Beneficial Actions of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Cardiov

mike V · Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 33

More fodder for the endless debate.
mikeV

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cnf/2008/00000004/00000001/art00002

Beneficial Actions of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Cardiovascular
Diseases: But, How and Why?
Author: Das, Undurti N.

Source: Current Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 4, Number 1, February 2008
, pp. 2-31(30)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

Omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid
(DHA), and to a limited extent n- 6 fatty acids: arachidonic acid (AA),
gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and dihomo-GLA (DGLA), prevent cardiovascular
disease, thrombosis and atherosclerosis, reduce cardiac arrhythmias, lower
plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, lower high blood pressure and improve
endothelial function. These beneficial actions of the fatty acids could be
attributed to their ability to augment endothelial nitric oxide generation,
inhibit HMG-CoA reductase and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)
activities, block the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and modulate
telomerase activity. AA, EPA, and DHA form precursors to anti-inflammatory
molecules: lipoxins and resolvins that help in wound healing, inhibit the
actions of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, and suppress the production of free
radicals and enhance nitric oxide (NO) generation. In addition, these fatty
acids react with NO and NO-derived reactive nitrogen species to form
nitroalkene derivative of fatty acids called as nitrolipids. Nitrolipids
serve as potent ligands for peroxisome proliferator activated receptors
(PPARs), inhibit platelet activation through elevation of cyclic AMP levels;
suppress superoxide generation, degranulation, and integrin expression by
human neutrophils, and induce vasorelaxation in a concentration dependent
manner by releasing NO. Nitrolipids are formed at the sites of inflammation
in significant amounts and increased by oxidative inflammatory reactions.
Furthermore, ?-3 and ? -6 fatty acids interact with each other to enhance
the formation of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), prostacyclin (PGI2), and PGI3,
which are potent platelet anti-aggregators and vasodilators. Thus, GLA,
DGLA, AA, EPA, and DHA when present in optimum amounts in the tissues,
especially in endothelial cells, myocardium, platelets, and neutrophils, may
aid in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Archived from group: sci>life-extension

monty1945 · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 351

Mike:

You've been reading newsgroup posts here for a while now, correct?
There is nothing mysterious about this study. I'll explain in
detail. If you have AA in your cells (I don't now, but most Americans
do), some PUFAs inhibit/counteract the AA metabolites, which do the
damage in most of today's "chronic diseases." Other things will do
this too, but usually in a less dangerous way (some antioxidants, for
example). And of course, you can simply eat a diet that will allow
your body to make the natural Mead acid (rather than converting
linoleic acid to AA and storing it in your cells). Just because one
monster kills or maims another monster does not mean that the new
monster won't do a lot of damage too. In fact, if you were to eat
similar to what the native Greenlanders used to, there's a good chance
you wouldn't have a heart attack in your 50s or 60s, because the omega
3s would kill you (often by internal bleeding or a "bleeding stroke")
before the omega 6s gave you cancer, an ischemic stroke, or a heart
attack.

Bob Arnold · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

In article
,
monty1945@lycos.com wrote:

> Mike:
>
> You've been reading newsgroup posts here for a while now, correct?
> There is nothing mysterious about this study. I'll explain in
> detail. If you have AA in your cells (I don't now, but most Americans
> do), some PUFAs inhibit/counteract the AA metabolites, which do the
> damage in most of today's "chronic diseases." Other things will do
> this too, but usually in a less dangerous way (some antioxidants, for
> example). And of course, you can simply eat a diet that will allow
> your body to make the natural Mead acid (rather than converting
> linoleic acid to AA and storing it in your cells). Just because one
> monster kills or maims another monster does not mean that the new
> monster won't do a lot of damage too. In fact, if you were to eat
> similar to what the native Greenlanders used to, there's a good chance
> you wouldn't have a heart attack in your 50s or 60s, because the omega
> 3s would kill you (often by internal bleeding or a "bleeding stroke")
> before the omega 6s gave you cancer, an ischemic stroke, or a heart
> attack.

Is there any evidence that omega 3 oil caused Greenlanders to die in
their 50s or 60s from internal bleeding or a "bleeding stroke"?

monty1945 · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 351

Bob:

The evidence is strong, and at every level (epidemiological,
molecular, biochemical, etc.). If you go to my free site, there is a
page I put together that cites many passages from the professional
literature concerning the dangers of fish oil or omega 3s.

First, go to:

http://groups.msn.com/TheScientificDebateForum-/

Then scroll down and find the essay on the left, entitled something
like "Fish oil quotes you might want to know about."

trigonometry1972 · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 8

Some traditional diets were very high in salt. Could
that have been part of the problem? Or could some
of the old local diets been low at least seasonally
in vitamin K? Granted the fish oil might reducing
clotting and increase bleeding strokes.

trigonometry1972 · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 8

next posting:

Int J Circumpolar Health. 2004;63 Suppl 2:290-1.

Incidence of myocardial and cerebral infarction in Nuuk, Greenland.

Kjaergaard JJ, Bjerregaard P.

