Omega-3 may boost heart health for diabetics

Related topics: Omega-3, Research, Nutritional lipids and oils, Cardiovascular health, Diabetes

Daily supplements of omega-3 fatty acids may reduce levels of compound in the blood of diabetics linked to heart disease, says a new study from Iran.

According to findings published in the peer-reviewed Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases daily omega-3 supplements cut levels of homocysteine by 22 per cent, compared to less than 1 per cent in the placebo group.

“We found that consumption of omega-3 fatty acids (3 g/day) for 2 months decreases the production of homocysteine in diabetic patients, which can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease,” wrote the researchers from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Studies have linked increased blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It has been suggested that by lowering levels of homocysteine in the blood, people could cut the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the topic of homocysteine and CVD is somewhat controversial with some studies reporting reductions in levels of the amino acid, but no reductions in the incidence of CVD over time.

Study details

The Tehran-based researchers recruited 81 diabetics to take part in their randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either a daily 3 gram dose of omega-3, providing 1,548 milligrams of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 828 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and 338 mg of other omega-3 fatty acids, or placebo, containing 2.1 g of sunflower oil (71 per cent linolenic acid, 16 per cent MUFA, and 12 per cent saturated fatty acids).

After two months of supplementation the researchers note significant reductions in levels of homocysteine of 3.10 micromoles per litre of blood, or about 22 per cent from their levels at the start of the study. On the other hand, the placebo group experienced a non-significant reduction of 0.10 micromoles per litre, less than 1 per cent of their initial values.

Furthermore, levels of haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), the form of haemoglobin usually used to follow plasma glucose concentrations over time respectively, were decreased by 0.75 per cent in the omega-3 group, but increased in the placebo group by 0.26 per cent. No changes in levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), malondialdehyde (MDA), C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol levels were recorded.

“Our study shows that homocysteine levels were decreased significantly in the omega-3 fatty acid supplemented group and a significant difference was found between the treatment and the control groups before and after omega-3 fatty acid supplementation,” wrote the researchers.

Source: Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases

By Stephen Daniells, 23-Jun-2009

Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2009.04.002
“The efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on plasma homocysteine and malondialdehyde levels of type 2 diabetic patients”
Authors: Sh. Pooya, M.D. Jalali, A.D. Jazayery, A. Saedisomeolia, M.R. Eshraghian, F. Toorang

It is possible to have a healthy life for sure

…if you take charge of your personal health wherever you live. However don’t relay on your doctor to help unless he or she practices alternative health methods.

The average conventional doctor only knows how to treat illnesses and diseases with prescription drugs. If you have a doctor who practices alternative methods of curing your illnesses or diseases consider yourself extremely fortunate. If a doctor got any education about nutrition at all in medical school it was so inadequate that they weren’t very qualified to practice this type of healing.

The prescription drug companies started from day one programming medical students that the way to cure illnesses was by prescribing drugs. This is a true story because they furnish medical students with all kinds of aides in their educational years in medical school. As small as it might be the various aides they furnish are pens, notebooks, clipboards and other such products they can use in their educational years.

Of course these aides do contain the names of prescription drugs companies printed right on any product that they give to medical students. Many people would agree that OK to give out such gifts. But wait a minute does that not influence some students to some degree that maybe they should be obligated somewhat to a particular drug company after they graduate?

In my generation we didn’t hear much about cancer, heart attacks, diabetes and other diseases either because the local news didn’t broadcast it or there weren’t that many cases of illnesses like today. I happened to believe that most people were healthier back then because they took better care of themselves. There wasn’t the influence of fast food restaurants, junk food or processed food like there is today.

We ate more wholesome foods, many grown in our own gardens then. We ate more fruits and vegetables and even though we worked harder, stress was not usually as great as it is today. We exercised by walking more often because we didn’t have access to a lot of transportation conveniences as today

Fifty years ago prescription drugs were not as widely known or used. Grandma’s remedies solved a lot of illnesses back then with very simple and safer methods, too. Open-heart surgery wasn’t even mentioned in my generation

And we didn’t run off to the hospital emergency room when we got a pain either. We seemed to solve health problem on our own better in those days. If we did go to a doctor in my generation he did give us a lot of personal attention. I said “he” because I don’t ever remember a female doctor in my younger years.

I can remember doctors then that were so concerned about your ailment that they would even make personal calls to your home within a couple of days to see how you were feeling. If you get a doctor today who gives you that much attention, consider yourself “super lucky” because there aren’t that many of them around like that today.

