rwanda
were taken to HIV-positive soldiers specifically to be
raped. (Margaret Owen in Widows Expose HIV War
Threat, Worldwoman News.)
These types of incidents, driven by the weapon-
zation of HIV, raise serious human security issues in
post-conflict societies. The complementary nature of
human and state security therefore makes HIV less


Continued from page 57 Rape and HIV as Weapons of War
obscure in security discourses because the virus strikes
soldiers and civilians in war situations because of the
breakdown of infrastructure and the indiscriminate
deployment of rape as a weapon of war by combatants.
In International Humanitarian Law the set norms that
generally criminalize genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity precedents now abound on the
criminal conviction of individuals who systematically
deployed rape as a weapon of war in Rwanda and former
Yugoslavia. In the trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu for
genocide before the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda, the Tribunal found the accused guilty of aiding
and abetting acts of sexual violence involving the
systematic rape of Tutsi women. These acts of systematic
rape of Tutsi women, carried out in areas under the
authority of Akayesu, were accompanied with the intent
to kill these women on the grounds of their ethnicity.
Despite the legal precedents of cases like Akayesu, do
international legal mechanisms offer a holistic paradigm
for the reconstruction of post-war societies? Has the link
between HIV, victims of rape, and psychological and
other reparation been taken into account in post-conflict
reconstruction and peace-building processes?
DDR and victims of rape in post-conflict societies
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)
programmes have now been recognized by the UN and
other important actors as an integral component of post-
conflict peacebuilding and reconstruction processes.
Nonetheless, DDR programmes remain complex because
of their multidimensional nature that involves military,
humanitarian and other socio-economic components.
DDR processes raise a lot of challenges for its non-
military components.
In the context of victims of rape during conflicts,
Nduwimana, in her study of the victims of rape during
the Rwandan genocide for The Right to Survive: Sexual
Violence, Women and HIV/AIDS, interviewed 30 women
who were among the thousands of rape victims infected
with HIV. Writing in 2004, more than a decade after the
Rwandan genocide, Nduwimana questioned whether we
can accurately refer to these women as survivors of the
genocide, when every day, these women, linked by the
miserable three-pronged destiny of genocide, rape and
HIV/AIDS, witness their friends, acquaintances,
neighbors, and family members dying in anonymity, with
the world utterly indifferent to their fate.
Rwanda is not an isolated event. Similar calls and
proposals have been canvassed for victims of rape during
the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. DDR
processes, in the case of Rwanda and other post-
conflict societies though mostly in Africa have
overly emphasized disarmament and demobilization
(the two Ds) to the detriment of reintegration (the
R).
Even where reintegration receives attention and
resources, it often neglects the victims of rape by
focusing more on reintegration of child soldiers and
ex-combatants into their communities. Victims of rape
intended as a weapon of war, I argue, have an
inalienable right to financial reparation, psychological
and physical rehabilitation, access to social measures,
and health security. If, as in most DDR programmes,
cash payments are often made to ex-combatants for
de-mobilization, there is no reason why equal
payments should not be made to rape victims infected
with HIV.
The right to survive, as Nduwimana, calls it, should
take the centre stage in contemporary AIDS
diplomacy. DDR processes in most post-conflict
African societies must strive to integrate this very
important social problem the psycho-medical
rehabilitation of HIV-infected victims of rape during
conflicts.
This article is based on a chapter in recently published
edited volume, HIV/AIDS and the Security Sector in Africa,
edited by Obijiofor Aginam & Martin R. Rupiya (UNU
Press, 2012).
http://unu.edu/publications/articles/rape-and-hiv-as-
weapons-of-war.html

Extra Small Condoms for 12
year-old Boys go on sale in
Switzerland
By Alexandra Williams
03 March 2010
Called the Hotshot, the condom has been produced
after government research showed 12 to14-year-olds
did not use sufficient protection when having sex.
The study, conducted on behalf of the Federal
Commission for Children and Youth, interviewed
1,480 people aged 10 to 20. It showed more 12 to 14-
year-olds were having sex, in comparison with the
1990s. The Hotshot condoms, which cost 7fr60
(4.70) for a packet of six, have been created by
Lamprecht AG, a leading condom manufacturer in
Switzerland. Continued on page 59


Continued from page 58 Extra Small Condoms for 12 year-
old Boys go on sale in Switzerland
The company has said the UK would be "top priority" if
they expanded abroad, considering that it has the highest
teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.
Nysse Norballe, a spokesman for the company, said: "At
the moment we are only producing the Hotshot in
Switzerland. But the UK is certainly a very attractive
market since there is a very high rate of underage
conception. The UK would definitely be top priority if we
marketed abroad."
A standard condom has a diameter of 2ins (5.2cm) in
comparison with the Hotshot's diameter of 1.7ins
(4.5cm). Both are the same length 7.4ins (19cm).
According to a German study of 12,970 13 to 20-year-
olds, a quarter said a standard condom was too large.
Family planning groups and the Swiss Aids Federation
campaigned to have the Hotshot produced after a number
of studies, including the government study researched at
the Centre for Development and Personality Psychology
at Basel University.
Nancy Bodmer, who headed the research, said: "The
result that shocked us concerned young boys who display
apparently risky behaviour. They have more of a
tendency not to protect themselves. They do not have a
very developed sexual knowledge. They do not
understand the consequences of what they are doing and
leave the young girls to take care of the consequences.
"The results of this study suggest that early prevention
makes sense."
The age of consent in Switzerland is 16, although if the
age difference is not more than three years there will be
no punishment. Other concessions exist if the older
person is not more than 20 or believed the younger
person to be at least 16.
The Swiss initiative comes as the UK government
announces an overhaul of its teenage pregnancy strategy
after new figures showed conception rate among 18s
were not falling fast enough.
The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in
Europe.
In 1999, the government pledged to halve the teenage
conception rate within 10 years. But data released last
week from The Office for National Statistics shows it has
clearly failed to make any significant impact.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7361181/Extra-
small-condoms-for-12-year-old-boys-go-on-sale-in-
Switzerland.html

To Cut or not to Cut: Why
has Male Circumcision
become a Dilemma?
By John Onen
15 January 2013
Just as you begin to think that the dispute about
including male circumcision as part of HIV/Aids
prevention has ended, a sceptic rocks the boat and
the debate appears to start all over again and; some
people begin to wonder whether to cut or not to cut
When the proponents of safe male circumcision for
HIV/Aids prevention present their arguments, you
actually begin to think that male circumcision is the
way to go. Their arguments are based on scientific
evidence from research studies known as randomised
clinical trials. They say that such trials are the gold
standard when it comes to issues of research evidence
and, they go on to cite studies that show that inclusion
of safe male circumcision in the array of HIV/Aids
prevention strategies will result in a reduction of
HIV/Aids infection.
According to the male circumcision advocates, male
circumcision is the most compelling evidence-based
HIV/Aids prevention strategy to emerge since the
results from mother-to-child HIV/Aids transmission
clinical trials. They point out that although male
circumcision does not provide absolute protection
(reduces the risk of HIV infection by about 60 per
cent), implemented as part of a prevention package
that includes HIV counselling and testing, treatment of
sexually transmitted infections and promotion of safe
sex practices; there would be a reduction in HIV/Aids
infection.
But, not everybody seems to be convinced. The
skeptics contend that the randomised clinical trial that
the proponents of safe male circumcision talk about
are not only flawed and does not reflect the reality
outside the study environment, but mixes up the issues
of surgery and behaviour. They insist that safe male
circumcision provides a false sense of protection that
can lead to an increase in HIV/Aids infection. They go
on to cite examples of countries where male
circumcision is widely practiced yet there is no
evidence that HIV/Aids infection rates has dropped
significantly. According to the sceptics, a risk
reduction of 60 per cent means that a total of about 60
men have to be circumcised to avert just one HIV
infection in places where HIV/Aids infection rates are
high. Continued on page 63


FEATURED ARTICLES
Sexual Anarchy: The Kinsey Legacy
By Judith A. Reisman, Ph.D. and Mary E. McAlister, Esq.
August 24, 2011
LifeSiteNews.com
Our children are under attack by an insidious and
virulent enemy.
On August 17, 2011, more than 50 activists attended a
conference for minor-attracted adults, i.e., pedophiles,
which sought to eliminate the stigma attached to
pedophilia and to redefine pedophilia as a normal
sexual orientation. The United States Department of
Justice has determined that 64 percent of forcible
sodomy victims are boys under the age of 12 and that
58,200 children were kidnapped by non-family members
in 1999.
So-called experts in the field of human sexuality claim
that children are sexual not only from birth, but even in
the womb and are willing participants in sexual acts with
adults.
Children are encouraged to experiment with sex early
and often and to engage in sex with members of the
same-sex as well as the opposite sex. Sexually
transmitted diseases among teenagers are at epidemic
proportions, and new and sometimes fatal strands of
diseases are being reported. More than 50,000 teens have
contracted HIV which has advanced to full blown AIDS
and by 1992 more than 7,000 boys and 1,500 girls have
died from HIV/AIDS.
How did we get here? How do we stop the madness
before we lose an entire generation?
The question of how we got here can be answered by
two words: Alfred Kinsey. Even 55 years after his death,
Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey continues to profoundly affect
American culture. Two of his most ardent supporters,
Dr. Carol Vance, Columbia University anthropologist
and lesbian activist, and Dr. John Money, an out
pedophile advocate and pioneer of transgender surgery at
Johns Hopkins, have cogently summed up Dr. Kinseys
legacy a legacy they consider sexual progress but is
in reality sexual anarchy.

Speaking at a 1998 Kinsey symposium of fellow
sexologists at San Francisco State University, Dr.
Vance said, Biography is the battleground.[1] Should
Kinsey be discredited, she warned, 200 years of sexual
progress can be undone.
Dr. Vances statements echo comments made in 1981
by Dr. Money at the 5th World Congress of Sexology
in Israel. They also agreed that the information
contained in Table 34, below, and the other data
chronicling Kinseys and his teams widespread child
abuse, described in detail in Kinseys 1948 study on
male sexuality, would be the undoing of the Pre and
Post Kinsey eras globally and in the USA.
In fact, Dr. John Bancroft, director of the Kinsey
Institute said at the 1998 conference, which
commemorated the 50th anniversary of Kinseys
studies, that he prayed that a British television
program, Secret History: Kinsey Paedophiles, would
never be shown in the United States because the public
would not understand the science involved in
Kinseys publication of tables 30-34. He understood
that should those tables be widely publicized in the
United States, then the whole field of human sexuality
and human sex education would be destroyed.
This field of human sexuality and human sex education
and 200 years of sexual progress that these elite
scientists were so worried would be destroyed is
better described as sexual anarchy. This sexual anarchy
that has given these scientists and their followers
prestige, money, credibility and control over the
deconstruction of the Judeo-Christian civil society was
crafted by Dr. Kinsey.
A gall-wasp zoologist at Indiana University from 1920
to his death in 1956, Dr. Kinsey is most famous for his
earth-shaking books, Sexual Behavior in the Human
Male (1948)[2] and Sexual Behavior in the Human


Continued from page 60 - Sexual Anarchy: The Kinsey
Legacy
Female (1953),[3] funded by Indiana University and the
Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Kinsey said that his mission
was to eliminate the sexually repressive legal and
behavioral legacy of Judeo Christianity. He claimed that
this repressive sexual legacy was responsible for socio-
sexual ills like divorce, rape, illegitimacy, venereal
disease, juvenile delinquency, promiscuity,
homosexuality, adultery, and child sexual abuse.
Furthermore, he argued that if we Americans would admit
that we really were engaged in widespread licentious
conduct, instead of hypocritically denying it, then these
socio-sexual ills would be dramatically reduced.
In large measure, Dr. Kinseys mission has been
accomplished, mostly posthumously, by his legion of true
believerselitists who have systematically brainwashed
their fellow intellectual elites to adopt Kinseys pan-
sexual secular worldview and jettison the Judeo Christian
worldview upon which this country was founded and
flourished.
The result of Dr. Kinseys mission has been totally
antithetical to the utopia he predicted. Instead of reducing
the socio-sexual ills that he claimed were rampant in pre-
Kinsey America, the implementation of the Kinsey
worldview has increased extant global sexual trauma
while ushering in a host of new ills that are objectively
defined as sexual anarchy. Like a cancer spreading
throughout the body, sexual anarchy has spread
throughout the fabric of society, affecting every aspect of
American life and every man, woman and child.
According to the Rockefeller-funded Kinsey study, his
science proved that humans had all along been
copulating like insects or monkeys but systematically and
hypocritically lying about their conduct. Adults claimed
they were virgins, or maritally faithful, but, according to
Kinsey, the truth was that most people were promiscuous
and the widespread promiscuity had done no harm to the
civil society.
Therefore, Kinsey said, all of the laws restraining sexual
behaviorthe laws that had favored and protected women,
children and the family for generations were simply old-
fashioned leftovers from an uninformed and hypocritical
era. Such sex laws were no longer valid in a sexually
enlightened and honest era.
Enter Kinseys pamphleteer, Hugh Hefner and his
Playboy magazine. At Kinseys urging, the countrys laws
were gutted to resemble the free love, free life style
Kinsey alleged Americans were living all along, and
could finally live out with a free and open spiritno more
lies or pretense. Thus the 1955 American Law Institute
Model Penal Code jettisoned the common law sexual
standards that were based upon Biblical
authority/precedent for scientific law based on
Kinseys allegedly objective data.
The ALI recommended laws trivializing rape and
allowing fornication, cohabitation, sodomy and adultery.
Shortly thereafter, fornication, cohabitation and adultery
were decriminalized so that they would become common,
normal, and harmless, as Kinsey said they had been all
along. In 1957, the United States Department of Defense
used Kinsey and his team to conclude that homosexuals
do not pose a security risk.
The ALI also recommended changing the definition of
obscenity, which the Supreme Court did in 1960. That
same year Kinseys claim that 10% to 37% of the male
population is at least sometimes homosexual was used to
promote gay rights in elite professions, e.g., medicine,
psychiatry, social work, education, etc.
In 1961, Illinois became the first state to legalize
heterosexual sodomy. In 1962 Ralph Slovenko wrote in
the Vanderbilt Law Review that four or five year olds are
provocateurs: Even at the age of four or five, this
seductiveness may be so powerful as to overwhelm the
adult into committing the offense.
That same year, the United States Supreme Court
declared prayer in public schools unconstitutional[4] and
the following year declared that Bible reading in public
schools was unconstitutional.[5] The Judeo-Christian
worldview was expunged from the classroom. Schools
could no longer teach that fornication, adultery or
cohabitation were illegal, nor could the health teachers
imply that sex should be confined to marriage because
that would reflect a religious, thus allegedly a non-
scientific, worldview.
The only avenue remaining for the teaching of human
reproduction was the scientific, i.e., Kinseyan, secular
worldview.
By 1968 over 51,000 sex professionals had been trained
by the unaccredited IASHS (Institute for the Advanced
Study of Human Sexuality) to teach Kinseyan sexuality
in schools and medical schools and to design school sex
education curricula. In1975, the IASHS began to accredit
sex educators in safe sex through the Ph.D. level.
Contraception became a necessity in the face of the
radical changes in the sexual landscape, and so it was
legalized in 1965.[6]
As evidence of lack of consent became the only criteria
for sex crimes, alleged rape victims were commonly


