W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
11 May 2010
The infertility timebomb: Are men facing rapid extinction?
One in five men could suffer from fertility problems. And scientists have warned that it's just going to get worse...
There's a crisis brewing, but it has nothing to do with the economic deficit or the current political uncertainty. Scientists are warning that rising levels of male infertility have become so perilous that it is a serious 'public health issue'. And some go even further.
Professor Niels Skakkebaek, of the University of Copenhagen, describes the issue 'as important as global warming'. Last week, one science writer even suggested, in starkly terrifying terms, that if scientists from Mars were to study the male reproductive system, they would possibly conclude that man was destined for rapid extinction.
And if it continues, this trend could indicate men are on a path to becoming completely infertile within a few generations.
Scientists are warning that rising levels of male infertility have become so perilous that it is a serious 'public health issue'
Reports claim that as many as one in five healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 25 produce abnormal sperm counts. Only 5 to 15 per cent of their sperm is good enough to be classed as 'normal' under World Health organisation rules - proving that infertility is not just a female problem. Indeed, among those experiencing difficulty with conception, a male fertility problem is considered important in about 40 per cent of couples.
But women trying to get pregnant are facing another astonishing claim: that the core problems of male fertility - while they may be exacerbated by environmental issues - start in the womb.
'Sperm counts are declining and there is mounting evidence that the problem starts even before birth,' says Dr Gillian Lockwood, medical director of Midland Fertility Services.
She cites growing evidence that although the process of sperm production - known as spermatogenesis - starts in adolescence, the crucial preparations are made in the few months before and after birth.
Factors such as women eating a lot of beef during pregnancy - which means they have consumed a diet rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are potentially damaging chemicals - to the issue of obesity during pregnancy and a woman's exposure to smoke, pesticides, traffic fumes, plastics and even soya beans are all thought to have a bearing on a male foetus's future fertility.
Experts talk of a 'window' of testicular development that begins in the growing foetus and ends in the first six months of life. Problems in this period mean that the baby boy may never be able to produce babies of his own.
It's a theory that Karl Tonks, a clinical skills trainer, is particularly interested in. Karl, 47, and his teaching assistant wife Lorraine, 41, consider themselves among the lucky ones: they have two healthy children, despite Karl's low sperm count. Their twins Ben and Kira, now 12, were born as a result of arduous and expensive IVF.
Reports claim that as many as one in five healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 25 produce abnormal sperm counts
Like many men, Karl was given no particular reason for his low sperm count. The news that it would be impossible for him to have a child came as a shock.
'We'd been trying for a baby since we got married. I had no idea there was a problem, and there was never a reason given. It was just one of those things.'
Was it, though? Karl admits that he always wondered if the fact that his mother took Thalidomide while pregnant with him could have had any influence on his infertility.
'My mother took Thalidomide for morning sickness. When the scandal broke in 1962, GPs offered free abortions, but my mother was too far gone by two weeks.'
Unlike the majority of Thalidomide babies, Karl was born seemingly healthy. But he has suffered from asthma since birth.
'Since the infertility was diagnosed, I started questioning whether there were underlying problems caused by the drug. My younger brother doesn't have any fertility problems. Nobody has done research into "normal" Thalidomide babies.'
Lorraine and Karl illustrate perfectly the toll that difficulties in conceiving can take on a marriage. Karl confesses that, so distraught were they - 'eight years of thinking of nothing else' is how he puts it - that at one stage he suggested they should divorce. But Lorraine says: 'I just couldn't even think of it.'
After a series of failed intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) attempts, where Karl's sperm was placed in Lorraine's uterus, the couple moved on to IVF.
The treatment involved intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a procedure where a single sperm is injected into the egg. Even though a single healthy sperm could not be found, Karl was able to have testicular sperm extraction (TESE), which involves passing a needle into the testis to remove a piece of tissue, from which developing sperm were taken.
Incredibly, that resulted in eight fertilised embryos. In April 1998 their twins, Ben and Kira, were born. Their father drove down the street shouting: 'I'm a dad!'
Like Lorraine and Karl, Ed Farmer, 41, an IT specialist, and his wife, Rebecca, also 41, are still left guessing as to the causes of Ed's infertility.