I appeal to you today to do whatever is necessary to educate yourself about alternate medicine methods, healthy diets that should also be part of you regular diet regimen, exercising requirement, stress management and other nutritional requirements.

You will only get this type of education on your own. Don’t depend on your doctor for any of this kind of information because it is not likely to happen.

You must be totally in charge of your personal health if you desire to be a healthy person and remain healthy throughout your life. Visit my website and get all the true facts for managing your personal health. Better yet, review my six-lesson ecourse that you can receive by email every seven days, then sign up for it and receive your first lesson immediately.

To your good health,

Sonny Julius

www.AHealthyLifeForSure.com

Choose supplements Wisely

Dietary supplements can be a great addition to your self-care routine, but it’s crucial to choose your supplements wisely. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently introduced regulations to improve supplement safety, the new rules won’t be in full effect until 2010. And while those regulations will ensure that supplements are contaminant-free and properly labeled, there’s a host of other safety issues you should consider before and after you buy.
Your Supplement Safety Checklist
To make sure your supplements are right for you, keep these safety concerns in mind.

1) Watch Out for Drug Interactions
Since a number of supplements such as St. John’s wort and ginkgo biloba may interact in harmful ways with prescription or over-the-counter drugs, you should always consult your physician before starting a supplement regimen.
Your doctor may also be able to notify you of any other potential risks the supplement might pose to your health (especially if you’re pregnant or planning to have surgery), as well as offer guidance on the best dosage to take. If your doctor isn’t comfortable with advising you on supplement use, ask if he or she can refer you to a supplement-savvy alternative health practitioner.

2) Do Your Research
Before you purchase a supplement, brush up on scientific evidence supporting the safety of its use. Third-party sources (such as information provided by objective health experts) are far more reliable than health claims published on a supplement manufacturer’s website.

3) Seek Out Certified Products
If a supplement is certified by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), NSF International, or the United Natural Products Alliance, it’s guaranteed to meet a certain standard of quality. (The USP’s screening process, for instance, ensures that a product will break down properly and effectively release its ingredients into the body.) Look for a certification seal from any of these organizations whenever you buy a supplement.

4) Check the Label
When shopping for an herbal supplement, it’s important to verify which parts of the plant were used in its production. Different components can produce different effects, some of which can harm your health. For example, research shows that while the roots of the herb kava seem to be safe, its stem peelings and leaves may contain compounds that could be toxic to the liver. Talking with your doctor or herbalist and researching an herbal supplement can help you determine which plant parts to look for.

5) Take Heed of Side Effects
If you experience any adverse effects after taking a new supplement, discontinue its use immediately and contact your doctor. Although many supplements can be used without harm, others are linked to serious side effects (such as kidney damage and gastrointestinal problems), especially when taken at excessive doses.

Source:
Nerurkar PV, Dragull K, Tang CS. “In vitro toxicity of kava alkaloid, pipermethystine, in HepG2 cells compared to kavalactones.” Toxicological Sciences 2004 79(1):106-11.

You spend one-third of your life sleeping. Sleeping! Believe it or not, if you live to be 75, the hours you sleep each night will add up to about 25 years of slumber.

It might seem like all that sleep is a giant waste of time. But scientists now know that while you’re snoozing quietly in your bed, there’s lots going on inside your brain and body.

Cycling through Sleep

For one thing, you sleep a cycle of five different types of sleep, over and over each night. When you first lie down and begin to fall asleep, your body enters what sleep experts call Stage 1 sleep. You’re still very close to being awake, but your brain begins to work more slowly. Your body relaxes, and your closed eyes start to roll around. If someone woke you from this stage, you’d probably say that you weren’t even asleep yet. After several minutes, you sink a little deeper, into Stage 2 sleep. You’d still be easy to wake up, but you’d probably know you’d been snoozing.

Then you really relax and fall deeply asleep, into Stage 3 sleep. Your heart slows down, and you breathe more slowly, too. Noises nearby would probably not wake you. Finally, you sink into the deepest sleep of all, called Stage 4. Once you’re in Stage 4 sleep, you’re very hard to wake up. And if someone does manage to wake you, you’ll be very confused about where you are and what’s happening.

The first time you reach Stage 4 sleep after going to bed, you stay there for almost 20 minutes. That’s the longest chunk of deep sleep you’ll have all night. After that, you slowly move back up through Stages 3 and 2.

