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Bras Still Cause Breast Cancer: Are Your Patients Dressed To Kill?

Should We Attribute Potential Pro-arrhythmic Properties to Omega-3 Fatty Acids
or Only to Fish Oil?

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

The  President's  Corner

By: Jane Carter for Dr. Curtis

Greetings,

Another holiday season is just around the corner. As we near the end of 2005, new legislative challenges are facing ANMA.

In January we’ll begin a new legislative alert throughout all the states. Hopefully there will be more good legislation than bad, however one never knows. All health freedom legislation is not good. It is not always the right thing to support.

This year things have gone very well and we can hope they’re getting better. ANMA still holds true to its original beliefs: The root of the word Naturopath is NATURE! Some Naturopaths think that they should do their best to impersonate allopaths (M.D.’s). Drugs and surgery aren’t natural. Invasive treatments are not what Hypocrites was after. He treated virtually all his patients with every known malady of the day with natural substances and natural methods. It is ironic that allopaths who do almost nothing natural, have to take the Hippocratic oath. Critics of Naturopaths need to be reminded that Hypocrites was a Naturopath. Remember he said, "Do No Harm"! ANMA does not think Hypocrites would approve of Naturopaths doing breast implants and vasectomies, or performing abortions. ANMA supports or opposes legislation according to its original beliefs. These beliefs were adopted by you and your peers.

The ANMA, America’s largest professional association for naturopathic practitioners, and the only such association recognized by the World Organization for Alternative Medicine, has been a driving force in the quest to restore natural medicine as a viable choice in Health care. ANMA has always been an organization of inclusion, welcoming doctors from all disciplines and all schools, providing they practice natural methods and do so within the laws of their state.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Where's The Data?
Making The Case For Establishing A Health Information Tracking Standard

By: Scott E Flowers

Imagine for a moment that you have a 12-year old daughter, and she has just been diagnosed with a serious brain tumor. Twenty four hours later she has an 8-hour brain surgery to remove the tumor. By the time you leave the hospital five days later, you’ve met with your oncology team and have been informed that the tumor is in fact malignant and your daughter’s cancer is a type that conventional "burning and poisoning" treatments have had little or no success treating. Nevertheless, these are the recommended treatments. So what do you do? Do you give up? Not hardly.

You begin researching on your own. You read. You study. You make phone calls. And very soon you discover a whole new world (that is, new to you) called Alternative Medicine. You immediately begin to realize that your daughter’s diet is going to be a huge factor in winning her upcoming battle. But you find many differing opinions on what diet would be best for her. And you also discover dozens of alternative treatments, therapies, and supplements such as laetrile, IP6, shark cartilage, Rife, Noni Juice, Burzynski, Cancell, MGN-3, and on and on. But how do you know what has credibility? There isn’t much, if any, real data to back up claims that are made…only anecdotal evidence.

Then you begin researching the alternative clinics in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. You’re looking for data that shows you a treatment or therapy protocol that has been successfully used for teenage girls with the same type of cancer. The data must also include each patient’s diet, lifestyle, symptoms and their trends over time, and all medications, vitamins, and supplements that were being taken. You wonder why these clinics don’t have each patient keep track of everything they do and make that data available as a resource for others.

By now you become overwhelmed with information and the realization that you need to make some decisions, but you don’t have the right type of data necessary to make an informed decision. You’ve received a plethora of opinions from many qualified doctors and practitioners, but even they don’t have the data you want and need. You feel like you’re going into a battle against an enemy that has armored tanks, and all you have is a squirt gun.

My daughter Brittney died of brain cancer (glioblastoma) in July of 1999. Her battle lasted only 9 months, but in that short period of time I developed an acute awareness of the "information gap" which exists in the health care industry. It has become my life’s passion to close that gap in order to give patients a better chance at making informed decisions, and to give practitioners and doctors better "information tools" to help their patients.

The purpose of this White Paper is to make the case for establishing a standard for tracking and reporting health information. Most industries today rely on information as the life blood of their business. For example, a manager at an automotive plant can click a couple of buttons on his computer screen and see up-to-the-minute reports on the number of cars built so far that day, the downtime minutes and the causes for downtime, and much more. (I know this to be true, because I write computer software programs for this purpose.) In stark contrast, the vast majority of doctors and practitioners have little or no up-to-date health information about each of their patients. So it’s accurate to conclude that an automotive executive is better informed to make a decision about building a car than a typical medical professional is about helping someone save their life. If you agree with me that this is a tragedy and is simply not acceptable, then join me in my efforts to change the system.

The Target

Allopathic medicine is, for the most part, a system that focuses on treating symptoms. This approach to medicine requires very little information – the symptom or set of symptoms is all that is needed. Find the medication that makes the symptoms disappear, and "case closed" (for now).