Continued from page 61 Sexual Anarchy: The Kinsey Legacy
challenged as liking the rough sex and as consenting to
the sexual activity. Prostitution and rape were increasingly
referred to as victimless crimes in the courts and in the
media.
Thus, the right to have sex for fun and profit became the
justification for a sex industry, inaugurated by Kinseys
publicist, Hugh Hefner, that includes child and adult
pornography, exhibitionism, prostitution and strip clubs, to
name a few. That industry has grown to a multi-billion
dollar market, giving its purveyors the resources and clout
to negotiate grants to sexology research groups and
organizations that create the sex education curricula for the
nations schools, as well as access to lobbyists and,
arguably, to state and federal legislators to continue to
change the law to favor the sex industrys interests.
Playboy, et. al also have funded Planned Parenthood, Sex
Information & Education Council of the United States
(SIECUS), the Kinsey Institute, and other sexology
institutions. In 1967, Playboy provided the first of many
grants to the ACLU to support drug use, pornography,
abortion, homosexuality, school sex [mis]education and the
elimination or reduction of sex offender penalties.
Beginning in 1970, Playboy officially granted funds to
NORML, the National Organization for the Repeal of
Marijuana Laws.
The year 1969 brought about significant events related to
the systematic effort to normalize homosexuality as
championed by Kinsey 21 years earlier. The Gay Liberation
Front was formed at the New York Alternative University.
The American Sociological Association officially stated
that homosexuality is normal, citing Kinseys research.
The National Institutes of Mental Health Task Force on
Homosexuality recommended legalizing private consensual
homosexual acts (sodomy) citing to Kinseys data.[7]
In 1972, the NIMH Task Force, led by Kinseyan
disciples, urged that homosexuality be taught as a
normal sexual variation in the nations schools.
No fault divorce was ushered in by California in
1970. By 1985, no fault divorce was the law in 49
states. This triggered a massive increase in the divorce
rate and the impovertization of women and children,
increasing the need for welfare and abortion, with the
latter legalized in 1973.[8]
The absence of fathers in the home decreased the
economic, social, emotional and spiritual home life,
which triggered epidemic child sexual abuse, increased
promiscuity, increased criminalityincluding rape and
prostitutionincreased venereal diseases and sterility in
young women. With no father in the home, children
were significantly more vulnerable to molestation by
older children, which was redefined as harmless peer
sex play by Kinsey. This harmless sex play led to
increased rates of venereal disease, promiscuity,
homosexual acting out and suicide.
These disorders then opened the door to additional,
more virulent forms of mandated sex [mis]education
couched as pride in ones sexual orientation, anti-
bullying, AIDS prevention and more instruction in
safe sex, including mutual masturbation, oral and
anal sodomy and viewing pornography.
By 1981 Dr. Mary Calderone, SIECUS president and
past medical director of Planned Parenthood, took
Kinsey one step further, asserting that children are
sexual in the womb (Kinsey said children were sexual
from birth).
Calderone announced that awareness of childhood
sexuality was a primary goal of her organization. This
set the scientific standard for distributing condoms to
children nationwide. Therapeutic interventions were
instituted to aid the now increasingly traumatized
youth. Pharmocological intervention also increased,
including mandated Hepatitis B vaccines for infants
and HPV vaccines for elementary age children as STD
protections, both of which were advocated in a 1977
Child Rights pedophile manifesto.
Hundreds of pages could be written on these issues and
the additional fallout from Kinseys successful
promiscuity propaganda that plummeted Reagans
shining City on a Hill into a state of sexual anarchy.
We must focus now on how we stop the madness not
by ignoring the problem or by giving up in despair.
God is on our side, just as He was on the side of those
who founded this country. God used 56 God-fearing


Continued from page 59 Sexual Anarchy: The Kinsey
Legacy
men to stand up to the largest imperial force in the free
world and birth this great nation. He can use us to stand
up against the current state of sexual anarchy, return
this nation to our Judeo-Christian roots and rescue our
children from the enemy who seeks to steal, kill and
dstroy. As beneficiaries of Gods miraculous creation
of these United States we cannot do anything less.
Kinsey and his disciples at the Kinsey Institute have
had more than 60 years to re-shape American culture.
With Dr. Reismans decades of research we have the
weapons to gain the upper hand, and we must band
together to create the Judeo-Christian answer to the
Kinsey Institute. We have the backing of the God of the
universe. We can and must win this battle.
Notes:
1. Biography has become a battleground as moral
conservatives like Dr. Judith Reisman strive to discredit
Alfred Kinsey in order to revisit another America era
warned Professor Carole Vance. Another infamous
sexologist stated, I have some problems, and Im sure
several of us do, with the use of the word normal. If you
look at sexual abuse in children, the problem with defining it
is, to what extent are we talking about aspects of behavior
that we would call wrong.we dont know really how
harmful those experiences are. (November 6, 1998, San
Francisco State University seminar, Kinsey At 50:
Reflections On Changes In American Attitudes About
Sexuality Half A Century After The Alfred Kinsey Studies,
lionizing Kinsey and addressing anarchist strategies for a
new global sexual future).
2. In the same year, Carnegie Foundation funds the ABA/ALI
Legal Education Committee. Other pro-Kinsey books are
published calling for sex law reforms and leniency for
perpetrators.
3. In that year, the Reece congressional committee was
prohibited from investigating Kinseys data. Also, Planned
Parenthood is founded in Washington, D.C.
4. Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962).
5. Abington School District v. Schempp, 372 U.S. 203 (1963).
6. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965) (married
couples), Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
(unmarried couples).
7. The Supreme Court upheld the criminalization of sodomy
in Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986),
But then oerturned Bowers and found that homosexual
sodomy could no longer be criminalized in Lawrence v.
Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003). Lawrence was based largely on
the 1955 ALI Model Penal Code, which has been widely
referred to as a Kinsey document.

8. Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973). As Justice Kennedy noted in
the Lawrence opinion, Griswold and Eisenstadt were part of the
background for the opinion in Roe. Lawrence, 539 U.S. at 565.
This illustrates how Kinseys legacy has permeated every aspect
of society. Copyright 2010 LifeSiteNews.com, Inc. All rights
reserved.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/sexual-anarchy-the-kinsey-
legacy/

Continued from page 59 To Cut or Not to Cut
Sometimes, the debate just degenerates into name-
calling with the pro-circumcision camp accusing the
skeptics of being self appointed quack scientists who do
not know what they are talking about. The skeptics also
retort that the pro-circumcision advocates are just agents of
circumcised scientist and profiteers using their financial
power to force their beliefs and lucrative agenda on
Africans.
Without consensus or a cease-fire agreement between
the two camps, the pro-circumcision coalition has rolled-
out safe male circumcision with the skeptics watching in
awe. While the advocates for safe male circumcisions are
encouraging men to go for the snip, the skeptics are also
cautioning the men about the folly of removing their
genital foreskin.
Amidst this confusing situation, male citizens of this
country whose foreskin and behaviour has been at the
centre of the dispute, are expected to decide on whether to
cut or not to cut despite the fact that they seem to have
been left out of the debate. Neither the pro-male
circumcision camp nor the skeptics are brandishing
minutes of meetings or even research finding about post-
male circumcision sexual behaviour (that cover the socio-
economic diversity in this country) to support their
arguments.
The dispute about surgical removal of the male prepuce
and HIV/Aids is most likely to continue for a while.
Whether there will ever be consensus about including male
circumcision in HIV/Aids prevention, only time will tell.
As to how much damage the skeptics have done to the
male circumcision drive, no one can ascertain at the
moment. One thing that you can be sure of is that some
years to come, attributing any increase or decrease in
HIV/Aids infection rates to safe male circumcision will be
controversial.
Mr. Onen is a Non-profit Management Consultant with Ascend-
Consult.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/To-cut-or-not-to-
cut--why-has-male-circumcision-/-/689364/1665732/-/q3jefg/-
/index.html


FEATURED ARTICLES
Circumcision Fight: Profit, Pleasure, or
Population Control?
By Kuumba Chi Nia
February 22, 2007
If the experiment fails, Africans are likely to feel
abused and exploited by scientists who
recommended the circumcision policy
It is important that, while circumcision interventions
are being planned, several points must be considered
carefully. If the experiment fails, Africans are likely
to feel abused and exploited by scientists who
recommended the circumcision policy. In a region
highly sensitive to previous colonial exploitation and
suspicious of the biological warfare origin of the
virus, failure of circumcision is likely to be a big
issue. Those recommending it should know how to
handle the political implications. - James P.M.
Ntozi.
Using circumcision to prevent HIV infection in
sub-Saharan Africa
African people worldwide know about
experimentation in the name of scientific
advancement. However, often-vital information goes
without mention and the outcome devastates the
victim as in the case with the Tuskegee Syphilis
Experiment in Alabama, USA. This is precisely
why suspicion remains around HIV\AIDS reduction
experiments, but with little investigative attention by
the corporate media groups.
The good scientists would have us to believe that
their efforts are to reduce HIV in the most vulnerable
areas in the world.
Africa is the death basket of HIV, but my hypothesis
is that the current misuse of science is driven more so
by profit and population control. More than 1.2
million babies are circumcised in the U.S. per year at
the cost range for $150 million to $270 million. The
procedure is optional, but it is strongly suggested by
medical doctors. What happens to foreskin?

Foreskin removal represents a bio material waste
management issue, but what scientist would simply
discard of the all this skin? They would not discard
it so easily as long as it can be sold and used for
beautifying women.
Alternet posted a story February 9, 2007 Foreskin
Face Cream and Future Beauty Products, which
illustrates the profitability of foreskin as follows:
The Coriell Institute is only one of dozens of
websites that offer foreskin fibroblast for sale."
Foreskin flakes cost $85.00 -- plus shipping and
handling. Foreskin fibroblasts are big business. A
fibroblast is a piece of human skin that is used as a
culture to grow other skin or cells -- like human
yogurt kits.
According to the Alternet article Foreskin Face
Cream and Future Beauty Products, human foreskin
fibroblast is used in all kinds of medical procedures.
For example, foreskin is used for burn victims and
for eyelid replacement and for those with diabetic
ulcers (who need replacement skin to cover ulcers
that won't heal), to making creams and collagens in
the cosmetics industry (yes, the product that is
injected into puffy movie-starlet lips).
One foreskin can be used for decades to produce
miles of skin and generate as much as $100,000 --
that's not the fee from a one-time sale, but the fees
from the fibroblasts that are created from those
original skin cells.
One of the most publicized examples of the foreskin-
for-sale trend involves a skin cream that has been
promoted by none other than Oprah Winfrey,
according to the article. SkinMedica, a face cream,
costs more than $100 for a 0.63-oz. bottle, used by
many high-profile celebrities (such as Winfrey and


