ext_6380 ([identity profile] etumukutenyak.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] etumukutenyak 2008-09-17 02:17 am (UTC)

Yes, and the Vietnamese study -- although it did not have blood from the time of exposure -- also followed two different populations of women, with historical exposure to DDT. Even though the only testing of DDT was on current blood samples, the patients were from areas of heavy DDT use. There's more to it than age at exposure, although that -- as for any estrogenic compound -- is going to be extremely important. Look at DES, where age at exposure related to the risk of certain types of cancer.

I'm mostly agreeing with you, and only pointing out that a single study where cancer risk is linked to DDT exposure isn't enough to make people think that DDT is carcinogenic after all. Estrogens and estrogenic compounds are funny things -- Asian diets are high in vegetables, which have a lot of phytoestrogens, and they tend to have low rates heart disease, which is strongly correlated to their diet. Once they move to a Western diet, the rates of heart disease in Asian women climbs to that of Americans. The rate of breast cancer in this population (Asian women on traditional Asian diet) is not as high as that of the American population (on a traditional Western diet). Part of this is the presence of soy isoflavones, or so researchers think. I used to do this research, back in my mis-spent yout'.

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