'We were told that Ed had practically zero per cent sperm,' says Rebecca.
But after seven years of tests and treatment, they are no closer to knowing why.
'It was a terrible shock and desperately disappointing to be facing the possibility of IVF,' explains Ed.
Their fertility consultant recommended ICSI. Both Ed and Rebecca were 33, and their hopes were high, especially after several healthy sperm were retrieved using TESE.
'We believed our consultant when he said: "Let's make you a baby",' says Ed.
But treatment failed and they were told to consider using donor sperm. However, they went through two more cycles of treatment.
'We wanted to give it everything we could,' explains Ed. By this time, they were both 35.
'We had to make some major decisions', says Rebecca. It was putting a huge strain on their relationship, and they had withdrawn from their friends and family.
'We felt it was us against the world,' says Rebecca. 'We were so fed up of everyone around us having babies and not understanding what we were going through. Comments such as "At least you have a lovely husband and a nice house" weren't helpful. We even considered moving abroad.'
Maybe baby?
The odds on conceiving within a year decrease by three per cent for every year the man is over the age of 24
Rebecca threw herself into researching multiple IVF and ICSI failure on the internet, and concluded that not all clinics are the same.
Ed says: 'It was important for me to see an andrologist, somebody who specialises in male infertility. But they are not readily available in the UK.'
'We looked at it very rationally and were prepared to spend £15,000,' says Rebecca.
Research had been carried out in the U.S. in hormonal therapy for men with fertility problems. After remortgaging their home, Ed and Rebecca went to New York.
'I had the first proper examination throughout all our treatment,' says Ed.
He was put on Clomid, the hormone that women are given when they don't ovulate regularly, followed by ICSI. Although this created only one embryo, it resulted in the birth of their beautiful daughter, Ruby, now three.
Ed and Rebecca wanted a sibling for Ruby. After another cycle of treatment in New York, their twins, Tom and Rose, were born two days before Rebecca's 40th birthday.
Ed and Rebecca are very proud parents and thrilled that they defied the odds. But they are also angry.
' So many men are denied the opportunity to become biological fathers through an apparent lack of investigation into male infertility,' says Rebecca.
'We have met couples who have gone through many failed cycles of treatment at great financial and emotional cost, who have gone on to have "miracle babies" abroad, after being dismissed by UK clinics. It is so sad that the country that invented IVF should have failed to progress much beyond the expensive and impersonal production line of treatment that is currently on offer.'
Meanwhile, Lorraine and Karl Tonks are following the latest research with interest. It suggests that if their son Ben is to have fertility problems of his own, it may be too late to do anything about it. This concerns Karl.
'I worry that I may have passed my infertility on to my son. He has asthma, but as there are no adult ICSI children yet, we probably won't know for another few years.
'I will encourage him to get his fertility checked when he is old enough.'
Lorraine, however, points out that there are drawbacks to knowing too much, too soon.
'On the one hand, if we'd known earlier that there was no chance of us getting pregnant naturally, then we'd have saved a lot of time and heartache, seeking help sooner. On the other hand, can I honestly say that we would have ended up married had I known Karl couldn't have children? Who knows? It's very tricky.'
It will get even trickier as more efforts are made to unravel the mystery of male sperm production, a mystery to which 'Mother', whether she likes it or not, seems to hold the key.
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Robert C. Kane – Cellular Telephone Russian Roulette
Bonjour, Hello, Guten Tag,
Though some of you might know it already or had it in their mail earlier from me, many might not know. I'd be lucky if those who already received the book some time ago would leave a short comment or drop me one I can publish together with the article?
We have the most important book about the hazards of mobile phones online as PDF:
Robert C. Kane – Cellular Telephone Russian Roulette (Download)
Robert C. Kane had been working as top developer inside Motorola for decades, developing mobile phones. He died from brain cancer a few years ago, not without leaving this planet with a message, which you can find in his book.
http://microondes.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/robert-c-kane-cellular-telephone-russian-roulette/
(The PDF can be downloaded from the above link)
I am sure this book could help to wake up people.
Best regards
Michael Heiming
http://microondes.wordpress.com
BTW Please feel free to drop us hints or anything you'd like to express.