And then your sleep gets really interesting.

Sweet Dreams

As you come back up through a period of Stage 2 sleep, you shift into Rapid Eye Movement, or REM, sleep. It’s called REM sleep because when you’re in it, your eyes-behind your closed eyelids-slide quickly back and forth, and back and forth, as though you were watching the ball in a tennis game. Your brain becomes much more active during this sleep stage, almost as active as when you’re awake. Instead of resting, a brain in REM sleep is racing! And while your eyes are darting from side to side, a very detailed story is running through your head: you’re dreaming.

It’s during REM sleep that you dream your strangest dreams, the ones that sound so very mixed-up when you describe them the next morning. As you drift into a REM-sleep dream of singing toothbrushes or a dog that says he’s your uncle, your body changes, too. Your breathing and heart rate sometimes speed up. Scientists say that your brain waves-measurements of the electrical activity in your brain-look almost the same during REM sleep as they do when you’re awake. When you enter REM sleep, you go from being completely relaxed to being ready for action. And yet, you never move. That’s because you can’t. You’re paralyzed!

When you’re in REM sleep, your brain cuts off all the messages that might tell your body to move. You never pull up the covers or even roll over. Except for your shifting eyes, your breathing, and a twitch every now and then, you lie perfectly still as you dream. Scientists guess that may be to prevent you from acting out any wild scenes in your dream and hurting yourself.

Does Dreaming Make You Smarter?

You’ll spend more than two hours each night in REM sleep, dreaming. Why do you dream? Scientists are still trying to figure that out.

One idea is that dreaming helps you organize your memories. It gives your brain a chance to sort through everything that happened during the day, storing what you need to remember and tossing out details that don’t matter.

Experiments show that REM sleep definitely can help you learn better. In one test, volunteers were taught a new skill. That night, some of them were awakened whenever they entered REM sleep. The others were awakened the same number of times but only during non-REM sleep. The next day, the people who got their REM sleep tested better than the others at performing the new skill.

Researchers now think dreams may be like exercise for your brain, and dreaming may actually help your brain develop. Newborn babies spend almost half of their sleep time in REM sleep! But adults, whose brains aren’t developing so much anymore, spend only about one-fifth of their sleep time dreaming.

Going without Sleep

During the day your muscles are busy stretching and pulling as you run, jump, or even just sit. Lying down asleep and fairly still gives those muscles a chance to repair and grow stronger. Scientists carried out an experiment on weight-lifters. For one night, they allowed the athletes to sleep only three hours. The next day, none of the athletes could lift as much weight as they had before. If you didn’t sleep, you wouldn’t be as strong either.

As you lie snoozing, you’re busy healing and growing. Your body is releasing more of the chemicals that help it create new bits of skin, muscle, and other parts of you. Sleep is so important for healing that when you’re injured or sick, your body releases chemicals to make you feel sleepier. Just recovering from a sunburn can make you sleep longer.

In response to media reports that a glass of wine 'cuts risk of gullet cancer'taken from two authoritative studies reported in the magazine Gastroenterology 136, issue 3 March 2009: The newly launched Barrett's Oesophagus Campaign - the only charity dedicated to the prevention

In patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), esomeprazole, has demonstrated pharmacological and clinical benefits beyond those seen with the other proton pump inhibitors( PPIs ). However it has not hitherto been fully determined whether differences in the onset of antisecreatary activity may affect the speed of symptom relief with different PPI. Dr. Ri-Nan Zheng from China addresses this question.

Drinking one glass of wine a day may lower the risk of Barrett's Esophagus by 56 percent, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in the March issue of Gastroenterology. Barrett's Esophagus is a precursor to esophageal cancer, the nation's fastest growing cancer with an incidence rate that's jumped 500 percent in the last 30 years.

Additional study suggests drinking alcohol in early adulthood may increase reflux esophagitis risk Although the relationship between alcohol and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is well established, studies investigating the association between alcohol intake and reflux esophagitis (RE), Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) have reported inconsistent findings.

A national leader in incision-free surgery performed through natural orifices, the Center for Scarless Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center is now offering patients with severe, chronic acid reflux disease a unique incision-free procedure called TIF, or transoral incisionless fundoplication.

More than 20 million Americans suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), experienced by many as chronic heartburn. Medication offers short-term relief for some sufferers of this disease. For those seeking a non-prescription alternative, a magnetic device, currently being evaluated at UC San Diego Medical Center, may provide a long-term solution.