6 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a personalized biomonitoring report-back and educational intervention in child-bearing aged men and women can reduce endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) measured in urine, increase participants' understanding of environmental health (environmental health literacy; EHL), increase their readiness and behaviors to reduce exposures, and improve their well-being. The intervention includes EDC testing and exposure report-back, a self-directed online interactive curriculum with access to live coaches, and an online forum. The investigators hypothesize that the intervention will be more effective than EDC testing and report-back alone at reducing EDC exposures (behavior change and metabolite concentrations), as well as increasing EHL, readiness to reduce exposures, and well-being.
The goal of this intervention study is to determine to what extent the Million Marker (MM) program reduces users' endocrine disruption chemical (EDC) exposure levels and changes their environmental health awareness and behaviors. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Can the investigators see a reduction in EDC levels in participants' urine samples after using the MM Detect and Detox kit? * Can the investigators see a change in participants' environmental health literacy, knowledge, and behaviors after using MM's products and services? * How can Million Marker improve their app and platform to improve the user experience? Participants will collect their urine pre- and post-intervention, and will take a comprehensive exposure survey (via the MM app) before sending back their samples. This exposure survey will ask about participant's product use, diet, and lifestyle behaviors. Participants will also fill out surveys pre- and post-intervention assessing their perception of environmental health, as well as usability of the platform.
The benzoic acid derivatives sodium and potassium benzoate are preservatives that are commonly added to food and beverages to inhibit microbial growth and prevent spoilage. In the US the major source of benzoate intake is beverages. Studies have shown that piglets or chicks fed low levels of benzoic acid have greater feed efficiency and gain more weight than control fed animals. It has also been shown that benzoic acid inhibits the release of a key metabolic hormone, leptin, from isolated adipocytes (fat cells). Inadequate leptin levels result in increased appetite, decreased metabolic rate, weight gain, insulin resistance and increased diabetes risk. The primary aim of the proposed research is to directly determine if benzoate consumption in human volunteers results in lower levels of leptin, decreased metabolic rate and increased insulin resistance. If so this would implicate benzoic acid as an obesogen and would help inform more effective approaches to obesity prevention and treatment. A secondary aim of the study is to establish a connection between benzoate exposure and biomarkers in urine that can be used to help treat obese patients.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are mostly fat-soluble halogenated chemicals with very long half-lives. POPs are endocrine disruptors, associated with increased risk for diabetes, alterations in thyroid function, and cardiovascular disease in humans. POPs concentrations increase with age because of their persistence, bioaccumulation and poor excretion. The almost ubiquitous presence of endocrine disrupting POPs in US adults is a substantial public health concern, particularly because there is no established treatment to reduce body concentrations of POPs. Most POPs are excreted in bile due to their lipophilic nature. However, a substantial amount is reabsorbed in the small intestine and returns to the blood stream (entero-hepatic circulation). The objective of this pilot study is to conduct a 6-month randomized controlled trial of Nuts and Olestra to enhance the excretion of POPs among 45 healthy adults aged 45 to 70 years with BMIs between 18-30 kg/m2. This study has 3 treatment arms: A) Whole nuts with high fat content (almonds and walnuts; 110g total/day, n=15), B) Olestra: Fat Free PringlesTM potato chips (≈29 crisps, 18g of Olestra/day; n=15), C) Vegetable oil: Original PringlesTM potato chips (≈29 crisps, 17.4g of oil/day; n=15). The investigators aim to measure change in concentrations of 24 POPs in feces after 4 days of treatment and in blood at 6 months.
The purpose of this study is to reduce use of personal care products that contain endocrine disrupting chemicals among women. For this pilot intervention, the investigators focus on the hair care product class of personal care products, the reduction in use of phthalate-containing Hair Care Products (HCPs) and use among pregnant Women of Color (WOC).
Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a drug first synthesized in 1938, was administered to several million pregnant women in the U.S. and Europe for the prevention of spontaneous abortion and premature delivery. In 1971, Herbst reported a strong association between DES use in pregnancy and the occurrence of vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA) in exposed female offspring. Animal models have demonstrated a range of DES effects on offspring exposed in utero, including reproductive dysfunction, immune system changes, behavioral and sexual abnormalities, and increases in various reproductive cancers in males and females. In the mid-1970's, several separate cohorts of DES-exposed daughters and unexposed comparison groups were followed for the occurrence of cancer, precursor lesions, and reproductive effects, but systematic follow-up of these cohorts had ceased by 1990. In 1992, Congress passed a bill (H;.R. 4178) mandating the continued follow-up of DES-exposed cohorts. The National Cancer Institute, in collaboration with five field centers, reassembled previously studied cohorts of DES-exposed and unexposed mothers, daughters and sons, and identified subjects with documented exposure status who had not been studied previously, through familial links within the cohorts. Standardized baseline questionnaires were mailed to cohort members to ascertain the risk of cancer and other disorders. Pathology reports were collected for reported cancers and preneoplastic conditions. Two separate rounds of follow up have been conducted and a third is almost complete. Patients from the Registry for Research on Hormonal Transplacental Carcinogenesis (the Registry) will be added to the follow-up effort in the third phase. The purpose of this study is to continue the follow-up, by means of mail questionnaires and medical record collection, which was begun during the first phase of the study. Concern has arisen that DES-exposed daughters may be at higher risk of breast cancer. Exposure to high levels of endogenous estrogen in utero has been hypothesized to increase the risk of breast cancer and DES is a potent estrogen. Cancer risk in the sons will also continue to be assessed, especially for increased risks of prostate cancer. Since the offspring who were exposed to DES in utero are currently reaching their late forties, when cancer rates begin to rise, it is important to continue the follow-up of these cohorts to determine if there are long-term increases in cancer risk.