Omega-3, Endometriosis, Hot Tea, Salt

1. Omega-3 Oils Slash Prostate Cancer Risk

The omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish could slash the risk of developing prostate cancer almost in half. The fish oil also reversed the deadly effect of a gene known to increase the risk of developing an aggressive inherited form of prostate cancer.

Researchers at the University of California in San Francisco compared the diets of 466 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 478 healthy men. Those who ate “dark” oily fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel, one to three times a month had a 36 percent reduced risk of developing prostate cancer. Those who ate the fish more than once a week slashed their risk by 57 percent. Scientists found similar results for eating shellfish, which also contains omega-3 oils.

The omega-3 oils also influenced a variant of the COX-2 gene, an inherited gene that encourages inflammation and is linked to a 500 percent increased risk for an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Eating a diet rich in oily fish wiped out the negative effects of the gene and eliminated the increased risk.

“The COX-2 increased risk of disease was essentially reversed by increasing omega-3 fatty acid intake by half a gram per day,” said study leader John Witte, Ph.D. professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California at San Francisco. “If you want to think of the overall inverse association in terms of fish, where omega-3 fatty acids are commonly derived, the strongest effect was seen from eating dark fish such as salmon one or more times per week.”

Scientists believe that omega-3 oils reduce the risk of prostate cancer by combating inflammation, which influences cancer risk.

Prostate Cancer is Almost Epidemic


2. Endometriosis Associated with Periodontal Disease

The results of a study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility suggest a possible association between endometriosis and periodontal disease.

Endometriosis occurs when the tissue lining the uterus, the endometrium, begins to grow and shed in places outside of the uterus, such as the pelvis and intestines, as well as the fallopian tubes, ovaries and other areas. When this tissue is shed during the menstrual cycle, the condition causes premenstrual pain, painful and heavy periods, and sometimes infertility. Periodontal disease is the infection and inflammation of the gums, tissues and bone around the teeth.

A contributing factor in the development of endometriosis might be "a defect in the immune system's ability to clear retrograde menstrual flow," suggest Dr. Dan I. Lebovic, of the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and colleagues. Autoimmunity has also been implicated in the development of periodontal disease, they note.

To further investigate this relationship, the researchers examined the association between endometriosis and periodontal disease using data from 4,136 women who were enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2004.

The results of logistic regression analysis revealed that women with endometriosis had a 57 percent increased risk of having gingivitis and periodontitis compared with women without endometriosis, the researchers report.

Although endometriosis may be the result of multiple factors, it may also "be augmented by an immune response to an infectious agent," Lebovic suggests, and the "potential underlying link between the two diseases may be a generalized, global immune dysregulation."

SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, February 2009.


3: Hot Tea Linked With Throat Cancer

People who drink their tea piping hot run a higher risk of throat cancer than counterparts who prefer a cooler cup, according to an investigation published Friday by the British Medical Journal.

Cancer of the esophagus is linked especially to smoking and alcohol abuse but hot beverages have also been considered a risk factor, possibly because of damage to throat tissue.

Interested in finding out more, Iranian researchers went to Golestan province, which has one of the highest rates of esophageal cancer in the world.

Inhabitants there sip large quantities of hot black tea — typically drinking more than a liter (1.8 pints) per day per person — but also have a low incidence of tobacco and alcohol use.

A team led by Reza Malekzadeh of the Digestive Disease Research Centre at Tehran University of Medical Sciences looked at 300 people who had been diagnosed with a throat tumor and a matched group of 571 healthy people who lived in the same area.

Those who drank hot tea (between 65-69 degrees Celsius, 149-156 degrees Fahrenheit) were twice as likely to develop throat cancer compared with those who drank warm or lukewarm tea, whose temperature was 65 C (149 F) or less.

Drinking very hot tea (at least 70 C, 158 F) was associated with an eightfold increased risk compared with warm or lukewarm tea.

In an editorial, The Lancet said the study backed evidence that scorching fluids may cause damage to the throat's epithelial lining and lead to cancer, although exactly how this happens remains unclear.

It recommended that tea junkies wait at least four minutes before drinking from a freshly boiled cup.


    5. CDC: Americans Eat Too Much Salt

People in the United States consume more than twice the recommended amount of salt, raising their risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes, government health experts said on Thursday.

They found nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults are in high-risk groups that would benefit from a lower-salt diet of no more than 1,500 mg per day, yet most consume closer to 3,500 mg per day.

"It's important for people to eat less salt. People who adopt a heart-healthy eating pattern that includes a diet low in sodium and rich in potassium and calcium can improve their blood pressure," Dr. Darwin Labarthe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

"People need to know their recommended daily sodium limit and take action to reduce sodium intake," Labarthe said.

The study in CDC's weekly report on death and disease used national survey data to show that two out of three adults should be consuming no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day because they are black or over the age of 40 -- which are considered high-risk groups.

Yet studies show most people in the United States eat 3,436 mg of sodium per day, according to a 2005-2006 CDC estimate.

Most of the sodium eaten comes from packaged, processed and restaurant foods. The CDC said it will join other agencies in the Health and Human Services department in working with major food manufacturers and chain restaurants to reduce sodium levels in the food supply.

Nationwide, 16 million men and women have heart disease and 5.8 million are estimated to have had a stroke. Cutting salt consumption can reduce these risks, the CDC said.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults in general should consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium or about one teaspoon of salt per day.