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International Appeal from Würzburg
(Français, English, Deutsch)
"The European Academy for Environmental Medicine (EUROPAEM) invited many renowned national and international scientists and health care professionals to a medical conference held in Wuerzburg, Germany from April 23 to April 25, 2010.
Greatly concerned, participants noted the increasing prevalence of various chronic multisystem illnesses. At the conference it was impressively demonstrated that these chronic diseases are based on similar pathological mechanisms. Common mechanisms are chronic inflammatory processes influenced by environmental factors including chemical pollutants, biological infectious agents, and
electromagnetic field (EMF) triggers."
Please download the complete Document as PDF in Français, English or Deutsch:
http://microondes.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/international-appeal-from-wurzburg/
Special thx to Sibylle Gabriel to point us to the important document.
Best regards
Michael Heiming
http://microondes.wordpress.com
BTW Please feel free to drop us hints or anything you'd like to express.
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Health Canada Hides Again
CFLs Two new episodes on Global TVs investigative program 16:9.
http://news.globaltv.com/programs/16x9/index.html
http://news.globaltv.com/programs/16x9/Shedding+Some+Light+Part/2999592/story.html
Why can't Health Canada be honest and transparent?
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Cell Phone 'Honeymoon' Finally Over?
With articles on the link between cell phones and brain tumours or other cancers now appearing in major magazines such as GQ, Harpers's, Prevention and even Time magazine, it appears the long 'honeymoon' North American telecommunications corporations have enjoyed is finally over.
What I mean by that is that due to the deep level of vertical integration between media corporations who control the news we get and the Big Telecom who are now their major advertisers, until recently there has been a virtual media 'blackout' on such stories.
But as more and more independent scientific studies from around the world demonstrate grave concern with the effects of microwaves on biology, including DNA strand breaks that lead to permanent chromosomal damage, the tide of public concern has become overwhelming.
Some scientists such as Australian neurosurgeon Dr. Vini Khurana are predicting a massive wave of brain tumours between 2008-2012. The problem of course is that medical statistics are often poorly coordinated with overall data, so naysayers can easily claim there are no trend increases in tumours. Yet already it's known that brain tumours are now the leading killer of kids in the U.S.
A leading authority on cancer, epidemiologist Dr. Samuel Epstein, has stated that in his view both the Canadian and American Cancer Societies are compromised due to close funding ties with the pharmaceutical industry. So it is no longer enough to simply pull up their websites and rely solely on them for guidance. (See www.preventcancer.com)
At the international level, the EMF project at the WHO formerly headed up by Dr. Repacholi has also been criticized for setting microwave exposure standards that are considered by many scientists to be far outside the range of safety. Some have suggested that Repacholi himself is compromised by receiving funding from the telecommunications industry. (See www.next-up.org)
Congressional hearings in the U.S. recently heard testimony from Dr. Devra Davis, another leading scientist who has been sounding warnings on high exposure levels in North America. Not surprisingly, there have been no American studies done on the subject since the one headed up by epidemiologist Dr. George Carlo in the 1990s. This $28 million study was part of the telecommunication industry's 'deal with the devil', the FDA; a study they agreed to fund in exchange for being allowed to market cell phones WITH NO PRE-MARKET SAFETY TESTING. When Dr. Carlo delivered his final report to the telecom industry in 1999, noting some serious concerns with biological effects from cell phones, it was quickly buried.
In the final week of April we had a similar hearing in Canadian Parliament, though not quite so high profile, with the House Standing Committee on Health in Ottawa. The Parliamentary committee agreed to hear concerns about microwave exposure standards after Bloc Québécois MP Luc Malo presented a petition with 1,100 signatures asking Parliament to "protect the public from microwaves." The petition was an initiative of the Québec group Protect Our Children From Microwaves (SEMO in French), headed by François Therrien.
The Committee heard testimony from international experts, including Dr. Andrew Goldsworthy of the UK, Dr. Olle Johannson of Sweden, Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and of course Health Canada's mouthpiece, Dr. Daniel Krewski. The Committee also took submissions from citizens and concerned parents across the country.
