If I'm reading this article correctly, they give methyltestosterone to the newly hatched tilapia to cause a sex reversal. The goal is to have mostly male fish. (The reason for this is that fish in a male population grow to a larger and more consistent size than female fish or fish in a mixed population.) I read in another article that the fry are only exposed to the methyltestosterone for the first month (I suppose to make sure they don't go back to the female side). Then they grow for another four or five months without the hormone. They claim that 99% of the hormone is gone 4 days after stopping the hormone; by the time the fish is harvested, it's not detectable in the fish. I suppose that this is not as bad as hormones in beef, which I understand are given for a good portion of the animal's life. (I'm not positive, please correct me if I'm wrong.) And this article shows that methyltestosterone works better than ground up bull testes. (Curious: would using that 'natural' technique allow the tilapia to be marketed as organic?) Here is a link that might be useful: tilapia and methyltestosterone

When a "save the spotted whale" type group publishes an article about the dangers of a certain class of chemicals, there can be a tendency by some to discount the article due to the possibility of the use of "cherry picking". The article in the link below is authored by scientists at the U.S EPA. http://qap2.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118683484.ch14/pdf You can use your PDF find command to find the discussions related to the keyword pesticides (remember the word pesticides includes the word fungicides as a subgroup). The keyword conazole will find discussions of this group of fungicides that are so popular among some rosarians for the control of blackspot. Finally, I would like to bring your attention to the following discussion (from PDF page 7) as many families are now faced with a young person who questions their sexual orientation: "Sexual differentiation of the brain occurs during late gestation through the early postnatal period. The feminization of brain structure and function is dependent on the interaction between estrogens and the developing brain, whereas the development of the phenotypical male brain is highly dependent on the aromatization of circulating testosterone to estradiol. Exposure to EDCs during early life alters the development of the HPG axis and, subsequently, the timing of puberty, adult sex behavior and other reproductive processes. During this sensitive period of development the brain may be masculinized or feminized, depending on the chemical exposure. Exposure to organochlorine chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during this time frame of perinatal development was shown to profoundly impair the sexual differentiation of the female brain, leading to masculinization or defeminization (or both) of the hypothalamic neurons that control reproduction [97]." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Another review reported the following: "The results from this study demonstrate that the triazole fungicides, tebuconazole, propiconazole, and epoxiconazole, like the imidazole fungicide prochloraz, are able to act as endocrine disruptors during several pathways. In addition, the results strongly indicate that interference with steroid hormone synthesis is the major mechanism behind the observed effects on reproductive development in offspring after prenatal exposure. The results indicate that inhibition of CYP17 (an enzyme involved in the conversion of cholesterol to progesterone and testosterone) may be one of the targets but other steroidogenic enzymes may also be affected. This issue deserves further studies in order to elucidate which enzymes are affected and the relative impact of this for the total response in vivo." http://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2007/978-87-7052-538-1/pdf/978-87-7052-539-8.pdf "

Wow!! Carol, I'm happy for you. Heel to toe for 8 steps takes a lot of coordination, and YOU DID IT. When my kid was 4 years old, she would be so happy when I lost weight on the scale ... health for my friends cheer me up more than roses. I'm elated when I heard Garran home & healthy, and I'm happy about rain for Jess & no more thorns in her toe. I am happy when my daughter is happy. I'm sure that's how God, our Father in heaven, feels .. He's happy when His children (us) are happy. My kid has a friend came over today (same age). The friend was on Ensure (canned nutrition with soy milk) .. her skin was clean this past summer. I did research on soy milk and thyroid disorder, yes, there's a slight link, esp. with carrageenan added. So I e-mailed this teenager info., and her nutritionist switched this gal from Ensure (soy-based) to Kefir (fermented cow-milk). Fast forward today, this friend gets pimples on her face. I feel bad since the bad news about dairy didn't come out until this year. I google thoroughly when I switched my child from soy-milk to cow milk .. could not find a link between cow milk and acne until recently. But I learn something: always look at how many people are involved in any study. The thyroid & soy link are just a few personal testimonies, versus the below: " The famous Nurse's Health Study examining health habits of 47,000 nurses found that those who drank more milk as teenagers had much higher rates of severe acne than those who had little or no milk as teenagers. In other studies of over 10,000 boys and girls from 9 to 15 years old, there was a direct link between the amount of milk consumed and the severity of acne." Today I'm back to the diet that I was on when I was skinny: soy milk (new formula without carrageenan) & high fiber cereal ... I feel so much better & more energy. My kid loves her cereal & soy milk. She could NOT handle cow-milk either .. she's lactose-intolerant. I checked on soy milk again before I switch back: if the soy-protein is concentrated, like soy Isolate in faked meat, then it will screw up the thyroid. If the soy is concentrated and made on aluminum equipment, like tofu, then that will UP the risk of Alzheimer's. But soy milk in low dose with cereal, isn't bad ... at least it's freed of hormones, antibiotics, feces, and pus like in cow's milk. Soy milk is easier to digest, plus zero cholesterol. What I like the most is: it smells clean, NOT strong like cow-milk.

I gave the injection myself. think I want a little too high up where the leg bends instead of the direct muscle. pretty sure I hit a nerve. I can feel it twitch sometimes. slight feeling came back now but not much. still mostly numb. injection site is clear. don't think doc can do anything for a nerve, just have to let it heal up and hope for the best.