Continued from page 64- Circumcision Fight: Profit,
Pleasure, or Population Control?
Barbara Walters) as an alternative to cosmetic surgery.
Winfrey has promoted the SkinMedica product several
times on her show, and her website, which raves about
"a new product that boosts collagen production and can
rejuvenate skin called TNS Recovery Complex. TNS is
comprised from six natural human growth factors found
in normal healthy skin ... the factors are engineered
from human foreskin!"
On Winfreys show, the doctor promoting SkinMedica
cream warned that some people may have ethical
questions regarding using a product that is made from
the derivative of foreskins (to which Winfrey made no
response). Why is an ethical question? The foreskins
come from circumcisions, and male circumcision is
now a controversial topic. In a discussion on
Mothering.com, the question raised, "If the cream was
made from the bi-product of baby Afro-American
clitoral skin, would Oprah still be promoting it?"
There's no answer to that question on Mothering or
Winfrey's site, and Winfrey declined a request for an
interview for this article. The next question is what is
the science of circumcision?
WebMD Medical News, June 9, 2000 article The
Foreskin: An Open Door for HIV pointed out the
The foreskin of the uncircumcised penis is a welcome
mat for HIV, at the time of a study. The finding [at
the time] strengthens a growing consensus among
public health experts that both infant and adolescent
circumcision programs ought to be a major tool in the
fight to stop AIDS, especially in countries where HIV
is rampant.
Roger V. Short, ScD, professor of obstetrics/gyne-
cology at the University of Melbourne Royal Womens
Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and Robert Szabo,
analyzed penis tissues from autopsies of 13 men age
60 to 96 years, seven of whom had been circumcised.
Among their findings was that the inner side foreskin is
rich in a type of cell that carries HIV to T cells. The T
cell is the cell where the virus replicates itself.
Africa became the logical experimental lab namely
Uganda. On July 10, 2000, more questions surfaced in
light of the experiment. WebMD Medical News,
printed the article, Male Circumcision as the Answer
to the African AIDS Epidemic? However, the push
was still for removing the foreskin. The article read
that About 25 million Africans [had] AIDS or are
infected with the HIV virus . . . many of [them lived] . .
. where circumcision was not a regular practice. In
Gauteng province of Azania\South Africa the Orange
Farm experiment took in 3000 or better African males
from a towns population of 350,000. Circumcision is
supposed to reduce the disease by millions yearly. In
Gauteng the estimated HIV prevalence among antenatal
clinical attendees in the year 2000 was 29.4 percent and
increased to 32.4% in 2005. The Orange Farm snip
happy pappy proved wrong, with the notable increase of
HIV and AIDS statistics for South Africa.
More than 20-years passed since the initial claim
surfaced that there is a correlation between a lack of
circumcised African men and HIV versus circumcised
African men. The French and U.S. are leading the way
with World Health Organization support.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on July 6, 2005,
Medical anthropologists began noticing as early as
1989 that the highest rates of HIV infection in Africa
were occurring in regions of the continent where the
predominant tribal or religious cultures did not practice
circumcision.
The lead medical scientists are Dr. Betran Auvert of the
University of Paris and Adrian Puren of South Africas
National Institute for Communicable Diseases and
Ronald Gray a Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist
Ronald Gray are conducting an experiment in Uganda of
5,000 men in the Rakai district. The same experiment
occurred in Kenya with more than 2,700 men being
snipped. The experiments termination date is in 2007.
The findings are generalizations that are neither
conclusive nor exhaustive and therefore represent a
problem in male circumcision and the role in HIV
prevention?
In the tradition of bogus science, the data that was
presented by advocates of circumcision remained
inconclusive and dangerous as pointed out by De
Vincenzi and Mertens (1994) with the salient point that
most of the quoted studies were not designed to test a
hypothesis about circumcision and did not report their
methodological details for evaluation.
Furthermore, there is no evidence that enough
statistical rigors (sic) were applied to the data. That is
inconclusive information. Meanwhile, where, in small-
scale studies, this was done by controlling for several
variables like age, number of partners, [and] contact
with prostitutes, ethnic origin and findings that did not
fit into the conventional thinking of the hypothesis were
rejected by the journals as not interesting, or the
researchers did not submit them for publication for fear
of rejection.
The good doctors know that there is nothing conclusive
about their work as admitted by Dr. Auvert:


Continued from page 65 Circumcision Fight: Profit,
Pleasure, or Population Control?
Circumcision "prevented six to seven out of 10
potential HIV infections," said Auvert. He said the
study did not analyze the effect of circumcision on
male-to-female transmission or if circumcision
provides effective protection over the long term. At
least three more studies are under way to confirm the
effectiveness of circumcision. Dr. Auvert and company
said the study was cause for guarded optimism.
These experiments continue but do not work. An
experiment like this should have never been practiced
and funded, and represents bad science. It is more
likely to isolate the African masses from medical
scientist, and treatments that touted as lifesavers, while
they fall short of reducing HIV/AIDS in Africa.

It is important that, while circumcision interventions
are being planned, several points must be considered
carefully. If the experiment fails, Africans are likely to
feel abused and exploited by scientists who
recommended the circumcision policy. In a region
highly sensitive to previous colonial exploitation and
suspicious of the biological warfare origin of the virus,
failure of circumcision is likely to be a big issue. Those
recommending it should know how to handle the
political implications. - James P.M. Ntozi
Kuumba Chi Nia is a Mathaba author.
http://mathaba.net/news/?x=551050

Prevalence of Male
Circumcision and its
Association with HIV and
Sexually Transmitted
Infections in a U.S. Navy
Population
By A G Thomas, L N Bakhireva, S K Brodine,
R A Shaffer
Abstract:
Background: Lack of male circumcision has been
found to be a risk factor for HIV and sexually
transmitted infection (STI) in several studies performed
in developing countries. However, the few studies
conducted in developed nations have yielded incon-
sistent results. Policy regarding circumcision of male
infants as a prevention measure against HIV/STI
remains a controversial topic. This study describes the
prevalence of circumcision and its association with HIV
and STI in a U.S. military population.
Methods: This is a case-control study of male HIV
infected U.S. military personnel (n= 232) recruited from 7
military medical centers and male U.S. Navy controls
(n=516) from a general aircraft carrier population. Cases
and controls completed similar self-administered HIV
behavioral risk surveys. Case circumcision status was
abstracted from medical charts while control status was
reported on the survey. Cases and controls were frequency
matched on age. Multiple logistic regressions were
constructed separately to evaluate the role of circumcision
in the acquisition of HIV and STI.
Results: The proportion of circumcised men did not
significantly differ between cases (84.9%) and controls
(81.8%). Prevalence of circumcision among men born in
the U.S. was higher (85.0%) than those born elsewhere
(58.1%). After adjustment for demographic and behavioral
risk factors lack of circumcision was not found to be a risk
factor for HIV (OR = 0.9; 95% CI: 0.51, 1.7) or STI (OR
= 1.08; 95% CI 0.52, 2.26). The odds of HIV infection
were 2.6 higher for irregular condom users, 5 times as
high for those reporting STI, 6.2 times higher for those
reporting anal sex, 2.8-3.2 times higher for those with 2-
7+ partners, nearly 3 times higher for Blacks, and 3.5
times as high for men who were single or divorced/
separated.
Conclusions: Although there may be other medical or
cultural reasons for male circumcision, it is not associated
with HIV or STI prevention in this U.S. military
population.
Naval Health Research Center, DHAPP
P.O. Box 85122
San Diego, CA, United States
[CIRP Comment: This study found that 84.9 percent of
infected males were circumcised as compared with 81.8
percent of non-infected men were circumcised. This
difference (3.1%) may not be statistically significance,
however, it does show a higher percentage of circumcised
males among those who are infected.]
Citation:
Thomas AG, Bakhireva LN, Brodine SK, Shaffer RA Prevalence
of male circumcision and its association with HIV and sexually
transmitted infections in a U.S. navy population. Abstract no.
TuPeC4861. Presented at the XV International AIDS
Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, July 11-16, 2004. (File revised
24 November 2006)
http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/HIV/thomas1/


Mass Circumcision Drive in
Africa - And a Hospital near
You Soon
This is medical malpractice on an epic scale. Not only
is there proof positive that there is no proof that
circumcision prevents HIV infection. There is proof
that in various countries there is a higher instance of
circumcised men testing positive than uncircumcised
men testing positive. Of course the difference is so
small that it is very close to or within the statistical
error range.
The evidence for this entire campaign is based on three
random clinical trials held within 2 years of eachother -
in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.
Quote:
Male circumcision for HIV prevention in men in Rakai,
Uganda: a randomised trial.
Male circumcision for HIV prevention in young men in
Kisumu, Kenya: a randomised controlled trial.
Randomized, controlled intervention trial of male
circumcision for reduction of HIV infection risk: the
ANRS 1265 Trial.
However, with the full backing of population control
enthusiasts like Bill Gates, they now want to implement
mass circumcision in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and
South Africa, if not more countries.
I am still looking what their angle is with regards to
population control. Is it psychological, in that they are
preparing people's minds of the idea of a massively
intrusive government? Is it intimidation? Look at what
we were able to do to you just by making it policy?
They must know by now that there is no scientific
evidence that circumcision prevents HIV infection, or
even lowers the risks. In fact in various countries there
are higher numbers of HIV positives among
circumcised men than among uncicumsized men.
And yet they are doubling down, and want to
circumcise all newborns in Zimbabwe.
(NEWZIMBWE, REUTERS) Impact of male circumcision
on HIV doubted
Quote:
Researchers Gregory J. Boyle and Gregory Hill
claimed the 60 percent reduction in transmission was
only relative with the absolute reduction rate actually

no more than 1.3 percent.
Boyle and Hill said: What does the frequently
claimed 60 percent relative reduction in HIV
infections actually mean?
Across all the three female-to-male trials, of the
5,411 men subjected to male circumcision, 64 (1.18
percent) became HIV positive while among the 5,497
controls 137 (2.49 percent) became HIV positive.
So the absolute decrease in HIV infection was only
1.31 percent, which is statistically not significant. "
This is what the claim of 60% reduction in HIV
transmission is based on. Lies and deception.
On the general proof that circumcision means reduced
HIV infection, they state:
Quote:
" In Malawi, the HIV prevalence rate is 13.2 percent
among circumcised men and 9.5 percent among those
who are intact. (Again) in Cameroon prevalence among
those circumcised is 5.1 percent compare to 1.5 percent
for those who are intact. "
Yet, they march on in the campaign to get every
newborn circumcised:
(NEWZIMBABWE) Newly-born babies to be circumcised
19/07/2012 by Phyllis Mbanje
Quote:
"The ministrys AIDS and TB unit co-ordinator,
Getrude Ncube, said a pilot project targeting babies
between one and 28 days old would be launched before
year end with the full programme likely to be rolled out
in 2014."
"The project will start in Harare and Bulawayo," Ncube
said adding that, gradually, all maternity sites across
the country would be circumcising newly born babies
by 2014. "
Question: how are they going to get informed consent,
knowing that the data do not support the idea that
circumcision prevents or even reduces HIV infection?
Also see:
(NYASATIMES) Malawi promises to raise contraceptive
prevalence rate to 60% VP
(NYASATIMES) Britain committed to helping Malawi in
family planning.
Also interesting:
Randomized trials stopped early for benefit: a systematic
review.



Continued from page 67 Mass Circumcision Drive in
Africa
CONCLUSIONS:
RCTs stopped early for benefit are becoming more
common, often fail to adequately report relevant
information about the decision to stop early, and show
implausibly large treatment effects, particularly when
the number of events is small. These findings suggest
clinicians should view the results of such trials with
skepticism.
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2012/07/mass-
circumcision-drive-africa-and-hospital-near-you-soon

Circumcision for All; Free
Choice for None
By Stephanie R. Murphy
I was shocked, surprised, and flabbergasted to hear it.
I'm sure that you'll never believe it, either. The federal
government is get this, readers butting into your
most personal and private business.
OK, you've caught me in a rare moment of sarcasm.
Maybe I wasn't really that surprised. After all,
government bureaucrats attempt to control what types of
substances you put into your body, what kind of work
you do with your body, and even how you can legally
dispose of your body after death; it makes perfect sense
that they would also scramble for power over what parts
of your body should remain attached. Yes, that's right.
The CDC is now considering a campaign for universal
circumcision in the US.
The reason for pushing this one-size-fits-all policy stems
from the results of several studies, all done in Africa,
which have demonstrated the benefits of male
circumcision for reducing the transmission of HIV.
The studies on circumcision and HIV transmission are
very interesting. They are large, randomized, controlled
trials; the methodology is solid. They show, on average,
a 4060% reduction in the risk of a circumcised, HIV
negative man contracting the virus from an HIV positive
woman, as compared to an uncircumcised man. The
precise mechanism of circumcision's protective effect is
unknown. There are many potential explanations, none
of which are mutually exclusive. First, the foreskin has a
relatively high population of cells that are receptive to
being infected by HIV. Second, it acts as a reservoir
which may trap infected secretions. Third, the foreskin
has a higher propensity to ulcerate (become scraped) and
become infected with other sexually transmitted infec-

tions that cause open sores. It seems that removing the
foreskin also removes several potential avenues for
HIV entry into the body.
However, when considering the benefits of
circumcision, there are some significant caveats. For
one, circumcision is not a panacea; it does not
completely prevent transmission of HIV, it just lowers
the probability that a man will contract the virus during
any given sexual encounter with an HIV positive
woman. It should be noted that these studies only
examined the effect of circumcision on transmission of
the virus from an HIV positive woman to an HIV
negative man. While this is a relatively common
scenario in Sub-Saharan Africa, HIV epidemiology in
the US is different. Overall rates of infection are lower.
Also, HIV in the US is relatively more common among
men who have sex with men (MSM). There is no
evidence that circumcision protects against HIV
acquisition in MSM. Circumcision also does nothing to
protect anyone against acquiring HIV via bloodborne
routes, such as sharing needles with an HIV positive
person. It should go without saying that men can
protect themselves from acquiring HIV in other ways
besides getting circumcised, such as practicing safe(r)
sex and avoiding intravenous drug use. These methods
are much more reliable than the 40 60% risk
reduction conferred by circumcision.
Circumcision also has risks and demerits. My personal
philosophy on medicine leads me to look skeptically at
any procedure that removes a part of the body which is
not causing harm, pain, or annoyance to the patient; in
other words, don't mess with success. As with any
surgical procedure, infections and pain after
circumcision are both possibilities that should not be
ignored. Medical errors should be considered as a
legitimate risk during circumcision, too. There are rare
case reports of penile amputation that have occurred
during botched circumcisions. There are also many
more reports of less extreme, but still real,
consequences resulting from circumcision mishaps.
Of course, the question on the minds of many who are
considering circumcision is that of whether the
procedure impacts sexual enjoyment and satisfaction.
That question is, in my opinion, impossible to answer
accurately. To distill the immense debate surrounding
this issue to its barest essence, choice seems to play a
significant role in how men view their foreskins (or
lack thereof). Men who choose to get circumcised tend
to be happy that they did so; those who did not have a
choice in the matter because they were circumcised at
birth are more likely to lament it.


