One of the benefits of having worked with hundreds of doctors across the United States over the last 15 years has been the relationships I have built with physicians with a wide range of medical experience and expertise in related wellness topics. Dr. Owen Winsett, a Breast Surgeon in Austin, Texas (not far from my med school alma mater in San Antonio!) is one of those doctors who always has great information to share. I am re-printing this post from his June 2011 blog to illustrate one more, very important, benefit of recommending fish oil supplementation to all woman! Thank you in advance, Owen, for this great information…
…”An important study published last year in Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010:19(7);1696-1708 has the important name The VITAL Cohort. This sturdy compared VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) to breast cancer incidence. 35,000 women from Washington state were followed for an average of 6 years by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in this first ever prospective study specifically designed to investigate supplements and breast cancer. The women enrolled were between 50 and 76 years old.
The supplements examined included: fish oil, glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM (mthylsulfonylmethane), grapeseed, black cohosh, soy, dong quai, St. John’s wort, acidophilus, CoQ10, garlic, ginko biloba, gensing and melatonin. The report was based on current and past use at 6 years.
Current users of fish oil had 32% fewer breast cancers! Fish oil was the only one of the supplements to exhibit statistically significant risk reduction of breast cancer. This is not the only study demonstrating a breast cancer reduction for the omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. A study from Singapore sites a 28% reduction in breast cancers among those with high dietary intake of omega3 fatty acids.
So, here is another good reason to take fish oil. For all of the many other benefits review omega3 at www.umm.edu. I have heard from some a worry about bleeding with omega3 use, but this theoretic risk has not proven so in reality. In a review of 19 trials of heart and other vascular procedures, Dr. Harris found that bleeding among omega3 users, even up to 3 grams per day, was “virtually nonexistent” (Am J Cardiol 2007:99[suppl];44c-46c)…..”
The main issue with taking any old fish oil supplements is that the food supplement industry is not regulated and if you shop for price, the product you purchase may not be pure and may have other fillers and toxins. In my research, I found some products contain only 20 – 30% of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids necessary to get the health benefits from fish oil. Mercury and PCB’s are also found in some. That’s why I recommend the following:
www.omegaphysician.com
Be well!
Dr. S
Dennis E. Sandler M.D.e-mail: dsandlermd@gmail.com
connect:
