I have doing some more research tonight and I will include a couple of links to some of my research that I have done, but keep in mind I am tired and was just doing research to stay awake until hubby goes to work and daughter goes to sleep.
Apparently soy has a dramatic affect on the pancreas in rats. It can enlarge and, eventually, cause cancer in them. The pancreas preoduces insulin for our bodies, but it also aids in our immune system as well. When the pancreas gets damaged, it affects our immune system and the same holds true for rats. The one animal that the soy affected the pancreas of the most was, in fact, rats. Similiar experiments were done with pigs and monkeys and similiar affects were produced, but to a much lesser extent.
I believe now that what is happening, what is hurting our rats is that the soy is affecting the pancreas, affecting the immune system so they are more suseptable to different illnesses including various cancers, as our immune system does fight cancer as a disease and if the panceas is affected, it can cause a multitude of issues, including URIs, lung issues, myco and various forms of cancer. It may also be why so many rats get cysts and abscesses as well. It may be why they are so prone to getting sick and why they don't live as long as they did years ago.
The Dangers of a Diet that Replaces Dairy Products With Soy
This is the first article that caught my attention. An exerpt from the article:
Protease inhibitors keep the enzymes of the body from breaking down protien properly so that the body is actually in a quasi-malnourished state and protein deficient. The Food and Drug Administration has not established safe levels for protease inhibitors even though there have been numerous studies on the effects of soy toxins in rats.
In these studies the rats became more susceptible to pancreatic cancer and pancreatic problems which supressed the immune system allowing various other cancers to become established. When the research was made public and presented to the USFDA their response was that it was non-conclusive since the study had been done on rats rather than humans. They stated that because a rat's system is different than a human's the study was invalid. This is interesting since most of the research currently done is done on rats and's validity is accepted by all government organizations
And, from the abstract from an experiment done:
We have previously shown that rats fed raw soya flour (RSF) for more than four months develop hyperplastic foci of pancreatic acinar cells, which undergo malignant change if feeding RSF is continued throughout the life of the animals. The tendency to undergo malignant change is augmented by the additional use of a genotoxic carcinogen such as azaserine. The present study has sought to examine the reversibility of the focal neoplastic change in the pancreas. Rats fed RSF for 24 weeks and then given a diet not containing soya flour (NSC) had a normal pancreas when killed after 60 weeks of study. When RSF was fed for only 36 weeks, however, some of the rats developed pancreatic cancer even though the diet had been switched to NSC. Similarly, while azaserine in the dose used in the present study does not produce pancreatic cancer in our strain of Wistar rats, coincident administration of RSF for 12 weeks (but not for six weeks) resulted in progression to pancreatic adenoma. Although change from RSF to NSC after 30 weeks resulted in rapid reduction in pancreatic weight and content of RNA, neoplastic foci persisted and became frankly malignant. We conclude that phenotypic reversion to normal of the RSF diet- and azaserine-treated rat pancreas is only possible if RSF alone is fed continuously for not more than about 24 weeks or six weeks if the rats have been exposed to a pancreatic initiating carcinogen
Which can be found here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1434532/
Although more research needs to be done, my hubby has left for work, my screen is blurring and my daughter is yawning, so I pray to the Goddess that I will be allowed to rest my weary head on my pillow for a few hours and leave this reality behind for some time. Maybe go to a place that our rats share our lives for more than just a year or 3, back to a time when our rats lived full lives, rather than dying before we are ready to let them go.
The upside from what I have read is that if the soy is cut out soon enough, that they may have a chance at a full recovery, but I would suggest, even for older rats, to remove all soy from their diets to help ensure the longest life for them possible. This is where getting from a breeder is all the more important. I suggest asking if they feed a soy free diet in their rattery before committing to an adoption. You may be able to get a rat for a good many years rather than just a couple.
Good luck, good night and kiss your fur babies and hope for a long life for them
Tami
Social Rats Adoption and Rescue