Continued from page 68 Circumcision for All; Free Choice
for None
That brings me to my main point in writing about the
prospect of universal circumcision: the issue of choice. If
my patient asked me about circumcision, I would discuss
with him the information above. I would also encourage
him to do his own research about the procedure if he felt
interested. He would make his own decision about
whether he wanted to have the surgery.
By contrast, the CDC's attitude demonstrates a lack of
consideration for patient autonomy and consent, two
essential elements in all medical decisions. The CDC
would like every baby boy born in America to be
circumcised, no matter the opinion of his parents and,
more importantly, without the boy's consent. If
circumcision were a medically necessary and life-saving
procedure with no possible ill effects, things might be
different. In reality, it is a surgical procedure that is not
essential for the health of a normal man; furthermore, it
has both risks and benefits. The relative importance of
those risks and benefits is subjective. Every man may
value them differently. For that reason, it's essential that
each individual be afforded the choice about what to do
with his own foreskin.
To be perfectly blunt, I do not see any justification for
removing a part of a baby boy's body without his
consent. Men can always get circumcised as adults if
they wish; by contrast, once the foreskin is gone, it's gone
forever. Most people will concede that the procedure is
painful even for babies, but they insist that the pain is
justified because the baby will not remember it. I wince
at the thought of causing pain to a newborn boy. I say
that even if he does not remember the physical pain as an
adult, he may still suffer from the psychological sting of
having had a body part removed without his permission.
Another argument from the advocates of universal
circumcision is that it makes good hygiene easier. This is
a typical government one-size-fits-all solution: parents
are too stupid, in the minds of government agents, to
teach their sons good hygiene, so instead we should just
circumcise everyone. People are also too stupid to
practice safe sex, so we should circumcise them all
because they will gain a marginal reduction in the overall
risk of contracting HIV. I've also heard arguments for
circumcision based in religious tradition and cultural
norms. Sure, circumcision is common and a very old
tradition in some religions and cultures. But does that
make it right? I don't think that's for us to decide. I think
that each individual, the owner of his own body, should
make the call about whether or not circumcision is
appropriate for him.
It's difficult for me to assume the mindset of statists
who advocate for this kind of thing, so I raised the issue
of universal circumcision in conversation with a few
people whose opinions I thought would be
unencumbered by that pesky philosophy of leaving
others alone and letting them make their own decisions.
In addition to the religious and culturally based
arguments that several people trotted out, one colleague
had an interesting comment. He thought that universal
circumcision was a good idea, envisioning a world
where no more would awkward teens have to worry
about getting teased in the locker room, because
"everyone would look the same." Oh really? The last
time I checked, people came in all shapes, colors, and
sizes, and that was a good thing! I guess that if
everyone looked alike, wore the same clothes, and had
the same hairstyles, nobody would ever have to worry
about not fitting in. Would this egalitarian also propose
to redistribute the wealth from the best-endowed men
to those who are not quite as blessed by Mother
Nature? Ridiculous.
I certainly cannot agree with the CDC's move toward
making a blanket recommendation that all boys should
undergo a medical procedure at birth, without their
consent. I want each man to have the opportunity to
make his own decision about what to do with his
foreskin when he reaches an age at which he is capable
of doing so, based on his understanding of the risks and
benefits, and how much he personally values each. The
bloated, overreaching federal government apparently
does not want the same.
September 2, 2009
Stephanie R. Murphy is an MD/PhD student living in
New Hampshire.
Copyright 2009 Stephanie R. Murphy
http://www.lewrockwell.com/murphy-s/murphy-s12.1.html

The Misleading Call
for Circumcision
By Otieno Mbare, PhD (Research Fellow)
August 20, 2008
I would not have ventured into this sensitive debate if it
did not have direct consequences for my children, the
posterity of the Luo nation and other non-circumcising
communities around the world. However, the debate
has been fueled following a research that was carried
out by some researchers in Kenya and Uganda and;
consequently published in January 2008 in the BJU


for those who are practicing it for it is seen as a rite of
passage marking a boys entrance into adulthood.
Sometimes it was performed as a means of suppressing
sexual pleasure, or used as an aid to hygiene where
regular bathing was impractical. At other times, it is
performed as a means of differentiating a circumcising
group from their non-circumcising neighbors, as a means
of discouraging masturbation, or to increase a mans
attractiveness to women, or as a symbolic castration.
The Luos have since used and abandoned other cultural
practices that marks the passage of a boy to adulthood.
We have refused to embrace circumcision for various
reasons; First, circumcision is not part of our culture. It is
foreign! Second, our other objection which is supported
by the existing literatures and research is that
circumcision changes physical sensitivity in the penis of
a man.
A 2007 study funded by an organization which opposes
circumcision, and published in the journal BJU
International, found a difference in fine touch sensitivity
between men who were circumcised and those who were
uncircumcised (such that circumcised men had less
sensitivity to fine touch in all but one area of the penis).
This same study also compared the sensitivity thresholds
at various points on the penis and concluded that the
most sensitive part of the uncircumcised penis was more
sensitive than the most sensitive parts of the circumcised
penis. The authors argue that the parts of the penis
removed by circumcision represent the most sensitive
parts of the penis.
Similarly, in a poll conducted by an anti-circumcision
organization, 61% of men who were circumcised as
infants reported decreased sensation over time, which
they report resulted in sexual dysfunction.
And recently, a study by DaiSik Kim and Myung-Geol
Pang on the The effect of male circumcision on
sexuality found there was a decrease in masturbatory
pleasure and sexual enjoyment after circumcision,
indicating that adult circumcision adversely affects
sexual function in many men, possibly because of
complications of the surgery and a loss of nerve endings.
I do not want to speculate that some high-level
conspiracy has been hatched to render Luo men
dysfunctional. I will simply stick to the issue which can
be corroborated through the overwhelming existing body
of knowledge concerning the matter at hand.
Let me further buttress my argument by citing Erickson
Paige 1978 article The Ritual of Circumcision, where she
writes: In the United States, the original reason for the
surgical removal of the foreskin, or prepuce, was to
Continued from page 69 The Misleading Call
for Circumcision
International. Had it not acquired political overtones
that sought to authenticate an otherwise a lop-sided
research whose methodology, validity, plausibility and
veracity are in doubt, I would have not wasted my
precious time debating it.
Yet, this issue touches on the very nerves of the
communities that are not practicing circumcision. It is
an old time debate that has been misguidedly used to
show cultural superiority and supremacy among
different communities. The same argument has sadly
been used to stigmatize, lower the image and
undermine the culture of the Luo community. Scientific
research as evidenced in the Mexico conference has
rejected that line of thinking as a dead-end research. It
will further give a false hope that a cure has finally
arrived albeit with devastating consequences to our
society.
It is therefore surprising that none other than my friend
Hon. Raila Odinga (no disrespect intended!), who has
suffered the wrath of these cultural purists, was the one
who went out prescribing the new medicine for the
uncut. This happened a few days after receiving with
his in-laws from central Kenya. I will not question Hon.
Odingas wisdom but this is a very sensitive cultural
issue that a person of his standing in Luoland and
Kenya in particular, cannot afford to discuss it casually
they way he did. I understand people have started
saying derogatively that Luoland sasa ni kichinjoni
because the PM has said so! The endorsement for
circumcision in the Luo nation is totally unacceptable!
I dont intend to argue here that our culture is pure and
superior. But, let me make it clear that there are certain
cultural practices that need to be eradicated without
legislation. Practices such as inheriting someones wife
whose husband, probably died of aids and, other
promiscuous habits. These are issues that have to be
addressed and develop a common position not only for
one community, but for the entire society. Abstention
and regular use of the condom is the sure way out of
the current HIV quagmire. This is what elected leaders
should be advocating instead advocating for something
which is meant to demean and portray our culture as
inferior! It is for this reason that most members of the
community have felt provoked by an assault directed at
our culture.
Yet, the research is so hollow that there is no knowing
whether the sample group and the control group had
been subjected to a full-blown situation to validate their
research finding! I do not want to dispute circumcision


Continued from page 70 The Misleading Call
for Circumcision
control masturbatory insanity (what the Luo would
call, thelo-oyuma!) - the range of mental disorders that
people believed were caused by the polluting practice
of self-abuse.
And here, she describes Self-abuse as a terminology
commonly used to describe masturbation in the 19th
century. According to Paige, treatments ranged from
diet, moral exhortations, hydrotherapy, and marriage, to
such drastic measures as surgery, physical restraints,
frights, and punishment.
But how was this conundrum conceived in the bible.
Because the Luo nation have always followed the bible
and what was bequeathed to them by Ramogi at Go-
Kwer! The scriptures, which my late father, Jakwath
Festo Mbare made his constant book of reference says
that the Council of Jerusalem in Acts of the Apostles 15
addressed the issue of whether circumcision was
required of new converts to Christianity. Both Simon
Peter and James spoke against requiring circumcision
in Gentile converts and the Council ruled that
circumcision was not necessary.
However, Acts 16 and many references in the Letters of
Paul show that the practice was not immediately
eliminated. Paul of Tarsus, who was said to be directly
responsible for one mans circumcision in Acts 16:1-3
and who appeared to praise Jewish circumcision in
Romans 3:2, said that circumcision didnt matter in 1
Corinthians 7:19 and then increasingly turned against
the practice, accusing those who promoted
circumcision of wanting to make a good showing in the
flesh and boasting or glorying in the flesh in Galatians
6:11-13. In a later letter, Philippians 3:2, he is reported
as warning Christians to beware the mutilation.
These teachings and others reinforces the very beliefs
we have upheld as a community.
Finally, the American Academy of Pediatrics (1999)
stated There are anecdotal reports that penile sensation
and sexual satisfaction are decreased for circumcised
males. Boyle et al. stated that the genitally intact
male has thousands of fine touch receptors and other
highly erogenous nerve endingsmany of which are
lost to circumcision. They concluded, Evidence has
also started to accumulate that male circumcision may
result in lifelong physical, sexual, and sometimes
psychological harm as well.
The caveat that I have to express is that circumcision
has not, and will never be part of our culture. Who ever
want to do it is free to do so without involving the

community.
But if you get circumcised, know that they are
amputating your foreskin. One should be informed that
the sensitivity that you feel, not only in that skin, but the
surrounding tissues, including the glands, will be
drastically affected and diminished.
Researchers also allege that not only are the nerve
endings gone with the foreskin, but remaining nerve
endings are severed, blood flow permanently disrupted,
and the shaft skin will be tight, possibly painfully tight.
Several months after this, the sensitivity remaining will
begin to fade, and will continue to do so. The warning to
our people is, Circumcision will damage your penis and
your sexual ability; thats what it does.
Even the British Medical Association has reported that
there is significant disagreement about whether
circumcision is overall a beneficial, neutral or harmful
procedure. At present, the medical literature on the
health, including sexual health, implications of
circumcision is contradictory, and often subject to claims
of bias in research. Published by Korir, Chief Editor,
African Press International - API
http://africanpress.me/2008/08/20/the-misleading-call-for-
circumcision/

Museveni sticks to Position
on Circumcision

In Summary
HIV/Aids fight. The President says the safe male
circumcision campaign is bound to mislead people into
ignoring the ABC strategy.
President Museveni has reaffirmed his earlier stand
against safe male circumcision in eliminating HIV,
saying the campaigns in favour of the method are
misleading Ugandans into unchecked sexual behaviour.


Continued from page 71 Museveni sticks to Position on
Circumcision
In his end of year message to the nation on Sunday, the
President said there was need to revisit the earlier
strategy of Abstinence, Being faithful and Condom use
(ABC) strategy if the current trend of HIV is to be
reversed.
The 2011 Uganda Aids Indicator Survey figures show
that the prevalence of HIV among adults has increased
from 6.4 per cent in 2005 to 7.3 per cent in 2011.
Ministry of Health figures also indicate that new
infections increased by 11.5 per cent between 2007/8
and 2010/11.
The President said Ugandans should return to morality
and sexual discipline if HIV\Aids is to be fought
effectively, adding that HIV/Aids is not a medical but a
moral problem that should be treated as such.
Mr Museveni had made the same call in Rakai during
the World Aids Day celebrations on December 1, 2012.
The Presidents call is in disagreement with that of
scientists who advocate for safe male circumcision as
another preventive measure which offers up to 60 per
cent protection from the HIV virus that is yet to have a
cure.
Officials of the Aids Control Programme (ACP) at the
Ministry of Health received the news with criticism,
saying
HIV is a big problem in Uganda that cannot be tackled
with a single strategy but rather a combination of all
scientifically-proven preventive measures, including
circumcision.
Currently, the scourge is on the rise despite the fact
that the ABC campaign has existed for several years
now, said Dr Alex Ario, the ACP programme
manager. Dr Ario added: Other methods cannot be
excluded at a time when we have to ensure that the rate
of infection is brought down.
He, however, said the government should acknowledge
that there is a problem so it can adopt all the available
preventive measures. We are not telling people to go
on rampage because they are circumcised. We will
continue to use a combination of preventive measures
until that time when we will get one method that offers
100 per cent protection against HIV.
The UNAIDS Country Representative, Mr Musa
Bungundu, said the ABC strategy is not enough to
reduce the increasing HIV infection rate and therefore
should be used alongside other measures.

He said if the President thinks that circumcision is not
effective, the government should ensure that policies
against mother-to-child transmission of HIV are
implemented beyond paper to check the more than 15,000
children who are born infected every year.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Museveni-sticks-to-
position-on-circumcision/-/688334/1655680/-
/view/printVersion/-/coeu41/-/index.html

Male circumcision is culturally motivated. In many
cultures male circumcision is closely associated with
the rite-of-passage to manhood. These cultures
include some sub-Saharan Africans, aboriginal
Australians, the Aztecs and Mayans, certain
inhabitants of the Philippines and Eastern Indonesia
and several of the Pacific Islands, such as Fiji and
the Polynesian islands. In South Africa the Xhosas
view the foreskin as the feminine element of the
penis, the removal of which, amongst other things,
makes a man of the child.

