Does smoking during pregnancy affect sons' sperm counts?
High levels of smoking (>10 cigarettes per day) during pregnancy may be a partial explanation for the apparent secular decline and the geographic differences in sperm counts.
A soluble factor from pancreatic cancer cells selectively stimulates amylin secretion from islet cells, explaining the excessive amylin secretion found in pancreatic cancer. Because elevation of amylin concentration is an early feature of pancreatic cancer, characterization and measurement of the tumor-derived amylin-releasing factor might be valuable in the early detection of this disease.