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DES Action PublicationsDES Action publishes a newsletter twice a year for its members and other targeted groups and individuals. There is an information leaflet available which is funded and produced by the Health Promotion Unit of the Department of Health and posters from the same source. A detailed booklet for confirmed DES daughters is available on request. Audited annual accounts are also available
Newsletter - Summer 2002
by Fran Howell, Board of Directors, DES Action USA Reproduced from VOICE by permission of DES Action USA Results of a new study should give pause to those who have been exposed to DES, and to researchers who are studying its effects. The findings, published in the March 30, 2002 edition of the prestigious British Medical journal The Lancet show that male children of women exposed prenatally to DES have a greater risk for the birth defect hypospadias than the general population. While studies in mice have indicated the possibility of problems for children of DES daughters, this is the first evidence we have of human transgenerational effects of DES exposure on the so-called "third-generation." The study was done by the Netherlands Cancer Institute. After learning of higher than normal rates of hypospadias reported by the Netherlands DES Information Centre, scientists at the Cancer Institute decided to conduct a larger study. When the researcher Dr. Flora van Leeuwen and her team examined birth records of more than 8,000 boys born through fertility centers, they found a DES connection. The results: among 8,729 boys whose mothers were not exposed to DES, 8 cases of hypospadias were reported. For the 205 mothers prenatally exposed to DES, there were 4 cases of hypospadias. The findings represent a more than 20-fold increased risk for the DES-exposed group. Hypospadias is a benign (non-cancerous) birth defect in which the urethral opening on the penis is in the wrong place. This quote from Sandra Steingraber's book Having Faith explains hypospadias more thoroughly. "Like neural tube defects, hypospadias happens when a strip of flat tissue fails to roll up to form a closed tube. In this case, the tube is the male urethra, which runs down the middle of the penis and so connects the bladder to the outside world. If the urethral tube does not fuse completely, the external opening will emerge somewhere along the shaft of the penis instead of at the tip.... Many such anomalies are reparable with surgery." Leaders of DES Action are urging more research. As Programme Director and Founder Pat Cody states, "What we don't know is why there is more hypospadias in sons of DES daughters. Researchers must look into it. DES Action is calling for more studies to determine how and why this third generation effect is occurring," Cody says. "We also question whether DES is affecting third generation sons and daughters in other ways too. We hope this study finally draws attention to the urgent need for more research." One area of interest to scientists is the impact of chemicals in our environment. DES is similar to other chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, so if exposure can harm not only one generation, but others to come, then the results of this study may have broad implications which reach far beyond the DES-exposed population. "Investigations into how DES affects people, and their families through generations may ultimately unlock all sorts of environmental mysteries," says Cody. "If problems for the DES population aren't enough to interest scientists, the huge ramifications of environmental toxins should do it." The best place to start is the National Cancer Institute. The NCI has identified known DES exposed women and men, along with a control group. According to Cody, "this is an opportunity that shouldn't go to waste. We urge the NCI to increase funding for this important research into potential effects of DES exposure on our third generation of boys and girls. By so doing, we could learn more about how the chemicals in our environment are affecting us all."
DES exposure can lead to health problems:
From the VOICE, DES Action USA
We know that DES mothers have an increase risk (about 30%) for breast cancer. DES daughters
naturally wonder whether their in utero exposure to DES might also affect their risk for breast cancer.
So far, this question has not been answered, and more research is needed as DES daughters age and reach
the stages of life where breast cancer risk is higher.
For nonlobular breast cancer, primarily ductal, the risk rose about 50% among HRT users.
Researchers estimated that in a given year, non-users of HRT would have an incidence of 253
cases of breast cancer per 100,000 compared with 419 per 100,000 for women with five years
of recent HRT use. The bottom line: when investigators looked at all types of breast cancer,
they found an increased incidence of 60-85% for HRT users, depending on whether estrogen alone or a
combination of estrogen and progestin was used.
The Miscarriage Association of Ireland - offers Information, Support and Assistance to women and their partners who have experienced miscarriage.
They can be contacted by telephone at:
The contact address is:
At last, we have our new information leaflets. If you would like to have more of them to distribute in
your area, give us a ring and we'll send some on to you. We are currently liasing with the Health
Promotion Unit of the Department of Health about how best to get them to various outlets.
Newsletter Archive
BooksYou may find the books listed below to be of value. The books can be ordered online from Amazon. If ordered via the links below, a small commission will be paid to DES Action Ireland.
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