Dr. Krewski, who heads up the Centre for Population Risk Assessment at the University of Ottawa, has received funding from the telecommunications industry. He is not the only one on Health Canada's panel of scientists with direct or indirect links to the industry. This is standard-issue influence peddling with government, a typical tactic of industry used since the advent of Big Tobacco.
To its credit, the Committee has decided to allocate $12,000 to further study the matter. What that study will mean has yet to be explained. Will they finally begin to include the countless international studies showing real risks from cell phone and wireless use? Will they recommend that Health Canada revisit and update its hopelessly antiquated Safety Code 6? Or will Big Telecom trump any real change? It remains to be seen. The marriage of corporation and government has proven disastrous in every sphere of life, from communications to the environment. The current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is just the latest proof of that. And like any bad marriage, when the honeymoon wears off, it's time to consider exit strategies. Just as the U.S. Congress is grappling with ways to impose some governance on a Wall Street run amok, we must do the same with Big Telecom.
At present, Industry Canada has de facto power over any regional district or municipal government when it comes to granting permission to erect cell phone transmitters and towers. Local democracy is trashed in favour of profit-making corporations. They cannot continue to be allowed to run roughshod over communities who are merely trying to preserve a healthy way of life for their families. "Business is business," true, but not when your product endangers my health or even my life.
Big Telecom, the honeymoon is over. Divorce papers should follow shortly.
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Sunday Edition, response
On your April 25th, 2010 broadcast of the "Sunday Edition", the 3rd hour talk with Telecommunication Industry defender Dr. Daniel Krewski was as entertaining as an espionage movie. The soft, reassuring tones of Dr Krewski, telling us the Precautionary Principal is not valid in the modern age and repeating Industry's verse and chorus of assurance and safety. Then there is the confidence in his weight of evidence and Safety Code 6 and all the while, behind the scenes, guess who is receiving Telecommunication Industry funding for research validating their very own Industry. And for humour, add the whole Catch-22 of the oxymoron "Industry funded", especially when cloaked under the empty phrase "weight of evidence". Guess who is funding the "weight" in weight of evidence. And what about the evidence smothered under that weight?
Then, lurking in the background is Repacholi. Who'd have guessed the webs of intrigue?
And what is a movie without a sequel?
"When is the report (Interphone Study) going to be released?" asks Michael Enright is a slightly smiling voice. "If you call me in a few weeks I might even have a date for you Michael." croons the layered Krewski.
Promises, promises, promises.
Frank Woodcock
References:
http://weepnews.blogspot.com/2010/02/cbc-radio-interview-swiss-study-cfls.html
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SMART METERS -- NO CHOICE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
To the people in BC, my husband, I and Katharina Gustavs just met with John Horgan, Opposition Energy Critic, about Smart Meters, and we got horrible news. The Clean Energy Act, which has had its first reading and is to be passed this session, exempts smart meters from any public discussion.
Also, it is his reading that people will not be allowed to opt out of having wireless connections to their homes. It appears that there are only a few people in opposition to this, and these only on the basis of cost. There has been no cost-benefit analysis.
And because the title is "Clean" and the emphasis is, supposedly, on saving energy by encouraging people to use electrical devices when the power is cheap (e.g. cook dinner at midnight) the Green party is in full support, leaving no real opposition.
The next reading will be in 3 weeks, so I would encourage all BC residents to spread the word, write letters to newspapers, etc. People need to know the problems in California, that there will be higher bills because the rates will be higher during peak hours, the govt. will know when you are using the power not just how much and you will be charged for cooking at 6:00 pm.
This is an insidious money grab and we are being forced into opening our purses, with no chance to debate let alone argue.
Health is another issue, but one which no one will hear. Mr. Horgan made it clear that when I sent him health studies, he referred concerns to Randy Ross, of the Radiation Centre (who helped write Safety Code 6) who said Safety Code 6 is safe and there is no harm from non-ionizing radiation. Discussion closed. I do think Mr. Horgan is open to discussion on this point, but he is more concerned about the fiscal issues. So send your MLAs info. about insecurity, increased bills, etc. and spread the word fast.
Sharon
Web site www.weepinitiative.org e-mail contactweep@weepinitiative.org
To sign up for WEEP News: newssignup@weepinitiative.org (provide name and e-mail address)
W.E.E.P. – The Canadian initiative to stop Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution
