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WDDTY e-News Service - 28 February 2003

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:57:12 -0000

 

 

WHAT DOCTORS DON’T TELL YOU - E-NEWS BROADCAST No.24 - 28 Feb 03

IT’S THE WAY THEY TELL ‘EM: And who’s saying it

When it comes to health and medical information, it matters just as much who’s

saying it as what they say.

 

Did you know, for instance, that high-fat diets could cause lung cancer? No?

Well, it’s a new line being taken by. . .the tobacco industry. It was first put

forward by William Simmons of the R J Reynolds Tobacco Company at a congress in

New Orleans last year. He has interpreted several studies’ findings to conclude

that obesity and diets high in fat increase the risk of cancer “not only in the

lung but at many other sites in the body.” Certainly, he may have a point about

certain cancers, but it seems to be stretching things to suggest this includes

lung cancer.

 

And his view is, of course, at variance with scores of other studies, one of the

most recent of which found no association whatsoever between diet and lung

cancer.

 

But the researchers of the study did point out that smokers tend to choose diets

that are low in fruit and vegetables, and high in fatty foods.

 

And the primary cause of lung cancer? Over 80 per cent are caused by (wait for

it) tobacco, says the research team, based at Oxford University. So put that in

your pipe, Mr Simmons, but don’t smoke it.

 

(Source: The Lancet, 2003; 361: 257).

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIOFLAVONOIDS: The new health scare in Italy

 

 

 

A new health scare concerning bioflavonoids is raging in Italy, and it’s

something that could soon be hitting a health store near you if the regulators

of the European Union have anything to do with it.

 

The Italian government is warning pregnant women not to take supplements that

contain bioflavonoids. They could cause severe disease in a child’s first year

if he was exposed to them in the womb, says the warning that now appears on the

labels of all supplements that contain bioflavonoiods.

 

The Italian government acted after several studies suspected a link between

dietary flavonoids and infant leukemia in particular.

 

It’s certainly had an impact. Women in Italy have stopped taking the

supplements when pregnant, which means they are also depriving themselves of

other helpful ingredients such as folic acid, proteins and minerals.

 

So were the Italian authorities right to issue the warning? A closer reading of

the studies suggests not. The association is very questionable, and is

certainly not good science. In fact, the converse may be true: there’s much

more evidence to suggest that dietary bioflavonoids protect against cancer

because of their antioxidant properties.

 

Supplements may also be an unnecessary target. The average Mediterranean, and

Italian, diet contains more than 2000 mg of bioflavonoids a day, whereas a

supplement delivers just 60 mg daily. At worst, it suggests that supplements

are unnecessary, but certainly not dangerous to the unborn child. We hope the

EU regulators are listening.

 

 

 

SUPPLEMENTS: Are any of them safe, asks the Americans

 

First the Italians, and now the Americans, are questioning the safety of

supplements at a time when the EU is planning draconian legislation to curb

their sale.

 

An American survey says that supplements can cause heart and liver failure,

seizures and even death.

 

They base their findings on telephone calls to 11 poison centres around the USA;

in all, the centres fielded 2,332 calls from people who had taken 1,466

supplement tablets. Of these, 784 people had symptoms, and researchers were

confident that 489 of these could blame a supplement. A third of the

supplement-related symptoms were more than mild, although this was due, in part,

to the age of the patient (and 591 of the 1,466 pills were taken by children up

to the age of 11), multi-use, and long-term use.

 

The researchers did not name specific supplements, but they did include vitamins

to aid body-building and muscle-toning.

 

The official line from the EU about the supplements legislation is that it is

needed to protect the consumer, and the US research supports that stand.

 

Nobody would deny that the supplements market needs some control—especially

after steroids have been found in some Traditional products—but

the heavy-handed EU legislation will destroy several industries, and remove

consumer choice.

 

The Health Freedom Movement, which we at WDDTY founded, is instead calling for a

light-touch regulation, in line with the risks associated with complementary

medicine, which will still provide consumer safety, and preserve choice.

 

(Source: The Lancet, 2003; 361: 101-6).

 

 

 

To help the Health Freedom Movement campaign, visit the website

http:\\www.healthfreedommovement.com to make a donation.

 

 

 

 

READERS’ COMMENTS AND QUERIES

Fish oils: Our various stories about fish oils and the link to stroke caused a

great deal of interest—and concern—among our readers.

 

As the questions were coming in thick and fast, we thought it better to put all

your concerns to one of the UK’s leading nutritionists, Dr Damien Downing.

 

Here is his response (and numbers that appear in brackets refer to a reference

at the end of his reply):

 

1. Do fish oils cause/increase stroke risk?

 

The last year or so has seen important evidence emerging on how necessary and

beneficial fish oils can be, in inflammatory diseases including heart disease,

and in neurodevelopmental problems such as hyperactivity, autism etc. We should

not be surprised that they are now attracting attacks from, presumably, Big

Pharma. This seems to be a good example of such attacks.

