Fish Protects against Cancer and Heart Disease

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Fish Protects against Cancer and Heart Disease

 

July 2002 Column

By Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

 

Fish Protects Against Cancer and Heart Disease

 

In March, 2002, a group of Swedish scientists discovered a

relationship between

eating fish and preventing cancer. Women who ate six to eight ounces

per week of

fatty fish, such as herring and alaskan salmon, had forty percent

less cancer of

the endometrium (uterus) than those who ate just lean fish or no

fish at all.

" Our results suggest that the consumption of fatty fish, but not

other types of

fish, may decrease the risk of endometrial cancer, " they wrote .

 

The researchers speculated that the omega-3 oils found in fatty fish

were

protective. Other kinds of cancer may be similarly prevented. Last

year, an

article in The Lancet showed that men who regularly ate moderate to

high amounts

of fish had about half the chance of developing prostate cancer than

those who

didnÕt. " Fish consumption could be associated with decreased risk of

prostate

cancer, " scientists reported (Lancet 2001;357:1764-1766).

 

 

Protecting the Heart

 

Eating fish may also decrease the risk of a heart attack. Last

November,

American scientists published a huge survey of men in Shanghai,

China. Older men

who ate at least 7 ounces of fish or shellfish per week had 59

percent fewer

fatal heart attacks than those who ate less than two ounces (Am J

Epidemiol

2001;154:809-16). Two recent articles in top journals have confirmed

these

claims. The first was a study of 22,000 male doctors. Researchers

compared

physicians who had died of sudden heart attacks to others who

maintained normal

hearts. In particular, they compared bloodstream concentrations of

omega or n-3

fatty acids, which are primarily found in fish oils. The men who had

the highest

levels of omega-3s had only one-fifth the risk of sudden death as

those who had

the lowest levels. (N Engl J Med 2002;346:1113-1138).

 

A second study, published in the Journal of the American Medical

Association,

looked at the health records of 85,000 female nurses. Researchers

found that the

more frequently a woman ate fish, the less likely she was to suffer

a heart

attack or to die of heart disease. Those who ate fish once a week

had a 30

percent lower risk of heart attack or death as those who never ate

fish (JAMA

2002;287:1815-1821).

 

My recommendation is to eat six to eight ounces of fatty fish per

week. That

said, I realize there are difficulties in doing so. Healthful fish

has become

difficult to procure. In January, 2001, the FDA cautioned pregnant

women, and

those of childbearing age, not to eat shark, swordfish, king

mackerel and tile

fish. All of them are contaminated with methyl mercury, an extremely

dangerous

form of mercury, which can cause birth defects. Lactating women and

small

children were also advised to steer clear of these fish. What these

four fish

have in common is that they are at the top of the oceanic food chain.

 

" These long-lived, larger fish that feed on smaller fish accumulate

the highest

levels of methyl mercury, " said the FDA, " and therefore pose the

greatest risk

to the unborn child. "

 

The FDA further advises these women " to select a variety of other

kinds of fish,

including shellfish, canned fish, smaller ocean fish or farm-raised

fish " (FDA

Consumer Advisory, March 9, 2001). The FDAÕs position is that,

although

childbearing women and young children should avoid these fish, it is

safe for

all others: " Most people have no reason to limit their fish

consumption. " This

is strange, considering the vast data on methyl mercuryÕs harm to

adults as well

as children.

 

According to MaineÕs Natural Resources Council, the safest fish are

haddock,

cod, hake, flounder, pollock, Atlantic salmon, herring, smelts,

clams, shrimp,

scallops, lobster (except the tomalley, which can contain dioxin)

and canned

" light " tuna (safer than canned " white " tuna). The safest freshwater

fish are

brook trout, yellow perch and landlocked salmon. (Avoid farmed

salmon that has been

treated with antibiotics or dyed with artificial colors.)

 

 

G Is For Garlic

 

In April, the number of medical publications on garlic topped 1,500,

over 250 of

which are related to cancer. Garlic and its cousins (onions, chives,

scallions

and leeks) are probably the most intriguing of all vegetables.

Garlic lowers

cholesterol, reduces the risk of heart disease, fights infection and

boosts

immunity. And, as if that werenÕt enough, the data is strong for the

prevention

of cancers of the digestive system, including the esophagus,

stomach, colon and

rectum. The NCI is sponsoring a huge clinical trial on garlicÕs

ability to

prevent stomach cancer. But why wait years for the results of this

clinical

trial? You canÕt go wrong if you eat garlic, along with other foods

of the

allium family.

 

Parts of China have the misfortune to be among those places with an

inordinately

high rate of cancer of the stomach and esophagus. Scientists at the

Nanjing

Cancer Institute compared the incidence of several cancers among

thousands of

those who ate lots of allium vegetables versus thousands who ate

little or none

(Jpn J Cancer Res. 1999;90:614-21). ( " Lots " in this case means at

least once per

week while " little " means less than once per month.)

 

Scallions and onions may be even more powerful than garlic in

preventing some

cancers. It is a good idea to incorporate all of these foods into

your weekly,

or even daily, diet. I keep them all handyÉscallions with ginger and

garlic on a

piece of broiled fish, sweet, red or Vidalia onions chopped up for a

tuna or

mesclun salad, chives for a scoop of cottage cheeseÉthere are

numerous

possibilities. If you do cook these vegetables, do so with a light

touch. Always

put garlic in last when you are cooking and let it get just soft

enough to eat,

never mushy.