Rise of the Feminine Power
By Yamaya Cruz
21 February 2012
There are many movies airing today about artificial
intelligence. These movies explain how logic has
superseded emotion and sensibility. The story lines
normally involve a robot, or a bunch of robots that become
more powerful than man. Then, man has to work to take
back his power, but the machines are ten times smarter,
faster, and stronger. In the end, man wins, because he is
able to use the power of emotion. This theme is analogous
to the human mind. It is logical, precise, and mechanical,
much like a machine. However, it will never reach its
fullest potential without the power of the heart.
There are a million and one books in New Age that speak
about the power of the mind. Some say that we need to
become the watcher of our thoughts. While others say that
we need to focus our intention, only then are we able to
manifest the things that we desire in life. But these are just
thoughts! Man has created a spiritual science that is biased
in many ways, for the variables of love and emotions are
missing. There are many who would say that we should
free the mind. When in truth, we need to free our heart.
Freeing the heart seems dangerous, because then we
become vulnerable to the vicissitudes of life. Raw
emotions, untamed by logical thought can result in chaos.


FEATURED ARTICLES
A Shamanic Perspective on Balancing Male & Female
Energies with Many Knives
By Celeste Allegrea Adams
Awareness Magazine, January/February 2004
Many Knives, (Bvshpolawa), also known as Boe
Glasschild, is a Choctaw Shaman whose father was
Blackfoot, African and Cherokee. His mother was
Choctaw, and he is aligned with that tribe. His first
initiation was with Kitua Nighthawk, of the Cherokee
Medicine Society, then he became a Turtle Island
dreamer and worked with The Deer Tribe. His true
calling is as a Lightning Dancer, which is the medicine
of the Plains Indians.
Many Knives is the author of The Shores Within, a
wonderfully insightful collection of personal
experiences and teachings set forth by the authors
spirit guide, Laughing Dog Red Feather. Each teaching
strikes a deep chord of truth, and includes guidance on
realigning the dreams of our physical world, with the
greater reality of dream-time, and a roadmap for
leaving behind the bondage of consensus reality and
the drama of human existence through creative
response over automatic reaction. It is for those
seeking a pathway to personal mastery through
shamanism.
Over the past few years, Ive spoken to people in fields
as varied as physics, archaeology, history, mythology,
psychology and feminist studies, and most agree that
we are moving from an age where masculine energies
dominate towards a new cycle of feminine emergence
and a balance between male and female energy. I was
interested in a shamanic perspective on this subject as it
relates to both the personal and planetary level, and met
with Many Knives who explains that in this Aquarian
Age, we are returning to a time when feminine energies
are emerging because the planet is sick and in need of
healing.
Celeste: Why did male energy become dominant
during the last cycle?
Many Knives: Female power is nurturing and, as Ive
been instructed by spirit, it allowed the male energy to
run dominant. It exposed generations and generations
of people to the male mindset, the aggressive side of us,
the sun that burns us.
Celeste: Can you describe the differences between
feminine energy and masculine energy?
Many Knives: The feminine quality is receptive. It is a
quality of bringing in. The male quality is aggressive
and conquering. We have both Yin and Yang in our
bodies, but there is also the other side. There are three
sides to the coin: the head, the tail, and the edge, which
is that overlooked potential.
If you notice, the human body has three primal
structures. Were a microcosm of the planet. We have
the brain, the heart, and the marriage basket, which is
our reproductive area.
In the male, the male energy lies in the head. The sun
energy is his aggressiveness. That is why he thinks the
way he does. In the female, the head holds the moon
energy thats why she is receptive. In the heart space
we have both energies in balance; to love, create
harmony and balance. In the reproductive areas, the
male has the moon energies; therefore his body is like
the moon pulling the oceans. When that energy is
aroused he expands out. The female in her reproductive
areas has the sun energies. She is like the desert. She
heats up with the sun.
The planet is like that too. It has those three basic
things. It has the sun, moon and earth, which is like the
heart center. At this time were moving into the heart
center and the moon is a big influence. It teaches us the
rhythms and the cycles. And as we learn these
things, we become more balanced in a feminine
way. We do not desire to conquer, but we desire to
share.


Continued from page 74 - A Shamanic Perspec-tive on
Balancing Male & Female Energies
Celeste: What can nature teach us about balancing the
male and female roles within a relationship?
Many Knives: Mother Nature is the great teacher of
harmony and balance for female and male energy in
relationships. The Grand Mother allows each gender to
evolve and complement each other as a team, this is the
natural way. When both genders are awakened to the
fact that each is a microcosm of the Universe (one
verse), the competition between female and male
energies for leadership and/or control within the
relationship ceases as the individual strengths come to
light. Both the female and male energies begin to
experience growth together.
It appears that the relationships between female and
male energies are/were more harmonious in indigenous
cultures as these societies are not as externally
influenced and dysfunctional as those of today. More
stressful living conditions exist in modern-day societies,
for relationships as concepts of standards, materialism,
and social prestige influence and refocus the direction of
the relationship. Once the relationship begins to identify
with these external icons and images of successful
unions the relationship becomes less of the unique bond
it began as, opting instead to emulate the successful
examples. The square peg now seeks to enter the round
hole.
Celeste: In this new cycle we are entering, how do you
see the roles and relationship between men and women
evolving?
As we enter the new cycles of spiritual evolution, the
evolution of the roles of female and male in relationships
will be relative to the relationships themselves. This
appears to be because not everyone will experience the
same shift as we move into the harmonic concordance.
Its all so arbitrary. For some females, there will be an
emphasis on the masculine self, and vice-versa. The
level of the individuals personal enlightenment will
facilitate any and all spiritual shifting.
Celeste: What does an imbalance of male and female
energy look like within oneself and on the planet?
Many Knives: One needs to view the world through
awakened eyes to see the imbalances around them. There
are lacks of passion and commitment. There appears to
be a Me First philosophy prevalent, there is little or no
concern for the connections between the worlds of the
human and those of the stone people, the plant people,
and the animal brethren. There are both abuses of the
individual by the individual, and abuse of the planet by
the collective.
It appears that the consensus is becoming anxious and
zealous in its struggle for survival and progress while at
the same time drifting backwards as it attempts to force
itself forward. But this has been the nature of mans
most advanced societies it is a parasitic creature that
seeks a host to feed on so that it may progress.
Celeste: Among Amerindians, did women have the
same opportunities to learn shamanic traditions as
men?
Many Knives: Female energy has always been the
medicine keepers and the first healers on Earth Mother.
It is the mother energy that nourishes, caresses, and
initially guides the newborn, so the mothering energy is
shamanically healing on all levels. In the earliest
societies of Amerindians [First Nations People] the
female was totally honored and highly valued as the
one to carry life forward. Amerindians had no
derogatory words for female energy until the arrival of
the Europeans. The word squaw was first introduced
to the Eastern nations by the French.
Today there appears to be a return to the esoteric
traditions by women in our societies. This is very good
(not to imply that male energy has been negative for the
shamanic arts, this has not been the case at all). Once
the arts had an abundance of female practitioners, but
between 1600 and 1900 an estimated nine million
women were prosecuted as witches worldwide. This
female holocaust may have stymied female
participation and initiation into shamanic sects at one
time, but there has been a welcomed return of female
mystics.
Shamanism is one of the most natural ways of relating
to Earth Mother, totally transcending gender, race, and
age. When committed to a shamanic path of heart, the
student gets the medicine (lessons) needed for their
individual path to enlightenment. The teacher is
nothing more than the vessel, the cup bearing the water.
A teacher in the moment of truth totally transcends
issues pertaining to gender to move the student through
the maze of life (this is walking impeccably by the
teacher). The student gets the needed energies to
facilitate growth as they answer their calling.
Many Knives: I do it by paying respect to
Grandmother Moon. In all of her cycles and changes,
she is a microcosm of the cycles of life. She has the
new Moon, which is not visible the sky is black.
That is the beginning. She has the waxing Moon, which
is growing.
That is the growth. She has the full Moon, which is
maturity. That is when everything comes full circle.


Continued from page 75 - A Shamanic Perspective on
Balancing Male & Female Energies
And she has the waning Moon, when she starts decaying
and dies to become the full Moon again.
Celeste: How do you honor the feminine energy in
ritual?
I honor those cycles because life begins like that, ends
like that, and continues like that. The planet does that, the
universe does that, and the galaxies do that. The whole
microcosm or macrocosm has that same cycle. You can
see it in insects. They are born as eggs or larvae, they
become adult, and then they die. It happens every day.
Celeste: Can you describe a Lightning Dance Exercise
to bring balance to male and female energies within
oneself and the planet.
Many Knives: The pathway of Lightning Dance
Shamanism is a movement towards balancing the female
and male energies on all levels, beginning at the personal
level of the practitioner. As we are each a microcosm of
the Universe, to balance these energies within us
rebalances the energies within our space on the web of
life, which in turn begins to reharmonize the realities
around us. The pathway of the Lightning Dancer
empowers both the female and male as it transcends all
concepts of gender and other limiting parameters.
http://www.awarenessmag.com/janfeb4/JF4_MANY_KNIVES.
HTML

Continued from page 73 - Rise of the Feminine
Power
However, it is in this state that we become our best
selves. How many people fall in love when they are not
looking for it? How many others stumble across
opportunities, or have casual aha life-changing moments
at the weirdest time?
The mind, cluttered with thoughts would say that this is
luck. But theres really no such thing as luck. There is
something called passion, and it is 100% stronger than
any thought we could ever have. In fact, some of the best
scientist, writers, and artist had major breakthroughs
when they were in a state of pure bliss and joy.
Our emotional state has a strong effect on our ability to
attract great things in our lives. Even in a state of no
thought, how we feel can still affect our reality. But we
continue to suppress our emotions, because society
associates femininity with weakness. We can look around
and see the results of a world ruled by the masculine
essence.
Our relationships are failing, our families are falling
apart, and many children feel abandoned and neglected.
The only way to fix these problems is to encourage
men and women to balance the feminine and masculine
powers within themselves. This will allow us to be
strong enough to stop the rise of the machines and
restore the power that is derived from the feminine
essence.
Yamaya Cruz is the author of When The Shadows Began To
Dance. She writes about African spirituality, chakra healing,
shamanism and much more.
http://newafricanspirituality.com/page3/files/74f525558f254
c5b63e90b485ea64015-66.html#

Balancing the Inner
Masculine and Feminine
Energies
By Shems Nbedjer
November 7, 2012
In a Patriarchal culture, it is not only men that shift out
of balance. Everyone does. Today, many of the women
among you have dominant male energies, and need to
reconnect with the Inner Female energies. This has
been the result of Feminism in your culture, which,
"liberated" women and allowed them to develop their
potential in ways never before experienced. But it has
also lead to many of them becoming too masculine.
Also, as a result of Feminism, many men in your
western cultures have sought to reconnect with their
Inner Feminine energies, ironically becoming too
feminine and passive. And so we have a new "out of
balance" situation, where women are often too
masculine and men are too feminine. So - the key to
finding balance for every individual is to balance the
Inner Male and Female energies, in order to create a
new template for the Collective Consciousness, one
that will replace the older one.
Each of you needs to be connected to the inner Male
energy. It is the energy of the Spiritual Warrior and
Leader within you. This is the Solar energy. It is
radiant, strong, confident, warm and assertive. It is the
energy of "doing". It tells you when you need to assert
yourself; it gives you confidence and helps you to get
things done in the material world. It is outward flowing
and active.
The Feminine energy is the Lunar energy. It is soft,
receptive, gentle, loving and unconditional, but also
very powerful. It is the energy of being. It is inward


Continued from page 75 Balancing the Inner Masculine and
Feminine Energies
flowing and passive (as in peaceful). It allows you to be
with yourself and with others in non-judgemental ways. It
is the place where creative ideas are conceived and birthed
and then passed to the masculine so that they may become
real in the world.
In a balanced individual, there is a balanced flow between
being and doing, active and passive, masculine and
feminine. And this inner balance is reflected in the outer
or external world in the creation of relationships between
beings that are equally balanced in themselves and so can
create and maintain relationships that are balanced and
loving. A balanced relationship being one where neither
partner dominates the other, spiritually, mentally,
emotionally and or sexually.
http://destee.com/index.php?threads/balancing-the-inner-
masculine-and-feminine-energies.73871/

Continued from page 3 Egyptian Myth: The
Osirian Cycle
Isis heard of this and made Her way into the palace,
residing there for many months. At last she convinced the
Queen of Byblos to give Her the pillar, and she cut it open
to reveal the coffin inside. She was given the best boat in
Byblos, and She journey home to Egypt; finally hiding
Osiris' body in the marshes by the Nile.
One night, whilst Mighty Isis slept, Seth happened upon
the Dead King. In a fury, He tore the body of Osiris into
fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt to
ensure they would not all be found.
When Isis found the empty coffin, her cries reached unto
the heavens; even unto the ears of Her beloved Nephthys.
She came to Isis' side, and the two sisters searched the
land for the scattered body of Osiris. For many sad years
the Daughters of Nuit wandered through Egypt.
Everywhere they found a fragment they built a shrine. At
last, all the pieces were gathered; with the exception of the
God's phallus. Isis reassembled Osiris' body, and
fashioned a phallus of pure gold to replace the lost
member. She wrapped the body in cloth and perfumed it
with many scents. Thus was Osiris whole again, and
mummification was created.
Isis then transformed herself into the form of a swallow,
and with her wings she fanned the Breath of Life into Her
husband. The Lord of Eternity arose, restored to life at
last. But it was only to last for the length of one night, so
that He and Isis could conceive their Divine Son Horus.
Because of the loss of His phallus, He could not return to

the land of the living. Instead,Re-Atum made Him the
King of the Dead in the relm of the Beautiful West.
From that time onwards, every Egyptian knew that
death was nothing to fear, for his spirit would live on in
the Kingdom of Osiris.
Even Horus could not have been come into being had
not His Half-Brother Anubis sacrificed a day of His
own life so that Horus could be born. The Young God
lived a perilous childhood, yet survived to grow strong
and proud. Soon He came of age and set out to fullfill
His destiny- to pull the Crown from His uncle, Seth,
and thus avenge His Father's death and claim His place
as rightful Heir to the Throne.
http://www.theologywebsite.com/etext/egypt/osiris.shtml

What Can Naturally Produce
More Testosterone?
By Melissa McNamara
Jun 14, 2011
Low levels of testosterone can be frustrating for men
trying to gain muscle size and failing at their attempts
to have children. For most men, testosterone levels
peak during the early to mid 20s, but gradually
decreases with age. According to the Atlanta Medical
Institute, nearly 50 million men in the United States
experience some sort of hormone deficiency.
Identification
Testosterone is primarily a male sex hormone produced
in the testicles. Other than the obvious sexual organs
that identify males and females, testosterone plays an
important role in the secondary male sex
characteristics, such as increased muscle size, body hair
growth, deepened voice and overall sexual responses.
According to a report on the Colorado State University
website, the luteinizing hormone that binds to receptors
on the testicle's leydig cells stimulates the gonads. This
stimulates the production and secretion of testosterone.
Symptoms
While trying to gain muscle size, you may feel you're at
a standstill with your results regardless of how much
weight you lift. If you're trying to have children, a
decline in testosterone can decrease your sperm count
and your sex drive. A low sperm count would not
prevent you from having children, but it can make it
more difficult. According to Body Building, low
testosterone can also cause depression, weakness, hair
loss and put you at risk for osteoporosis.