 

 

 

The logic of this appears to go thus:

 

 

 

a) Mercury can increase risk of stroke (and other cardiovascular diseases):

The evidence on this is conflicting; the first of these studies (1 - on 1833

Finnish men) found an association, the second (2. -on 1462 Swedish women) did

not. On balance it is probably safest to assume that it might be true.

 

 

 

b) Fish & fish oils can be contaminated with mercury:

True, but not much; one study (3) found fish oil capsules to contain less than

0.2 mcg (microgrammes) of mercury per gram of omega-3, implying a maximum total

mercury intake from an appropriate fish oil dose of perhaps 0.6mcg per day.

Now, look at these figures from WHO (4):

 

 

 

Dental amalgam Min: 3.0 mcg - Max: 17.0 mcg

Fish/seafood 2.3 mcg

Other food 0.3 mcg

Air + water negligible

 

 

 

So the total exposure from such supplements can only be about 20 per cent of the

exposure from dental amalgam, and is probably much less - yet dental amalgams

are still widespread and regarded as safe! In this context the new UK

government recommendation that pregnant women should avoid canned tuna is

probably sensible, but much less important than avoiding dental amalgams.

 

 

 

c) So fish oil could increase stroke risk:

Well, not really. This study (5) found that men (1871 Finnish men) with a high

DHA (the most important component of omega-3 oils) and a low mercury had about

one-third the risk of cardiovascular disease of men with low DHA and high

mercury. So fish oil, as has been repeatedly demonstrated, helps to prevent

cardiovascular disease including stroke, although the mercury contained in it

may increase stroke risk - but not nearly enough to outweigh the benefit from

the oil.

 

 

 

2. What about fish liver oils?

 

The same story, but also liver oils contain lots of vitamins A & D. We used to

think that the vitamin D was dangerous in such doses, but current evidence

disproves this. The vitamin A might be harmful to pregnant women and their

foetuses (personally I doubt it) so I would recommend that no more than 1 fish

liver oil could be substituted for a fish oil capsule in a daily regime.

 

 

 

3. How well are fatty acids absorbed from plant oils?

 

Not as well, it would seem, at least for omega-3 oils. Flax seed oil, the

evidence suggests, is about 10 times less effective at raising omega-3 levels.

So should we switch from fish oils to plant oils? My advice is no, but if you

want to add a plant oil into the mix, that is fine.

 

 

 

4. How does diet and intestinal health affect absorption?

 

It's got to be important, though stomach acid and liver function are probably

more important than bowel flora; by the age of 60 about half of us have reduced

stomach acid, and without healthy bile production fat absorption will be

impaired.

 

 

 

5. Does increased fat/oil intake increase oxidative stress?

Yes, any oil will increase your requirements for antioxidants. Not by a huge

amount though, and most such supplements contain some antioxidants such as

vitamin E, which being fat-soluble is the best choice. I always advise taking

extra mixed antioxidants with the oils.

 

 

References

1. Salonen, Jukka T., M.D., M.P.H., et al. Intake of Mercury From Fish, Lipid

Peroxidation, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Coronary,

Cardiovascular, and Any Death in Eastern Finnish Men. Circulation

1995;91(3):645-655.

 

2. Ahlqwist M, et al. Serum Mercury Concentration in Relation to Survival,

Symptoms, and Diseases: Results From the Prospective Population Study of Women

in Gothenburg, Sweden. Acta Odontol Scand, 1999;57:168-174.

 

3. Rissanen T, Voutilainen S, Nyyssonen K, et al. Fish Oil-Derived Fatty Acids,

Docosahexaenoic Acid and Docosapentaenoic Acid, and the Risk of Acute Coronary

Events: The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Circulation

2000;102:2677-2679.

 

4. World Health Organization, Environmental Health Criteria 118: Inorganic

Mercury, Geneva, 1991.

 

5. Burns CP, Halabi S, et al. Phase I Clinical Study of Fish Oil Fatty Acid

Capsules for Patients With Cancer Cachexia: Cancer and Leukemia Group B Study

9473. Clin Cancer Res 1999;5:3942-3947.

 

 

 

Thank you so much, Damien. It may be hard for Damien to enter into personal

correspondence with you over this (there are just so many of you now receiving

Enews), so please send further questions via the Enews desk at info.

If you’d like a consultation with Damien, he can be contacted via telephone 0845

166 2058, or email: enq

 

 

 

Your feedback on Epsom salts, mercury fillings and migraine will appear next

time. Please keep your comments coming.

 

 

Listen to Lynne

On the radio: Hear Lynne McTaggart on Passion the new DAB Digital Radio Station

focusing on your health and your environment –

http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_main.asp. On deman: Select and listen to any of

Lynne's archieved broadcasts on Passion -

http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_archive.asp.

 

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