Queen Ingrid Hospital, Nuuk, Greenland. jensjk@dadlnet.dk

INTRODUCTION:
Myocardial and cerebral infarction are held to be
rare among the Inuit, whereas cerebral haemorrhage
is thought to be frequent. Recent studies have questioned
these beliefs. We report data form our institution.

METHOD:
Retrospective data collection and review of all charts
from Greenlandic patients from the Nuuk area admitted
to the city hospital, Dronning Ingrids Hospital, from
1999 to 2002.

RESULTS:
A total of 8 patients with myocardial infarction were
found, median age 70 years, 4 with ST elevation MI
and 4 with non-ST elevation MI. Two of the former
had thrombolysis. Thirty-five patients were admitted with
stroke, excluding subarachnoid haemorrhage,
median age 65 years. Of these, twenty-nine had a CT.
Five scans were reported as being normal, one patient had
an intracerebral haemorrhage and twenty-three
had cerebral infarctions. Six had no CT.
One of these was admitted comatose and died
without regaining consciousness,
the rest were minor strokes in patients over 70.

CONCLUSION:
Myocardial infarction is a rare disease in Greenlanders,
whereas stroke is four times as frequent.
The overwhelming majority of strokes are infarctions, whereas
intracerebral haemorrhage seems to account only for a small minority.

PMID: 15736670

trigonometry1972 · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 8

another factor may be at work.

m J Hypertens. 2005 May;18(5 Pt 1):612-8.

Relationship between mercury in blood and 24-h
ambulatory blood pressure in
Greenlanders and Danes.

Pedersen EB, Jørgensen ME, Pedersen MB,
Siggaard C, Sørensen TB, Mulvad G, Hansen
JC, Asmund G, Skjoldborg H.

Department of Medical Research, Holstebro Hospital, Holstebro,
Denmark.
ebp@dadlnet.dk

BACKGROUND:
Intake of mercury with food items from sea mammals and fish has been
suggested to be involved in cardiovascular disease, but the
relationship between
mercury in blood and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) has never
been studied.

METHODS:
We measured mercury in blood and 24-h BP in four groups of healthy
subjects: group 1, Danes living in Denmark consuming European food;
group 2,
Greenlanders living in Denmark consuming European food; group 3,
Greenlanders
living in Greenland consuming European food; and group 4, Greenlanders
living in
Greenland consuming mainly traditional Greenlandic food.

RESULTS:
Mercury in blood was highest in Greenlanders
and increased when they lived in Greenland and
consumed traditional Greenlandic food
(group 1: 2.2 microg/L (median), group 2:
4.8 microg/L, group 3: 10.8 microg/L, and group 4: 24.9 microg/L).
The 24-h BP was the same in all three groups of Greenlanders.
However, 24-h diastolic BP was
lower among Greenlanders than Danes
(71 v 76 mm Hg, P < .000) and 24-h pulse
pressure was higher (54 v 50 mm Hg, P < .000).
Mercury in blood was significantly
and positively correlated to pulse pressure (rho = 0.272, P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS:
Pulse pressure was higher and diastolic BP was lower
in Greenlanders than Danes.
Pulse pressure increased with higher mercury content
in the blood. Although genetic factors must be
responsible to some extent for the difference in pulse
pressure between Greenlanders and Danes,
the present results seem to support the
hypothesis that mercury intake from
maritime food is involved in cardiovascular
disease.

PMID: 15882543

trigonometry1972 · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 8

Other factors. There at lot smoking going on. Wow.

Int J Epidemiol. 1997 Dec;26(6):1182-90.

Cardiovascular risk factors in Inuit of Greenland.

Bjerregaard P, Mulvad G, Pedersen HS.

Danish Institute for Clinical Epidemiology,
Section for Research in Greenland,
Copenhagen, Denmark.

BACKGROUND:
Mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and prevalence of
coronary arteriosclerosis are low in Inuit of Greenland
(Greenlanders).
Aetiological considerations have so far focused mostly on diet and
blood lipids.
The present study is a comprehensive analysis of behavioural, clinical
and
serological cardiovascular risk factors for IHD in Greenlanders.

METHODS:
An interview survey from West Greenland (n = 1436) was supplemented
with clinical
measurements and blood sampling in selected towns and villages (n =
264).

RESULTS:
The average consumption of marine mammals and fish was 28 meals per
month.
In Greenland 14% of males and 30% of females were physically inactive
compared with 14% and 17% in the general population of Denmark;
79% were current smokers and 22% smoked 15+ cigarettes per day
compared with 42% and 21% in Denmark.
High density lipoprotein (HDL) concentration was 1.6 mmol/l in
Greenland
(1.1 in Denmark) and triglyceride concentration 1.0 mmol/l (1.5).
Obesity, blood pressure and total cholesterol were
similar in Greenland and Denmark. There were
significant differences between Greenlanders with a
predominantly traditional childhood and those
with a more westernized childhood with regard to diet,
physical activity (in women) and blood lipids.