FEATURED ARTICLES
Nutrition Linked to Sperm DNA Quality
By Nathan Gray
30 August 2012
Nutrition and diet have again been linked to the
quality of male sperm, with a new study revealing that
high micronutrient intakes is strongly associated
with improved sperm DNA quality in older men.
The study published in Fertility and Sterility
examined the diet and sperm quality of 80 healthy men
between the age of 22 and 80 years, finding that men
older than 44 who consumed a healthy intake of
micronutrients had less damage to the DNA of sperm
than those who did not.
Led by Dr Andy Wyrobek from the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, USA, the research team found
that men over 44 years of age who consumed the most
vitamin C had 20% less sperm DNA damage compared
to men older than 44 who consumed the least.
They revealed that the same was true for vitamin E,
zinc, and folate.
"It appears that consuming more micronutrients such
as vitamin C, E, folate and zinc helps turn back the
clock for older men, said Wyrobek.
We found that men ... who consumed at least the
recommended dietary allowance of certain
micronutrients had sperm with a similar amount of
DNA damage as the sperm of younger men," he
explained.
"This means that men who are at increased risk of
sperm DNA damage because of advancing
micronutrients in their diets or through supplements.
Study details
Previous research conducted in Wyrobek's lab found
that the older a man is, the more he's likely to have
increased sperm DNA fragmentation, chromosomal
rearrangements, and DNA strand damage. With more
men than ever choosing to have children after the age
of 35, the research team believes their work comes at
an important time.
The research team analysed the sperm quality of 80
healthy male volunteers between the ages of 22 and
80 with an average age of 44.
The men were recruited several years ago as part of
the California Age and Genetic Effects on Sperm
Study. Each man who participated in the study filled
out a 100-item questionnaire that estimated their
average daily vitamin intake, both from food and
supplements.
In addition, their sperm DNA quality was assessed
via a lab analysis in which a voltage gradient pulls
broken DNA strands from intact strands within the
sperm nucleus.
Each volunteer's intake of a micronutrient was
classified as low, moderate, or high based on how
they compared to other participants. The scientists
then analyzed the data several ways and came up
with the same result each time: a diet high in
antioxidants and micronutrients may decrease the
risk of producing sperm with DNA damage,
especially in older men.
"The different response of the old and young men
presents new opportunities for health care,
especially for older men planning families," said
Wyrobek.
However, he warned that more research is needed
adding that although the scientists found a clear link
between higher vitamin intake and improved sperm
DNA quality in older men, they don't know whether
this link extends to male fertility and the health of
offspring.
"Our research points to a need for future studies to
determine whether increased antioxidant intake in
older fathers will improve fertility, reduce risks of
genetically defective pregnancies, and result in
healthier children," he said.


Continued from page 77 - Nutrition Linked to Sperm DNA
Quality
"The research also raises a broader question beyond
sperm DNA: How might lifestyle factors, including higher
intakes of antioxidants and micronutrients, protect
somatic as well as germ cells against age-related genomic
damage?"
Source: Fertility and Sterility
Published online ahead of print, doi:
10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.07.1126
Micronutrients intake is associated with improved sperm DNA
quality in older men Authors: Thomas E. Schmid , Brenda
Eskenazi , Francesco Marchetti , Suzanne Young , et al
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Nutrition-linked-to-
sperm-DNA-quality

7 Foods that Boost
Male Fertility

1. Foods rich in Omega 3 Fatty acids
Sub fertile men have been found to be deficient in Omega
3 Fatty Acids. It makes sense to boost these in your diet.
Good sources include oily fish like salmon, herring and
mackerel which you can eat a couple of times a week and
some nuts, particularly walnuts. You can eat a good
handful a day. To be beneficial, nuts must be fresh and
NOT roasted. Omega 3 Fatty Acids also help to keep
blood vessels healthy and help with blood flow the the
penis and testicles. You can also take a fish oil or krill oil
supplement.
2. Foods rich in Vitamin C
A study has suggested that vitamin C helps to prevent
sperm clumping together (aggultinisation). Foods that
are very rich in Vitamin C include cantaloupe and water
melons, kiwi fruit, citrus fruit, mango, papaya, pine-
apple, and all berries. Vegetables include: broccoli, kale,
Brussels sprouts, cabbage, sweet peppers, other leafy
greens and tomatoes. Eat a couple of portions of really
fresh ripe fruit daily and a good heap of lightly cooked
vegetables with your dinner. If you want to take a
supplement take a time release 1000 mg pill or two
500mg at intervals through the day.
3. Foods rich in other anti-oxidants
Vitamin C is an anti oxidant, a nutrient that protects cells
from damage. Sperm are very susceptible to oxidative
damage. All highly coloured fruit and veg are rich in
anti oxidants. Nuts and seeds (again fresh and unroasted)
and avocados are rich in another anti oxidant: vitamin E.
A handful of nuts or seeds a day is good. I also
recommend that most men take a supplement of pine
bark extract (Pycnogenol) or grape seed extract which
contains a super antioxidant I written about elsewhere.
4. Arginine rich foods
Sperm contain large amounts of the amino acid arginine.
Studies have shown that arginine is important to sperm
count and motility. Arginine is also essential to health
blood circulation and strong erections. Water melon,
corn (corn on the cob, tinned sweet corn, pop corn, corn
cakes etc), high protein foods: nuts and seeds, beans and
pulses, dairy foods, chicken and beef, prawns and sea
food. Make sure any chicken or meat you eat is organic.
You can also supplement with arginine. Try a dose of
1500mg a day with a break every few months.
5. Zinc rich foods
Many studies have shown that zinc is essential to proper
sperm production. It is also an important antioxidant
present in semen in large quantities probably to protect
the sperm. Supplementing with zinc up to about 40mg is
ok for short periods but care is needed longer term. It is
better to include lots of zinc rich foods particularly
pumpkin seeds, oysters (the tinned sort are fine) if you
cannot face them straight from the shell. sesame seeds,
chocolate (but only cocoa rich varieties, at least 85%),
Beef lamb and liver, but again only organic.
6. Foods that boost testosterone
Testosterone, the essential male hormone is essential for
healthly sperm and semen production. Many of the
foods I have mentioned already may enhance
testosterone production, particularly those rich in Zinc,
vitamin B6 and vitamin A. Animal studies have also
suggested that ginger may help to build testosterone.


Continued from page 78 7 Foods that Boost Male Fertility
Generally a diet that is higher in protein and healthy fats
and lower in carbohydrate is thought to enhance
testosterone levels.
7. Foods to limit estrogen
A mans body naturally contains a small amount of the
female hormone estrogen. However aging,
environmental pollutants and lifestyle choices can
increase estrogen levels to a point where they can
adversely affect fertility. As with testosterone a diet
somewhat higher in protein and fats and lower in
carbohydrate will help. Members of the cabbage family,
broccoli, kale, cauliflower etc contain nutrients which
help to limit estrogen. A bit more controversial are foods
that contain weak estrogen like chemicals. Some studies
suggest these phyto-estrogens actually reduce the impact
of estrogen on the body. Other commentators are afraid
that they add to the estrogen load. I take the view that
for a fully grown male, they have a potential estrogen
limiting effect. Soya products, flax seeds and sesame
seeds are useful sources.
Foods to avoid
First the really bad news. Alcohol and particularly beer,
creates a toxic and highly estrogenic environment in the
body. So let me be be straight. If you want to be a dad
severely curtain your drinking and cut out beer
completely. It is a sad irony that alcohol consumption
has become associated with manliness when in fact its
affect is the opposite. Also avoid: all junk food, take
aways, snack foods like crisps, biscuits and other baked
goods and sweet sugar rich foods.
http://integramassage.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/7-foods-that-
boost-male-fertility/

Continued from page 76 - What Can Naturally
Produce More Testosterone?
Diet
Cholesterol is the building block of testosterone;
however, high levels of bad cholesterol can lower your
testosterone. Maintaining a healthy balanced diet is
important for optimal levels of health for all organs of
your body. According to Body Building, you can
naturally increase your testosterone levels by increasing
your zinc intake. According to the Office of Dietary
Supplements, red meat and poultry provide the majority
of zinc in the American Diet. Some foods that are also
high in zinc are oysters, beans, whole grains and nuts.
Take vitamin B-6 and magnesium, used to absorb zinc,
according to Body Building. Vitamin C can also improve
your testosterone levels, according to Think Muscle.

Lifestyle
Get a minimum of eight quality hours of sleep each
night. According to Body Building, inadequate amounts
of sleep can reduce testosterone by 40 percent. Limit the
amount of alcohol you consume. Occasional drinkers
can experience a 20 percent decrease in serum levels in
testosterone, and chronic alcoholics can have a 50
percent decrease, according to Body Building. Reduce
the amount of stress in your life by staying organized,
practicing thoughtful breathing through meditation or
yoga, and avoiding procrastination. Stress increases the
hormone cortisol, which decreases testosterone levels.
Ejaculating at least once per week can also keep your
testosterone levels from dropping, according to Body
Building.
Considerations
Making changes in your diet and lifestyle will give you
the main natural boosts of testosterone. If you have had
prolonged testosterone decline, seek assistance from a
doctor to learn about necessary steps to increase your
testosterone. In some cases, your doctor may recommend
a less natural approach.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/283786-what-can-naturally-
produce-more-testosterone/

Curcumin is a Potent Tool in
the War against Prostate
Cancer and Dementia
By John Phillip
February 27, 2012
(NaturalNews) Curcumin, the active anti-inflammatory
compound found in the Indian spice tumeric, has gained
an impressive reputation in the fight against many
deadly forms of cancer. New evidence released in the
journal Cancer Research finds that the natural phenol
can slow prostate tumor growth by blocking receptors
used to propagate cell tissue growth.
Additional research published in the journal PLoS One
explains the precise mechanism exerted by curcumin
molecules to target the amyloid fibrils associated with
the unnatural progression of protein-like plaque tangles
that are characteristic in Alzheimer's disease patients.
Adding curry spice to your healthy diet or
supplementing daily with a standardized curcumin
capsule will help win your individual war against
cancerous proliferation and Alzheimer's dementia.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of the


Continued from page 79 Curcumin is a Potent Tool in the
War against Prostate Cancer and Dementia
disease, with more than 250,000 diagnoses in the US
each year. Any natural compound that targets the
proliferation of prostate cancer cells would provide a
significant remedy compared with the allopathic
methods of radiation, surgery and chemical agents. To
conduct the study, researchers subjected prostate cancer
cells to hormone deprivation in the presence and absence
of curcumin with 'physiologically attainable' doses.
Curcumin blocks prostate cell receptors to thwart
cancer progression
The researchers found that curcumin blocked two
genetic receptors necessary for prostate cancer
advancement. These receptors have been shown is past
studies to predict cancer incidence and rate of growth of
existing tumors. They noted that the spice extract was "a
potent inhibitor of both cell cycle and survival in
prostate cancer cells."
The lead study author, Dr. Karen Knudsen and her team
found that other cancer cell lines multiply by a similar
receptor mechanism and may also be inhibited by the
curry compound. She commented that curcumin "also
has implications beyond prostate cancer... in other
malignancies, like breast cancer. In tumors where these
play an important function, curcumin may prove to be a
promising therapeutic agent."
In a separate research body, scientists found that
curcumin prolongs life and enhances activity of brain
neurons, acting as a neuroprotective shield against
Alzheimer's disease advancement. The research team
determined that curcumin acted to prevent the damaging
accumulation of amyloid fibrils around the nerve
synapse. Amyloid tangles are known to prevent normal
electrical and chemical transmissions required to form
memories and maintain cognition.
Scientific research models continue to extol the virtues
of natural spice and herbal extracts such as curcumin to
help prevent and treat many deadly diseases that kill
countless millions each year. Incorporate curry spices as
part of your healthy diet or include a daily
supplement(250 mg to 500 mg standardized curcumin
extract) to significantly lower cancer risk and support
healthy brain function.
http://www.naturalnews.com/035076_curcumin_prostate_can
cer_dementia.html

