HeartReach: May 2011

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

GM Foods are Bad for Your Health

Confirmed by scientists that GM corn and other foods cause heath problems.

A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health

Males are clearly more sensitive than female animals to show physiological disturbances when fed NK 603. This is not observed for all three GM maize varieties. Moreover, most effects appear to be dose-dependent since 83% of male effects emerge only at the 33% feeding level (15/18), the highest GM maize concentration in the diet (Table (Table1).1). The maximal mean differences are observed in male kidney parameters.
Urine phosphorus, for instance, is importantly disturbed in a dose-dependent manner and at both 5 and 14 week periods of feeding and hence reproducible over time. The significant effect at this level does not appear to be a false positive result (week 5, 33%, adjusted p<0.003 for FDR calculated according to Benjamini and Yekutieli), considering that all parameters were not independent. Comparable results were also obtained for relative lymphocyte and neutrophil differences (all for males, week 14, 33%, adjusted p<0.005).
Among 18 GM maize-related effects versus controls, 11 show that groups of reference and control animals are similar in these cases (Table (Table1,1, framed values). However 6 GM-linked effects are also significant versus all reference groups (Table (Table1,1, double framed values). At week 5, these relative maximal effects concern a diminution of blood and increase of urine creatinine clearance, and then a diminution of blood urea nitrogen. This is not observed at week 14 (Fig. (Fig.3a,b).3a,b). Even so, the kidney parameters measured are clearly the most reactive in both sexes; 52% of significant effects are noticed at this level, but kidney parameters represent only 31% of those measured in total. We also observe that ion concentrations are enhanced in urine of male GM fed rats. Besides this, crude and relative liver weights are also affected at the end of the maximal (33%) GM maize feeding level as well as that of the heart which for corresponding parameters to a comparable extent, showed up to an 11% weight increase. Variations in females are far less frequent (5/23), with no clear significant differences except for urine phosphorus (major relative difference versus controls) and blood potassium (versus all groups).

Full Article:
A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health