Toxins may curse generations

[Eric Leventhal Arthen]

The following article on non-genetic, multi-generational inherited diseases
certainly makes me think of miasms. While this research is about exposure
to toxins and not to infectious diseases, it looks quite suggestive of the
kinds of issues we deal with in homeopathy.

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from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 02,00.html

June 03, 2005

Toxins may curse generations

By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent

EXPOSURE to pollutants during pregnancy may have damaging effects that are
inherited by at least four generations, according to research.

Scientists have discovered that high doses of certain toxins can alter the
activity of rat genes in a way that continues to affect the animals’
great-grandchildren.

The findings, from a study at Washington State University, suggest that
toxin exposure during pregnancy may play a role in inherited diseases. If
this is the case it could mean that certain diseases that afflict people
today may be influenced by toxins to which their great-grandparents were
exposed. Michael Skinner, who led the research, said: “We believe this
phenomenon will be widespread and be a major factor in understanding how
disease develops.”

In the study, details of which are published today in the journal Science,
Dr Skinner’s team exposed pregnant rats to high levels of endocrine
disruptors — chemicals that mimic or interfere with reproductive hormones.
The pregnant rats exposed to the toxins produced male offspring that had
low sperm counts and low fertility. The offspring fathered rats with
similar problems, and the effects persisted through the four generations
tested.

The effects were not caused by genetic mutations, but by non-genetic
alterations to the way genes are switched on and off — “epigenetic”
changes. These result from chemicals becoming attached to DNA. While
epigenetic influences have been known to affect disease for some time, they
have not previously been seen to pass along generations.

Dr Skinner said that such changes might be involved in several human
diseases, such as breast and prostate cancer, because the incidence of
these conditions is increasing more quickly than expected.