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Article - Omega-3 fish oil supplements increase Cancer risk 70%


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Taking omega-3 fish oil supplements may increase the risk of aggressive prostate cancer by 70%

Researchers at Ohio State University, in the U.S., also found that taking the supplement was also associated with a 44 per cent greater chance of developing low-grade prostate cancer.

Full Story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2359466/Taking-omega-3-fish-oil-supplements-increase-risk-aggressive-prostate-cancer-70.html

 

DS15 is taking two pills a day. This line from the article really bothered me...

"It is unclear how fish oil could trigger tumours, but omega-3 may restrict the immune system, or damage our DNA."

Why am I toying with something that restricts an already poor immune system?
T.Anna
DS15

 

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This is not a peer reviewed research journal.. This was not a double blind study. They can't even tell you how many in the study ate oily fish vs took supplements, how much of the omega 3s the subjects took, what other supplements were taken, what other health issues, if any, the participants had. My take on it was the participants all had prostate cancer and they were questioned about omega 3 intake. A poorly designed study that I would not put a great deal of faith in unless I could see the actual research.

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2,000 men over the age of 50 -- none had prostate cancer when the trial began -- higher plasma levels of omega-3 fatty acids -- the study has been questioned by the American Heart Association and others -- bottom line, get your omega 3's via 3 servings of fatty fish per week, rather than from supplements

 

Maybe this is another reason to consider exchanging fish oil for evening primrose oil? We've been splitting it now for about the last 3 months for DS: one fish oil capsule in the morning, and an EPO capsule in the evening.

 

I guess we should just stayed tuned . . .

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What does the primrose oil pill look like?

 

It comes in gelcaps that are clear, and the oil is pretty much "oil-colored" . . . like olive oil or canola oil light gold. Ours are about the same size and shape as our fish oil gelcaps.

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Got a response from Dr.Schulman that the article does not refer to kids.

 

Love the fact that she responds, even when on vacation.

 

T.Anna

 

Well, that's true enough, but even so, if there's something about the fish oil itself that contributes to the development or propogation of cell mutations over time, kids or adults, we wouldn't want to contribute to that . . . <_<

 

Still, I think Nicklemama's point is well-taken . . . it doesn't appear to be peer-reviewed, there's a lot of flack coming at the findings from other medical groups (though, given our own PANDAS/Swedo history, I'm loathe to discount a study just because other doctors/researchers poke at its credibility), and there's not been enough information released at this point about the other points of commonality among the men who did, in fact, develop cancer.

 

Also curious about the type/quality of fish oil(s) these guys were taking as all supplements, as we know, are NOT created equal! What if it's some component of the processing, packaging, storage, etc. that's at play here, and the plasma levels themselves are a red herring?

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I don't think there's any ideal solution. Getting your fish oil from fish means you need to be very vigilant about the source of the fish, heavy metals, environmental toxins...

 

Like lfran, Omega 3s have always brought issues for my son. One possible reason is he has pyroluria and Klinghardt says that this can create a deficiency in Omega 6s. Since Omega 6s and 3s supposedly compete for the same receptor sites, supplementing Omega 3s in someone with pyroluria exacerbates the Omega 6 deficiency even more. He recommends those with pyroluria avoid Omega 3s and use Evening Primrose Oil as an Omega 6 that's anti-inflammatory (most Omega 6s are pro-inflammatory). Been awhile since I was up on all this but this is what I recall from my reading.

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I can't speak to pyrolurria. My sons biomed doc says you need to keep omega 3&6 in balance. DS takes 1000 mg of a good omega 3 every day and 1000 mg omega 6 M-W-F. He's doing really well now, if the cold he caught a few days ago doesn't set him back.

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