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Pilot Research Grants
Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Burden among Residents of a
Vegan-Organic Rural Community: The Amirim Study
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are suspected to be involved in diseases
whose incidence has risen in the last decades such as obesity, diabetes, reproductive
abnormalities, and endocrine-related cancers. Biomonitoring surveys of those EDCs
in populations have pointed to geographical variations, possibly linked to lifestyle
differences. The recent Israeli biomonitoring survey uncovered high levels of
exposure of the Israeli population to BPA and phthalates when compared to the data
available for the US and Canada. We hypothesized that, compared to the background
omnivorous Israeli population, a lower burden of EDCs would be found among
residents of the Amirim vegetarian/vegan village in the upper Galilee. The sample
collection part of the study has now been completed and the mass spectrometry-
based analytical part is underway. The results will be compared to those of the Israeli
survey, and correlated to the anthropometric data and the numerous lifestyle and
nutritional parameters we obtained. If the results confirm our hypothesis, this study
will lay the ground for a long term life style intervention study.
Karen Tordjman
1
Tamar Berman
2
Thomas Göen
3
1. Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical
Center
2. Israel Ministry of Health
3. Erlangen-Nuremberg University,
Germany
2013-
Evaluation of Adverse Health Effects in the Israeli Population from Lack of
Magnesium and Iodine in Drinking Water from Desalinized Sea Water
Extensive seawater desalination in Israel may decrease magnesium in drinking
water (DW), causing hypomagnesemia and adverse health effects. We will study the
association between consumption of desalinated drinking water (DSW) and serum
magnesium in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients, the incidence of diabetes,
hypertension and colorectal cancer. The study's specific components include: (1) Data
on 11,683 AMI patients from the Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli Survey (ACSIS)
multi-center study (2002-2013): serum magnesium and clinical outcomes, controlled
for risk factors; (2) Trends in serum magnesium in Clalit Health Services patients in
regions with or without DSW, incidence of CV diseases, diabetes, colorectal cancer
and hypothyroidism; (3) Association between serummagnesium and clinical outcomes
in patients with AMI with a 1 year follow-up in 300 patients in regions supplied with
DSW (Sheba MC) and 150 patients in regions with non-desalinated DW (Nahariya MC).
(5) Urinary iodine in 150 pregnant women residing in areas with or without DSW,
and neonatal thyroid functions. Potential positive findings may bear important
consequences for public health in Israel.
Yona Amitai
1
Meital Shlezinger
1,2
Michael Shechter
2
Maya Leventer-Roberts
3
1. Bar-Ilan University
2. The Chaim Sheba Medical
Center at Tel Hashomer
3. Clalit Health Services
2014-