CONCLUSIONS:
In spite of an increased westernization of the
Greenlanders' lifestyle and a high prevalence of
several cardiovascular risk factors, mortality from IHD is still low.
The change in risk factor patterns is, however, recent
and an increased IHD mortality is still to be expected.
Preventive measures should be initiated to reduce risk
factors but they must take into consideration possible
negative consequences of e.g. traditional outdoor
activities and the consumption of marine mammals.

PMID: 9447397

trigonometry1972 · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 8

full paper available without charge here:

http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/26/6/1182

Deane · Joined: 25 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

On Feb 24, 4:15 pm, monty1...@lycos.com wrote:
> Mike:
>
> You've been reading newsgroup posts here for a while now, correct?
> There is nothing mysterious about this study. I'll explain in
> detail. If you have AA in your cells (I don't now, but most Americans
> do), some PUFAs inhibit/counteract the AA metabolites, which do the
> damage in most of today's "chronic diseases." Other things will do
> this too, but usually in a less dangerous way (some antioxidants, for
> example). And of course, you can simply eat a diet that will allow
> your body to make the natural Mead acid (rather than converting
> linoleic acid to AA and storing it in your cells).

Just curious here. What sort of diet would stimulate the body to make
a good amount of Mead acid?

monty1945 · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 351

Deane:

If you go to the site I cited above, you will see one essay on my diet
and also there are several posts that are relevant in the nutrition
forum. Basically, you need to eliminate any major source of
polyunsaturated fatty acids. Even oils that are classified as
"monunsaturates," like canola oil, should be avoided if they are rich
in PUFAs. Olive oil is okay if it is of the highest quality, still
fresh, and you don't use it for cooking. Otherwise, use butter
(again, don't cook with it) or coconut oil (palm kernel oil is okay,
but costs more and has no taste). You can eat small amounts of food
made with palm oil, but make sure the saturated fat content is around
50% (preferably higher). Meat should also be eaten in moderation,
though I avoid it entirely. Once Mead acid replaces AA, then you can
eat more meat, if you feel you must. On my site there have been long
threads on eating meat, and if so, how to prepare it. Obviously, a
small amount won't do any harm (unless, of course, it was seriously
tainted with something), but the combination of a lot of meat and a
lot of PUFA-rich items (like the oils used for cooking) are a terrible
combination (generating dangerous molecules like HCAs).

jay · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 21

> Basically, you need to eliminate any major source of
> polyunsaturated fatty acids...
> Meat should also be eaten in moderation,
> though I avoid it entirely...

Questions. What are the major factors that trigger AA? Are LPS and
physical injury two of them? Does chewing raw meat trigger release of
AA? Does cooking meat disable the AA cascade? AA is converted to other
metabolites via COX1, COX2, 5,12,15-LOX, etc. What determines which
oxygenase is used? A link to a diagram would help me understand. Thx.

monty1945 · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 351

Jay:

One thing I learned in grad. school that has helped me a lot over the
years is to distinguish between what is clear and what is still in
doubt, as well as to see if there is a "big picture" that does not
require all the "ends" to be "tied up." From what I've seen of the
evidence, there is still plenty of work that needs to be done on which
metabolite gets generated. What surprised me were the studies that
pointed out how unstable AA is, even at physiologically "normal"
concentrations. I don't think meat is really the issue, but rather if
the animal was healthy, how you cook it, what you cook or eat it with,
and how much of it you eat. If you cook it, you will destroy (change)
at least some of the AA into molecules that can't be changed back
(though that does not mean these are now "good" for you, just less
dangerous in this context).

You can do pubmed.com searches and you will find a huge amount of
evidence, for example, just search for arachidonic and see the
thousands of results. Mary Enig has tried to generalize about this,
though she thinks AA is "essential." See:

http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/tripping.html

There's other, similar material on the WP website you might want to
take a look at, and of course there are many citations on my site.

omega 3 and 6 fatty acids We're always hearing these days about how fabulous omega 3s are; it has gotten to the point where omega 6s are almost looked on as bad. But aren't they essential too? And when someone responds "Yes, but we get plenty -- too much even -- of omega 6s in ou

Omega - 3 Fatty Acids And Menopause Maintaining a proper balance of dietary fats may decrease the levels of bone loss associated with osteoporosis, according to a recent study by scientists at Purdue University and the Indiana University School of Medicine. Estrogen deficien

Omega - 3 Fatty Acids And Menopause Maintaining a proper balance of dietary fats may decrease the levels of bone loss associated with osteoporosis, according to a recent study by scientists at Purdue University and the Indiana University School of Medicine. Estrogen deficien

Freshwater Fish and Omega 3 Fatty Acids The following website indicates that freshwater fish are a good source of omega 3 fatty acids: The article doesn't indicate the ratio of EPA and DHA, but I am happy to have an alternative to ocean fis

Altering the fatty acids in cow milk fat with canola seed (p I note with concern these "boneheads" were using blood meal in the feed formulation. Unless this is a typo for bone meal which also has similar problems. What problems? The risk of mad cow, of course.