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Another benefit of fish oil

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 3:05 am
by NHE
Omega-3 Can Slow Tumor Growth And Spread
http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/14 ... spread.htm

Researchers recently discovered that a chemical that is produced in the body when it metabolizes omega-3 fatty acids is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis, or blood vessel growth. Tumors need massive amounts of nutrients to grow and spread, so they send out signals to the local area that encourage blood vessel growth that supply food to the growing tumor. If this is blocked then the tumor can starve and will have a smaller chance of spreading to the rest of the body.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods such as fish and breast milk and diatery supplements.

"Our investigation opens up a new understanding of the pathways by which omega-3 fatty acids exert their biologic effects," said Guodong Zhang, the lead author of the article and a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Bruce Hammock in the Department of Entomology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.

There are currently next-generation treatments for cancer that use the same theory and block blood vessel growth factors. One such medication is Avastin sold by Genentech/Roche, which is currently used to treat various cancers but can cost over $30,000 a year. These class of drugs are antibodies that block VEGF, a protein that encourages blood vessel growth in wound healing that is also used by tumors.

"It may be possible to improve the efficacy of these anti-cancer drugs by combining them with a diet high in omega-3 and low in omega-6 fatty acids," Dr. Hammock, whose lab the research was produced in, said.

When omega-3 fatty acids are metabolized by the body they turn into a chemical called epoxy docosapentaenoic acid (EDP). In mice with tumors EDP was able to block blood vessel growth and slow down cancerous cells from metastasizing to the rest of the body. Researchers tested the lipid in mice and in cell cultures and saw that tumors shrank and did not spread to other parts of the body as easily as controls.

The FDA currently has approved two drugs which block the breakdown of EDP in the body, sorafenib and regorafenib. "It may be possible to improve the efficacy of these anti-cancer drugs by combining them with a diet high in omega-3 and low in omega-6 fatty acids," Dr. Hammock said.

The research was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Re: Another benefit of fish oil

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 1:14 am
by NHE
Scientists discover new fish oil benefit: An Australian scientist believes she has confirmed yet another health benefit of oily fish, the prevention of very premature birth.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/br ... 6622715083

An Australian scientist believes she has confirmed yet another health benefit of oily fish, the prevention of very premature birth.

Professor Maria Makrides was primarily looking at the effect of omega 3 supplements on post-natal depression and neuro-development in young children when she made three discoveries.

Fish oil supplements in pregnancy do not prevent post-natal depression. Neither do they aid development in children.

They do, however, prevent "very early preterm" birth.

The University of Adelaide professor's study, involving 2400 women at five Australian maternity hospitals, has been used to support international research on premature birth.

The research indicates omega-3 fatty acid supplements make pregnancy last longer, allowing more growth and development time for the baby.

Very early pre-term is defined as a birth before 34 weeks of gestation. Normal full-term pregnancy lasts from 37 to 40 weeks.
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More than two per cent of the 300,000 babies delivered each year in Australia are born very prematurely.

University of Kansas professor Susan Carlson reviewed the outcomes of Prof Makrides' study and work in Europe, the UK and US.

Women who took the supplements tended to have slightly larger and heavier babies and gave birth some days later than the placebo group, she told the annual congress of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) in Adelaide on Wednesday.

"So we have intriguing new evidence that long-chain omega-3 fatty acid supplementation does reduce the prevalence of very premature birth.

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are found naturally in oily fish such as tuna and salmon.

Prof Makrides says the finding is important because most pre-term births occur spontaneously without an obvious cause.

She is undertaking a second specific trial, which she hopes will enable health professionals to recommend omega-3 fatty acids as a way to prevent preterm birth.