 

 

Antibacterial Effects

 

It was Louis Pasteur who first described the antibacterial effect of

onion and

garlic juices. In World War II garlic was called " Russian

penicillin " because it

was the main antibiotic available on the Eastern Front. It kills both

gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Garlic is effective even

against

antibiotic-resistant strains. It even kills Helicobacter pylori (H.

pylori), a

kind of bacteria that is implicated in the cause of some stomach

cancers and

ulcers.

 

 

H Is for Herbs

 

It has not been a good year for herbs. Late last month, the Food and

Drug

Administration (FDA) issued a consumer advisory linking the herb

kava to liver

damage. In January, researchers claimed that the widely used herb

ephedra (ma

huang) was related to strokes, heart attacks and deaths. St. JohnÕs

wort was

recently said to interfere with the birth control pill, warfarin,

digoxin and

theophylline. Not surprisingly, total herbal product sales declined

21 percent

in 2001. The biggest losers were St. John's wort (down 40.5

percent), Ginkgo

biloba (down 35.3 percent) and ginseng (down 32.8 percent).

 

In the face of this barrage of bad publicity, I wish to affirm the

usefulness of

herbs.

 

Most herbal products are safe and can be quite effective for a

variety of

ailments. According to a recent survey, 31.6 percent of patients

used herbal

remedies and 59.2 percent used other dietary supplements.

 

I think it is something of a small miracle that in the face of the

barrage of

advertising and media hype for prescription drugs, herbs manage to

hang on.

 

Despite their very different positions in the marketplace, drugs and

herbs are

historically related. In fact, many drugs are derived from herbs. In

cancer,

examples include Taxol (derived from the yew tree), vincristine and

vinblastine

(from the periwinkle), etoposide and teniposide (from the mayapple),

and many

others. Modern chemotherapy would be inconceivable without its plant-

derived

agents.

 

But there is an essential difference between prescription drugs and

herbal teas

and formulas.

 

All of the plant-derived cancer medicines were isolated and

synthesized in a laboratory, patented by pharmaceutical companies,

and packaged

as profit-making prescription drugs.

 

Herbal medicine exists in a humbler world. Across the planet,

billions of people

still gather herbs in the field or grow them in their garden.

 

Increasingly, Americans seek out packaged herbs at health food

stores and

co-ops. Knowledge of what seems to work is passed by word of mouth

or through

writings designed for the layperson. T

 

he cost of herbs is low and although there are profits to be made,

there is

little incentive to classify most herbs as drugs, since plants in

the public

domain cannot be patented. Herbs are the underappreciated

stepchildren of

allopathic medicine.

 

 

Most of the widely reported serious adverse effects of herbs result

from their

misidentification. In reality, fatalities resulting from

misidentification of

herbs are few and far between.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, about half a dozen people die in the US each year after

ingesting

some poisonous plant that was misidentified as an edible herb.

During 1989Ð1992,

the American Association of Poison Control Centers recorded a total

four deaths

attributed to ingestion of poisonous plants, about one per year. In

Germany,

where 65 percent of the residents use herbs, such deaths are equally

rare.

 

There have been no reported deaths from botanical medicine since

they instituted

their regulatory system in 1978.

 

The Germans have a sensible system of safeguards and when they

discover a

possible danger they take the product off the market.

 

In America, we act as if the end of the world were at hand. Every

report of real

or potential damage is accompanied by condescending lectures.

 

Yet these lecturers say nothing about the danger of pharmaceuticals.

 

According to an article in the Journal of the American Medical

Association,

approximately 106,000 deaths occur each year in US hospitals because

of adverse

reactions to prescription drugs used as directed (JAMA. 1998 Apr

15;279(15):1200-5).

 

And so, while herbal medicine is not without potential problems, it

is much

safer than synthetic drugs.

 

The challenge today is to scientifically validate the traditions of

herbal

medicine. This requires researchers who possess both a mastery of

the tools of

science, especially clinical trials, and a deep appreciation of the

richness of

the worldÕs many herbal traditions. One such researcher is Debu

Tripathy, MD, of

the University of California, San Francisco. He has said, " We are

trying

toÉapply the principles of scientific investigation to an area of

medicine that

has thrived for centuries in the absence of a lot of data to support

it "

(Oncology Times, April 2002).

 

He and his colleagues have now studied 71 Chinese

herbal extracts, 19 of which show promise against lung, pancreatic,

prostate and

lymph cancer cell lines. One of the most promising, Scutellaria

barbata, or

skullcap, has now entered clinical trials.

 

 

A Tragic Accident

 

Ray Rosenthal, MD, a prominent researcher of CAM treatments, died on

Wednesday,

April 17, after being involved in a traffic accident in his home

state of

Hawaii. He veered his bicycle to avoid hitting some pedestrians and

was run over

by a boat trailer. For the last four years Ray had himself been a

lymphoma

patient and was researching a book about Wolfgang Scheef, MD, of

Bonn, Germany,

the innovative oncologist whom he credited with saving his life.

 

Last summer, I had the pleasure of spending a week with Ray at a

conference in

Helsingor, Denmark. He was a delightful person, knowledgeable about

all aspects

of cancer. Here is a picture that I took of him at the time. I think

it shows

some of his joyfulness.

 

It is ironic that Ray survived his cancer only to die in a traffic

accident. He

was on his cell phone with a friend at the time and was describing

the wonderful

day he was having. But his last words were, " You never know in

life...there are

no promises. " He would agree that the time to live your life is now,

since you

never know what fate has in store. Ray was an exceptional physician

and person

and will be sorely missed.

 

 

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/Townsend/Jul2002_frm.html

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