Improve Your Sex Life with
Horny Goat Weed

By Chris Kilham
April 19, 2011
The name horny goat weed catches everybody's
attention. But behind the clever name lies a serious herb.
For horny goat weed is a genuine sex-enhancer, a time-
tested aphrodisiac that increases libido in men and
women, and improves erectile function in men.
Known also as Epimedium or Yin Yang Huo, horny
goat weed leaves were purportedly the food of the yin
yang, a mythical animal which achieved one hundred
sexual climaxes a day. This legend points to the reputed
sexual potency of horny goat weed, and its honored
place in traditional Chinese medicine.
Used for over 2,000 years, horny goat weed is any of
several species of epimedium (brevicorum, sagittatum
and grandiflorum), a leafy plant which grows profusely
in the wild, most abundantly at higher altitudes. The
leaves of the plant contain a variety of flavonoids,
polysaccharides, sterols and an alkaloid called
magnaflorine. One of the flavonoids, icariin, is believed
to play a role in the sex-boosting effects of the plant,
which is used to restore sexual fire, boost erectile
function, allay fatigue, and alleviate menopausal
discomfort.
To get to the truth about horny goat weed, I travelled to
Shanghai and met with six top doctors of Traditional
Chinese Medicine (TCM), including the chief physician
of Shanghai's famous Longhua hospital, a top
gastroenterologist, a pharmacogonocist, a phytochemist
and two other practicing medical doctors. "What do you
think about epimedium?" I asked the group. "Is it truly
effective as a sex-enhancer?" There were affirmative
shaking of heads all around. "Oh, yes, yes." exclaimed


Continued from page 80 Improve Your Sex Life with
Horny Goat Weed
one. "We have all used epimedium for decades in our
practices. It is the very best sexual tonic for both men
and women."
I probed further. Does the plant truly help with erectile
function as some claim? Two of the physicians
explained that in clinical practice, they have successfully
used epimedium to treat erectile problems, to boost
waning libido, and to rebuild youthful sexual vitality. "It
gives you back your sexual strength," noted another with
emphasis.
With a group of Chinese medicinal plant experts
including a botanist named Sheng, we set off to see
where epimedium, or horny goat weed, grows in the
wild. Our destination was Tianmushan, a large mountain
area in the northern corner of Zhejiang Province. As we
journeyed to remote Tianmu Mountain, Sheng explained
the collection of epimedium, horny goat weed.
"All epimedium is picked wild, and this raises a lot of
questions. The plant is very abundant. It grows all over,
so there is a lot. But people ask about epimedium being
over-harvested. There is nothing to worry about in that
regard. As long as the roots remain in the ground, it
comes up every year. We only ever pick the leaves,
never the roots. Epimedium is always there. Nobody
applies any chemicals to the wild plants, so it is clean
and pure."
We parked at the base of the mountain, and set off for
the summit. With Sheng in the lead, we hiked off into
dense forest, and up a rugged trail on the mountain's
steep western peak. The tropical sun beat down on us
when we stepped out of the woods, and we were
drenched in sweat as we made our way up the mountain.
"Most of the epimedium on the mountain has already
been picked this year," Sheng informed us. "But further
up near the peak we will find plenty. The pickers don't
like to climb that high."
Further up we came to a rock outcropping, where we
saw our first clusters of epimedium growing in the wild.
"The plant likes rocks," Shen told us. From that point on
toward the peak we found numerous clusters of
epimedium. The plant proved abundant at higher
elevations, and I was happy to see it for myself in its
natural habitat.
In the United States, horny goat weed has become a
phenomenon. But does it work? The distinguished
botanist Dr. James Duke has long insisted so. And
science is backing that claim, With a human clinical
study supervised by New York physician Dr. Steven

Lamm and Gerald Secor Cousins. The purpose of the
study was to examine the effects of an herbal complex
product in which horny goat weed was the primary
ingredient. The formula was tested for it effects on sexual
satisfaction in healthy male volunteers and male
volunteers who use Viagra.
In the study, 25 healthy men and 13 men who used Viagra
received daily doses for 45 days of the horny goat weed-
based herbal formula. Additional doses were taken one to
two hours prior to sexual activity to determine its effect
on sexual interest, sexual performance, and overall sexual
satisfaction. After 45 days, the double-blind phase of the
study began with a placebo product and active product
randomly given to healthy men who had reported a
positive response in the first phase. All subjects were
evaluated after the first 45 days of treatment and finally
after 60 days. Results of the study showed that daily use
of the herbal complex for a minimum of 45 days resulted
in an enhancement of sexual satisfaction in 60 percent of
healthy male subjects and 45 percent of men using
Viagra.
Does horny goat weed work? Considering a long history
of positive use, and the study noted above, we can
probably say yes. More studies should be conducted to
support these conclusions.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/04/19/improve-sex-life-
horny-goat-weed/

What are the Risks of Taking
Horny Goat Weed?
Side effects. Most people seem to tolerate short-term
use of horny goat weed fairly well, at least at the
doses studied. It may cause upset stomach and dry
mouth. In some, horny goat weed may result in
irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, nosebleeds,
and mood changes. High doses have been linked to
spasms and respiratory failure.
Risks. Horny goat weed may not be safe in high
doses or as a long-term treatment. People who have
health conditions such as immune disorders, heart
or lung problems, low blood pressure, bipolar
disorder, or thyroid problems -- should not use horny
goat weed without their doctors approval.
Interactions. If you take any medicines or
supplements regularly, talk to your doctor before you
start using horny goat weed. It could interact with
drugs like blood thinners, aspirin, birth control pills,
antidepressants, treatments for immune disorders and


Continued from page 83 What are the Risks of Taking
Horny Goat Weed?
thyroid problems, and medicines that lower blood
pressure or cholesterol. Using horny goat weed
with nitroglycerin can be extremely dangerous.
Similar to its use with pharmaceutical erectile
dysfunction medicines, mixing nitroglycerin with
horny goat weed can even be fatal due to the
potential for severe drops in blood pressure.
Given the possible risks, women who are pregnant or
breastfeeding and children should not take horny goat
weed.
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-
guide-11/horny-goat-weed-epimedium

Pumpkin Seeds, Honey Boost
your Libido
By Vision Reporter
May 31, 2012
Dieticians and nutrition experts assert that you do not
have to go on a shopping spree, all the foods you need to
spice up your sex life may be in your garden or your
kitchen. Below are some of the foods that can help you
keep it hot between the sheets.
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds contain zinc. A deficiency can also make a
woman completely lose her sex drive. These yummy
seeds are also a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, which
are vital to overall sexual wellbeing.
Mulondo
Prof. Kyamuhangire, who has researched and processed
Omulondo liquor, says Omulondo contains good levels of
zinc; a micronutrient known to boost the levels of
testosterone, which in turn improves libido and reduces
sexual exhaustion.
Oily fish
Oily fish is rich in zinc, magnesium and selenium, all vital
for a good sex drive. Examples of oily fish include:
salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna and sardines.
Oily fish is also rich in omega-3, which makes the
nervous system more efficient.
Get nutty
All nuts play a role in supporting the libido. They contain
essential fatty acids that produce hormones that we all
need to stay romantic. Groundnuts, simsim, oatmeal,
peanuts, cashew nuts, soybeans among many are rich in
L-Arginine, which improves circulation and enhances

erectile response hence improving sexual performance.
If other nuts are hard to get, simply roast groundnuts or
prepare groundnut sauce for him.
Celery
Raw celery boosts the production of libido, enhancing
androsterone, an odourless hormone men release
through perspiration during sex and women find it
extremely attractive. Chop the celery and add to sauce or
soup as a spice.
Bananas
Bananas are rich in bromelain, which is important for
sexual health. Bananas are also a good source of
Vitamin B, which increases the bodys energy. They are
rich in potassium, which is vital for the production of
sex hormones.
Avocado
Though avocado may not get your fire going, eating it
will give you energy in form of healthy fat. Avocado
contains high levels of folic acid which help break down
proteins and in turn provide energy. It is also rich in
vitamin B6, which improves male hormone production
and potassium, which helps to regulate a womans
thyroid gland. You can prepare an avocado shake or
serve the fruit as salad.
Asparagus
Asparagus is very high in vitamin E, which is vital for
good sex. The Vegetarian Society says eating asparagus
thrice a week produces the most powerful effect.
Asparagus is rich in folate, a vitamin B that increases the
production of histamine, which is essential for
increasing the sex drive for both men and women.
Spice it up!
The right spices not only heat things up on the tongue
but also in the bedroom. Chili-red pepper contains
capsaicin, the substance that gives it a burning sensation,
stimulates nerve endings and raises the heart rate. This
helps to release endorphins and other feel good
hormones necessary for a spicy sex life. Hot spices like
ginger, cayenne and cumin curry improve circulation
and warm up the body.
Basil
Basil increases blood circulation, stimulates sex
drive and boosts fertility. This tasty herb has an
aroma that can excite his hormones and stimulate
his sex drive. Add a leaf of basil to his coffee or
tea.
Garlic
Bad on the breath but good on the sex. Ssenoga
says garlic has aphrodisiac properties; allicin,


a small penis? Are these problems affecting your sex
life? I am going to introduce you to African sexual herbs
that have been in use in Africa since time immemorial.
The evidence of usage of these herbs lies in the high
childbirth on the continent and stickiness of women to
their partners despite the low level wealth. Many men
have more than one wife openly and none of them is
complaining. It is not an easy fit.
There is the 'mulondo' herb. This is indigenous to East
Africa. The 'mulondo' is used to control early ejaculation
and increase your erection. It targets those parts of your
body responsible for sexual stimulation and ejaculation.
It increases the stimulation as well as increasing the
blood into your penis. The result is a longer sexual
performance and a stronger erection.
Many African men are capable of having sex with
their several wives on a daily basis leaving each of them
satisfied. They allocate each woman a day and each
woman is always looking forward to her day with her
husband. She knows that he will perform effectively
thanks to the 'mulondo' herb.
Then there is the 'Entengo' which is common in
Southern Sudan. The 'Entengo' has been used in the
societies of Southern Sudan for a long time. People in
these societies discovered a long time a go that a penis
can only grow normally to a few inches. They
discovered that a normally grown penis can hardly
satisfy a woman. They went to the forest in search of
herbs to remedy the problem and they discovered the
'Entengo'. This herb is used often with exercises to grow
penises of children from an early age. When used
consistently the penis takes on a new dimension
gradually. That is why men from these regions have
longer than normal organs.
These herbs can be used by any one from anywhere with
the same results.
http://EzineArticles.com/5676480

Continued from page 86 Prunus Africanus
Description: An evergreen tree, usually 10-25 m high,
with straight, cylinder trunk and dense, rounded crown.
Flowers are small, fragrant and white or cream in color.
Fruits are cherry-shaped, red to purplish-brown. The
wood is very hard and heavy, pale red with strong
cyanide smell when freshly cut, darkening to rich dark
red or mahogany-brown on exposure to air. Dried bark
is red to blackish-brown and has a strong odor,
characteristic almond smell.
Continued from page 82 Pumpkin Seeds, Honey Boost
your Libido
which improves blood flow to the sexual organs.
People who over-indulge in sexual activities should
take garlic in their diet or as a supplement to protect
themselves from nervous fatigue.
However, allicin is only produced if the garlic has been
chopped into tiny pieces. As a bonus, allicin also fights
fungal infection. Prepare a bowl of garlic soup for your
man or use it as a spice in his meals.
Honey
The natural sugars found in honey can improve libido
and also increase sexual stamina. The term honeymoon
was derived from an ancient custom
where newly-weds would go into seclusion and share a
special honey drink. The concoction was believed to
increase their sexual desire.
Word of caution
Ssali says eating the foods is not enough to give sexual
satisfaction. You may chew a bunch of Omulondo, but
if you are stressed you will find it hard to have good sex
because sex depends entirely on the mind set, he warns.
Adequate preparation in form of foreplay will enhance
bonding and prepare the body.
http://119.82.71.117/newvision/news/631541-pumpkin-seeds-
honey-boost-your-libido.html

African Sexual Herbs, They
Will Change Your Bedroom
Life Forever
By Salva Kenyi

Mondia whytei
Are you dissatisfied by your sexual life? Are you having
a weak erection? Is early ejaculation your problem? Is it


Continued from page 83 Prunus Africanus
Pygeum extracts have been used for more than 30 years
in France, Germany, and Austria for patients suffering
with prostate enlargement. Benign prostatic hyperplasia
(BPH), a nonmalignant enlargement of the prostate that
occurs in most men over 60, can lead to urinary
frequency and nocturia (waking up at night to go to the
bathroom). Frequent interruption of sleep leads to
daytime tiredness. The pharmacologic use of plants and
herbs for the treatment of BPH has been growing
steadily.
Major Chemical Constituents: Active constituents
include docosanol and B-sitosterol. Other major
constituents include alkanols, fatty acids (62.3%
comprising myristic, palmitic, linoleic, oleic, stearic,
arachidic, behenic, and lignoceric acids), sterols, and
triterpenes. The presence of the cyanogenic glycoside
amygdalin has been documented in the bark, leaf and
fruit of this species.
Medical Uses: Treatment of lower urinary tract
symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
(enlargement of the prostate), stages I and II (nocturia,
polyuria and urinary retention), in cases where diagnosis
of prostate cancer is negative. Bark preparations are used
by the Zulu people to treat intercostal pains and
elsewhere in Africa as a purgative and a remedy for
stomach pains. In Europe, bark extracts are used in the
treatment of BPH.
Clinical data support its use for the relief of lower
urinary tract symptoms of Stage 1 and 2 BPH (nocturia,
polyuria and urinary.
Pharmacology: Research studies have demonstrated
that African prune stimulates the secretory activity of the
prostate, has anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic
tendencies and inhibits cell proliferation. Standardised
bark extract (lipid/sterol fraction) has been in clinical use
in Europe since 1969. There have been numerous studies
aimed at establishing both efficacy and precise mode of
action. The beneficial effects noted in patients suffering
from BPH following treatment with standardised bark
extract include significant reduction in frequency of
urination and residual urine volume and an increase in
voided volume and flow rate, as compared with placebo.
A reduction in edema and inflammation as well as
diminished histamine-induced vessel permeability has
been demonstrated. These effects have been attributed to
the presence of phytosterols (anti-inflammatory, anti-
estrogen), pentacyclic triterpenes (anti-edema,
immunostimulant) and ferulic acid esters (hypocholes-
terolaemic).

