Motor Neurone Disease / Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and vitamin E

ironjustice@aol.com · medicine forum Guru Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 1522

Omega-3, -6 and vitamin E could cut MND risk

By Stephen Daniells

27/04/2006 - Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and vitamin E in the diet could
slash the risk of motor neurone disease (MND) by 60 per cent, say new
research from the Netherlands.

According to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the disease affects
about seven people in every 100,000, with life expectancy of only two
to five years. The disease characterized by the gradual death of motor
neurones in the brain, which then stops muscles from working. The cause
is unknown and there is no cure.
The new study, published on-line in the Journal of Neurology (doi:
10.1136/jnnp.2005.083378), reports that a diet rich in polyunsaturated
fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) and vitamin E could reduce the risk
of developing the disease.

The researchers, from the University Medical Centre, Utrecht,
investigated the diets of 132 people with a form of MND called
amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Their dietary habits were compared
to 220 control subjects who did not have the disease. Dietary habits
were evaluated using a validated 104-item food frequency questionnaire.

While energy intake and supplement intake was similar between the
groups, the researchers found that intake of vitamin E and
polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was noticeably lower in the ALS
cases, which agreed with the original hypothesis.

People whose intake was more than 32 grams of PUFAs per day had a 60
per cent lower risk of ALS than those who consumed less than 25 grams
per day. No differentiation between omega-3 and omega-6 was performed
by the researchers.

A daily intake of vitamin E over 18 milligrams was associated with a 60
per cent reduction in the risk of ALS.

No relationship between flavonol, lycopene, or vitamins B2 and C were
observed by the researchers.

"This study shows that higher premorbid dietary intake of PUFAs and
vitamin E was associated with a 50 to 60 per cent decreased risk of
developing ALS," wrote lead author Jan Veldink.

The mechanism, say the researchers, is more than just the nutrients'
individual benefits. The omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linoleic acid, for
example, has been reported to protect neurones. Docosahexaenioc acid
(DHA) is involved in the membrane of ion channels in the brain, making
it easier for them to change shape and transit electrical signals.
Vitamin E, say the scientists, inhibits lipid peroxidation which leads
to oxidative stress.

The nutrients' protective activity, says Veldink, is a case of the sum
greater than the parts.

"The combined analysis, including the interaction term, indicates
that vitamin E and PUFAs increase their separate protective effects.
Vitamin E may act directly to reduce the risk of ALS as a known
inhibitor of lipid peroxidation, but it could also act indirectly
through inhibition of peroxidation of PUFAs.

As a result, a higher level of PUFAs will be available biologically,"
said Veldink.

Although further research is clearly needed, the results do fit with
reports on the benefits of this nutrient combo for cognitive diseases.
According to other studies, the risk of Alzheimer's disease could be
reduced by a diet risk in plant lipids, fish, or by eating a
Mediterranean-style diet, rich in both PUFAs and vitamin E.

The study has several limitations, including being non-population based
and depending on dietary recall of both the cases and controls. Veldink
and his colleagues are currently conducting a population-based
case-control study to further test their hypothesis.

Famous people with MND include the actor David Niven and Professor
Stephen Hawking.

Who loves ya.
Tom

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monty1945@lycos.com · medicine forum addict Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 93

To say this study has numerous limitations is actually an
understatement. The actual molecular-level mechanisms are known, and
so this kind of correlations thing can only be misleading. Stress
causes release of the omega 6, AA, and the AA metabolites do the damage
- that is now totally understood, Most Westerners do not have much
omega 3 in them, but there are dangerous metabolites (non-enzymatic
especially) of omega 3s. The studies mostly measure the omega 6
metabolites, so omega 3 is said to be healthy. The old experiments,
which fed animals different diets, such as one high in fish oil, and
then observed the health and longevity of the animals, uniformly
resulted in animals dying young when given high omega 6/3 diets. Now
if you load them up with vitamin E, then yes, there will be a
counteracting effect, but nobody knows if this is a good idea in
humans, and recent studies sugggest that it is not, due to the
unbalancing of the different molecules classified as "vitamin E." Get
your own mice, load one group up with fish oil and/or canola oil, and
load the other group up with fresh coconut oil, without any extra
vitamin E and you will see what the scientfic reality is. No need for
these kinds of ludicrious "studies," some of which appear to be
intentionally misleading.

Mr-Natural-Health · medicine forum Guru Joined: 01 May 2005 Posts: 1807

ironjustice@aol.com wrote:

Alan Meyer · medicine forum beginner Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 13

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Sylv · medicine forum addict Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 86

Mr. Natural-Health wrote:

Mr-Natural-Health · medicine forum Guru Joined: 01 May 2005 Posts: 1807

Sylv wrote:

Michael · medicine forum beginner Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 47

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Michael · medicine forum beginner Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 47

Speaking of which...

A friend gave me a couple of beautiful chunks of chinook salmon fillet
today,
and they practically *screamed* "sushi rolls" at me... so I went to work on
making me some for supper. :-)

They were simple: cold flavoured rice, chives from the porch-planter, thin
slivers of radish and shallot, and lots of fish. They also gave me a major
10 minute case of wasabi-nose because I couldn't bring myself to stop once
I got into eating them. The beer - a friend's and my homebrewed blonde
pilsener - isn't really quite ready (needs two more days at *least*), but
it's settled out all its yeast, and being very slightly sweet and not yet
fully carbonated made it a pretty good match for the food - and for the
*quantity* of food.

The photos? The translucency of that hunk of fish is beautifully captured,
but I really like the top view of the finished product best... and it's neat
to see the hollow arrays of chives in cross-section like that.

There's just about 1/3 of all ingredients left, wrapped up neatly in the
fridge for breakfast... but I'd happily have eaten lighter and shared the
whole shebang. All anyone really needs first thing in the morning anyhow
(when and if dragging one's ass out of bed ever becomes an issue) is enough
coffee. :-)

http://qcislands.ca/muirhead/GonnaBeSushi(2).jpg
http://qcislands.ca/muirhead/NotSuhsiYetJustFixins(2).jpg
http://qcislands.ca/muirhead/OK_NowItsSushi(2).jpg
http://qcislands.ca/muirhead/SushiButNotAsahi_BonAppétit(2).jpg
http://qcislands.ca/muirhead/PleaseSirIWantMore(2).jpg

Michael · medicine forum beginner Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 47

Michael · medicine forum beginner Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 47

"Michael" <muirhead@haidagwaii.net> wrote in message
news:L7ydnT7yoPClzTbZnZ2dnUVZ_oydnZ2d@qcislands.net...

DCI · medicine forum beginner Joined: 04 Jun 2006 Posts: 5

On Tue, 4 Jul 2006 22:37:58 -0700, "Michael" <muirhead@haidagwaii.net>
wrote:

DCI · medicine forum beginner Joined: 04 Jun 2006 Posts: 5

On Tue, 4 Jul 2006 22:45:28 -0700, "Michael" <muirhead@haidagwaii.net>
wrote:

Michael · medicine forum beginner Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 47

DCI wrote:

Alex · medicine forum beginner Joined: 27 May 2006 Posts: 4

Michael wrote:

Mr-Natural-Health · medicine forum Guru Joined: 01 May 2005 Posts: 1807

Michael wrote:

Google