essential fatty acids (Note: essential)

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Fatty acids were once thought to be nothing more than a stored form of

caloric

energy. Current research is amassing new evidence

that they may be some of

the most essential nutrients in the human diet,

critical for cell membrane

structure and function and for local " hormonal "

signaling. The number of

diseases whose clinical course can be affected by

fatty acid therapy is huge,

including inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular

disease, hormonal disorders,

autoimmune disorders, arthritides, mental and

behavioral disorders, and many

cases of senile neurological degeneration. Only very

recently has laboratory

analysis achieved the level of sophistication

necessary for healthcare providers

to provide precise supplementation based on a

patient's biochemical

individuality.

Now, with Great Smokies' state-of-the-art

Essential and Metabolic Fatty Acids Analysis

(EMFA), healthcare providers can take full

advantage of accurate and comprehensive

test results to promote healthy function

throughout the human life span.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) exercise a

powerful influence on overall health because

of their pivotal role in how cell membranes

function. EFAs are transformed by the body

into critical local hormones, called

" eicosanoids, " that completely regulate all

stages of the process of inflammation, controlling

initiation, propagation, and

termination of this process that is so vital to the

body's ability to repair and to

protect itself immunologically. EFAs are not only

safe for pregnant and lactating

women, but, supplementation of EFAs may reduce the

occurrence of many

serious complications of pregnancy such as

pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes,

and post-partum depression.

Many of the chronic inflammatory conditions that

accompany an EFA imbalance

are currently treated with symptom-specific

pharmaceutical drugs such as

steroids, Prednisone, aspirin and other NSAIDs,

sulfasalazine, and colchicine.

The problem with such drug therapies is that they

prevent the formation of

" good " anti-inflammatory eicosanoids as well as the

" bad " pro-inflammatory

eicosanoids, or they shift production of one type of

eicosanoid to another. For

effective, long-term management, eicosanoid

production should be modified

through dietary changes (balancing dietary intake of

specific fats, as indicated

by testing) and by controlling insulin levels in the

circulation.