Dosage forms: In traditional practice, bark infusions are
taken orally. In Europe, the lipid/sterol fraction, usually
obtained by extraction of the bark with chloroform or
dichloromethane, is taken orally. Tadenan is one such
preparation. For the treatment of BPH, 100-200mg of
standardised extract/day in divided doses.
Contraindications: Preparations of this species are
contraindicated in cases of known allergy to members of
Rosaceae, as well as during pregnancy, lactation and in
children under the age of 12 years because of effects on
androgen and oestrogen metabolism. Lipophilic bark
extracts appear to be well tolerated in humans. A few
cases of minor and transient gastrointestinal side effects
e.g. diarrhoea, nausea and gastric pain have been
reported and single cases of constipation, dizziness and
visual disturbance.
Precautions: A diagnosis of BPH is preferable before
commencing treatment with standardised bark extract.
Currently available evidence does not suggest
carcinogenesis, mutagenesis or impairment of fertility
associated with the use of Prunus africana.
www.blackherbals.com

Effects of Aframomum
melegueta and Piper
guineense on Sexual
Behaviour of Male Rats
By Kamtchouing P, Mbongue GY, Dimo T, Watcho P,
Jatsa HB, Sokeng SD.

Aframomum melegueta
Abstract
The effects of aqueous extracts of Aframomum
melegueta and Piper guineense on the sexual behaviour
of male rats were studied, considering many criteria,
such as penile erection, copulatory behaviour and


Continued from page 84 Effects of Aframomum melegueta
and Piper guineense on Sexual Behaviour of Male Rats
orientation activities towards themselves (genital
grooming) and female rats (ano-genital sniffing,
mounting). For 8 days different groups of rats received a
daily administration of distilled water (control) or a plant
extract: A. melegueta at 115 mg/kg or P. guineense at
122.5 mg/kg. Both plant extracts stimulated male sexual
behaviour.
In fact, A. melegueta and P. guineense significantly
increased penile erection index, and the frequencies of
intromission and ejaculation. These plant extracts were
found to enhance the orientation of males towards
females by increasing mounting and ano-genital
investigatory behaviour. Results of this study showed
that A. melegueta and P. guineense modified the sexual
behaviour of male rats by increasing sexual arousal.
Source
Laboratoire de Physiologie Animale, Facult des
Sciences, Universit de Yaound I, Yaound, Cameroun.
Behav Pharmacol. 2002 May;13(3):243-7. PMID: 12122315

Pentagon opts not to
intervene in Ban of Lesbian
by Fort Bragg Spouses Club
By Bill Briggs
January 16, 2013
The Pentagon is endorsing a move by leaders at Fort
Bragg to stay out of a decision made by its on-base
spouses club to refuse membership to the lesbian spouse
of a female Army lieutenant, a Department of Defense
spokesman said Wednesday.
The legal basis for the Pentagons stance is a
department-wide instruction drafted in 2008, three
years before the repeal of the militarys anti-gay Dont
Ask Dont Tell policy, said Nathan Christensen, a
spokesman for the Pentagon. That directive ensures that
non-federal entities operating on U.S. military
installations dont discriminate on the basis of race,
color, creed, sex, age, disability, or national origin.
There is no mention of discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
NBC News reported Dec. 14 that Ashley Broadway, the
newlywed wife of Lt. Col. Heather Mack, was blocked
from joining the spouses club at Fort Bragg, N.C.,
sparking accusations from a national military spouses
organization that Broadway was being blackballed only
because she is a lesbian.
The Armys handling of that matter runs counter to a
directive issued Jan. 9 by Marine Corps leaders who
ordered that same-sex spouses be allowed to participate
in spouses clubs at all Marine bases.
This is no longer about me joining this officers club.
This is about the Pentagon and the Department of
Defense and the Department of Army telling the country
that it is OK to discriminate against gay and lesbian
service members and their families, Broadway told
NBC News.
This is not the end. Im not going to drop this. Im not
going to sit back and take the discrimination when I
know good and well the Pentagon and Secretary of
Defense can sign rights today that would also authorize
military IDs and extend housing (to the same-sex spouses
of service members), she added. The decisions here at
Fort Bragg, and in the Department of Army, have showed
absolutely no gesture of: Hey, youre important and this
is discrimination. If anything, theyve shown they
absolutely dont care. Disappointed? Extremely.
Frustrated? Extremely. Surprised? No.
Broadway, meanwhile, has been nominated for the Fort
Bragg Military Spouse of the Year award, a precursor to
the Army Military Spouse of the Year award and
perhaps, ultimately the 2013 Armed Forces Insurance
Military Spouse of the Year award, which represents all
branches. She is one of about 10 Bragg spouses
nominated for the award from that base. Online
voting for the base-level award takes place Jan. 22.
Mack has received overwhelming support within her
Army unit at Fort Bragg, Broadway said.
The Pentagon's position on the Fort Bragg matter is
legally viable despite the repeal of Dont Ask Dont
Tell because, Christensen said, the Department of
Defense still follows the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA). That law defined marriage as the legal union
of one man and one woman. Under DOMA, the federal
government doesnt recognize same-sex marriages and
doesnt offer same-sex military spouses some benefits
given to heterosexual spouses.
Asked if the Marine Corps recent directive banning the
discrimination of same-sex spouses at its spouses clubs
conflicts with the Pentagons stance, Christensen
responded: The DOD policy has not changed.
But Mary Reding, a California attorney and president of


Continued from page 84 Effects of Aframomum melegueta
and Piper guineense on Sexual Behaviour of Male Rats
Military Spouse JD Network the largest association
of military spouse attorneys contends that the
Pentagon's legal hair-splitting contradicts the spirit of
Dont Ask Dont Tell.
"While the Army's position is defensible based on
outdated internal policies, Reding said, "the current
climate and the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' would
indicate a shift in acceptance that should be a catalyst for
an immediate review of discriminatory practices in all
policy areas."
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/16/16547738-
pentagon-opts-not-to-intervene-in-ban-of-lesbian-by-fort-
bragg-spouses-club?lite

Uganda will not tolerate
Promotion of Homosexuality
BY Pascal Kwesiga and Mary Karugaba
December 17, 2012
President Yoweri Museveni has said that Uganda will
not tolerate the promotion of homosexuality and warned
pro-gay activists against such activities.
"I have been telling these people (pro gay activists) that
nobody will kill or prosecute them for being
homosexual, but there should be no promotion of
homosexuality," Museveni said Sunday at the
installation of new Archbishop of Church of Uganda,
Most. Rev. Stanley Ntagali, at the St. Paul's Cathedral,
Namirembe in capital Kampala.
Museveni said he recently met with the US ambassador
to Uganda and told him that the country would not allow
pro-homosexuality activists to continue with their
promotional campaign of homosexuality.
"I told him I have never held rallies to even promote
heterosexual issues. The problem is promoting, you hear
people holding conferences to promote homosexuality as
if it's a good thing," the President added as the Christians
inside and outside the church chanted 'Amen'.
Museveni said he had explained to the American
ambassador of the existing cultural clash between the
people from the Western countries and Africa where sex
is an issue that is not discussed in public.
"I told him that I have been married to my wife for 39
years, but I have never kissed her in public and in my
house before the children. If I did it I would lose
elections and you know I am not about to accept that

idea of losing elections," the President added.
Museveni caused laughter when he said that he hoped
that European clergy in attendance were in support of the
stance of the Anglican Church in Uganda against
homosexuality.
"I hope these (white bishops) are your partners in the
struggle against homosexuality and I commend the
church for the fight against this practice. There are some
people who have been wasting our time," he said.
The President said before the whites came into contact
with Africans, there were two prominent kings and a
chief who practiced homosexuality and no one was
bothered about their sexuality because they didn't
promote or encourage others to follow suit.
"I knew of two kings and one chief who practiced
homosexuality. They were not persecuted, discriminated
or killed. The chief actually did very good work but
homosexuality was not promoted. People would whisper
and ignore, the issue now is promotion as if it's good, that
we can't accept," Museveni said.
He said he was worried about the current HIV/AIDs
prevalence rate that has increased tremendously in
Uganda that was a model country in the world when the
prevalence rate went down considerably in the 1990's.
Museveni observed that the drop in the HIV prevalence
due to governments vigorous campaign promoting
abstinence, faithfulness and condom use.
Museveni noted that conflicting messages such as
circumcision are to blame for the rising HIV prevalence.
He urged the church leaders to embark on a campaign to
guide the young people on how to avoid contracting the
disease.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/638184-uganda-will-not-
tolerate-promotion-of-homosexuality.html

MALE REPRODUCTION
It is fair to say that male reproduction is in trouble. From
diseases of the reproduction system caused by gmos,
radiation, chemicals, drugs, alcohol and tobacco,
HIV/AIDS, venereal diseases, endocrine disruptors, too
low or too high hormone levels causing cancer, erectile
dysfunction, infertility and in some cases homosexuality.
Its a wonder women can reproduce at all. Is
reproduction using sex, a thing of the past? Will our
babies be fertilized in test tubes carried by surrogates?
What is the future of the human race? After all, presently


The BodyTemple Instiute of Wholistic and Herbal Studies
http://thebodytemple.ning.com/

Continued from page 86 - Male Reproduction

it does take two people of the opposite sex to produce
children. This is by design. Divine Design.
I am not gay-bashing but we must be aware of the hows,
the whats and the whys, this is happening. From a
scientific point of view our gender line is being blurred.
Environment chemicals, such as the chart of plastics
above, can influence our sexuality. Estrogen-containing
substances are changing the sex of animal species
especially those that inhabit water. Can it not happen to
us? Could environmental chemicals be changing the sex
of boys and girls prenatally? Instead of looking for
equality, why are we not looking for the real culprits? If
this is a medical emergency, intervention is needed.
Many of the drugs we take for common illnesses and
conditions contain chemicals that disrupt the normal
reaction of men causing erectile dysfunction. ED is so
common that pills like Viagra are needed to behave like
a man.
Many of the pesticides and herbicides used in farming
are causing prostate cancer. Many of our containers we
use to preserve our food are causing reproductive
problems in both men and women.
Some forms of infertility can be overcome by a nutrit-
ious diet and by the use of natural herbal products.
Sexual reproductive glands need detoxing of environ-
mental chemicals. Sometimes it is all that is needed.
As Africa and other so-called third world countries
accept more and more of the western culture these
chemicals will occur more and more and the changes
they induce will also occur more and more. Is this being
done purposely? With regard to African culture, maybe
Africans are not so backward as the West would have us
to believe.
Male circumcision is culturally motivated. In many
cultures male circumcision is closely associated with the
rite-of-passage to manhood. In South Africa the Xhosas
view the foreskin as the feminine element of the penis,
the removal of which, amongst other things, makes a
man of the child. Circumcision is not the answer to
HIV/AIDS. It has not decreased the rate of HIV/AIDS
infection in Uganda. In fact, the rate has increased.
Lastly, we and the world are completely out of balance.
We are seeing the aggressiveness of males all over the
world. Men need to be reminded that they also had a
mother and it is only through a woman that men even
exist. The woman deserves respect. We need to balance
our male and female energies, if we as humans are
expected to survive.
Blackherbals A Marcus Garvey Pan-African
Universitys Community Site of Knowledge


Herbs of the Month
PRUNUS AFRICANUS BARK

Pygeum africanum
Parts Used: Dried bark of the trunk of Prunus Africana
Common Names: African plum tree, African prune,
armaatet, bitteramandel, chati, inkhokhokho,
iyangazoma-elimnyama, kiburabura, lemalan migambo,
mueri, muiru, murugutu, muutimailu, mweria, mwiritsa,
nuwehout, ol-koijuk, oromoti, red stinkwood,
rooistinhout, tenduet, tendwet, twendet, umdumizulu,
umkakase, umkhakhazi, umlalume.
Traditional Uses: Aphrodisiac, bladder sphincter
disorders, fever, impotence, inflammation, kidney
disease, malaria, male baldness, partial bladder outlet
obstruction, prostate cancer, prostatic adenoma,
prostatitis, psychosis, sexual performance, stomach upset,
urinary tract health.
Geographical Distribution: Found in mountain forests
of equatorial Africa including Angola, Cameroon,
Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi,
Mozambique, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Uganda,
United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

CAL ENDAR OF EVENTS
SPECIAL EVENT:
PLACE: AFRIKAN TRADITIONAL HERBAL RESEARCH CLINIC
TIME:

Afrikan Traditional Herbal Research Centre/Clinic
54 Muwafu Road, P.O. Box 29974
Ntinda, Kampala, Uganda East Africa
Phone: +256 (0) 702 414 530
Email: clinic@blackherbals.com

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Mission Statement
Our aim at The African Traditional Herbal
Research Clinic is to propagate and promote the
awareness in Afrikan peoples at home and abroad of
their health, biodiversity, history and cultural
richness. We gather pertinent information on these
issues and disseminate these freely to our people in
Uganda, the rest of the continent, and anywhere in
the Diaspora where Afrikans are located. One of
the main ingredients for increasing poverty, sickness,
exploitation and domination is ignorance of one's
self, and the environment in which we live.
Knowledge is power and the forces that control our
lives don't want to lose control, so they won't stop at
anything to keep certain knowledge from the people.
Therefore, we are expecting a fight and opposition to
our mission. However, we will endeavor to carry
forward this work in grace and perfect ways.
Where there is no God, there is no culture.
Where there is no culture, there is no
indigenous knowledge. Where there is no
indigenous knowledge, there is no history.
Where there is no history, there is no science
or technology. The existing nature is made

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