I’m targeting those medical professionals that focus on helping their patients find the root cause of poor health and disease. A growing number of these professionals are developing their own method of gathering important health information from their patients. Usually this is a paper-based system of forms that requires a fair amount of effort to "computerize" the data into information that can be used for analysis. And there is certainly no standard that has been established that would give the practitioners and patients the ability to easily share information and learn from each other.

Another very important segment of the medical community that I’m targeting for this health information tracking standard are those companies that manufacture or represent products that claim to provide some kind of health benefit. So where is the data that backs up your claims of "improved health"? While it’s understandable that clinical trials are far too costly for most companies to endure (except those pharmaceuticals with deep pockets and connections to the FDA), too many companies rely on anecdotal stories to promote their products. Truth and credibility can only be established with accurate and complete data .

The Standard…A Starting Point

So what should a "health information tracking system" look like? It makes sense to start with these famous five questions: who?, what?, when?, where?, and how?

Who?

Anyone with a chronic or degenerative disease should most certainly keep track of their own health information. Also, those who want to help validate the benefits of a particular product would also be a participant in the process of tracking their own health.

The information tracking standard should include:

1. Symptoms. Symptoms should be graded on a scale of 0 – 9, where 0 means "no symptom" and 9 is the worse that symptom has ever been.

2. Test results. This could be blood tests, MRIs and CAT scans, or any other types of diagnosis that results in data that can be compared over a period of time to assess trends.

3. Treatments and therapies. This would include any activity that could be considered as having an influence on overall health, such as a chemo treatment, a reiki session, any form of exercise, meditation, prayer, etc.

4. Vitamins, supplements, and homeopathic remedies. This would be anything put into the body for purposes of improving health that is not considered a medication.

5. Medications. No explanation necessary.

6. Diet. It could be an exhaustive process to document every food consumed each day, so a compromise would be to use types of foods or food groups and their portions. For example, 3 meats, 4 vegetables, 3 fruits, 1 ice cream, 2 alcohols, etc.

Documenting personal health information on a daily basis would be the optimum approach. This would result in the most accurate information in the least amount of time. Remembering what one ate three days ago, for example, could actually cause frustration and stress. Not a good idea.

Where?

Convenience is the key. If the information is to be documented on paper, then the forms should be kept where they are "handy at all times." If a computer is used to enter the information, then it would be a good idea to establish a habit of sitting down in front of the computer at the same time every day, maybe sometime in the evening or first thing in the morning. An option to use a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant, which is a small handheld computer) to enter the information should also be available.

How?

Above all else, the information logging process must be SIMPLE. The patients should be able to complete their daily logs in just a few minutes. If the information is entered on a computer, then the patient should be able to easily print out a report that shows all relevant information, and then that report can be handed to the doctor/practitioner for immediate assessment of trends and progress. It should also be a simple process of sending the information via email for assessment between appointments or for a "virtual consultation".

If the information is entered using a PDA, then the patient would bring the PDA to the next appointment and the doctor/practitioner would extract the information in one easy step and generate a report.

If the information is documented on paper-based forms, then those forms should be standardized and simple to use. The populated forms would be given to the doctor/practitioner at each appointment (or mailed), and the doctor/practitioner would enter the data into a computer.

The Ramifications

There are many positive ramifications that would result from the widespread use of a health information tracking standard.

1. Doctors and practitioners would be more efficient and far more informed about how to help their patients. Consider these typical questions:

• What is the effect of taking a certain supplement along with a medication?...or combining multiple supplements?

• What is causing a certain symptom to occur?

• How does the body respond to certain foods?

• What is the therapeutic effect of certain treatments and therapies?

• Does a simple exercise regimen enhance someone’s physical and mental health?

Answers to these and many other complex questions would be possible when armed with the right information.

2. Virtual networks could be established. Practitioners could help one another on a complicated case by sharing information, and patients could "compare notes" with hundreds or even thousands of others having similar health problems.

3. Empower people to take control of their own health. It’s time that people began to realize that they must be active participants in their battle to defeat disease and regain optimum health. Keeping a daily log of symptoms, therapies, supplements, etc. is an ideal method to engage the patient in the process of becoming more intimate with one’s own body and its healing capacities.

4. Manufacturers and vendors. It’s time to get beyond anecdotal stories of the wonders of products promising great health benefits, and hold companies accountable for their claims with real data. What if a company could include on its website a list of hundreds of customers that have used their product along with symptom trends and other information discussed here in this paper? This would help companies validate their products, and consumers would be far more informed and prepared to make better decisions. Eventually, all companies would be forced to validate their products’ results with real data in order to compete. And what about those products that don’t live up to the claims? They would be exposed to the public as what they truly are…ineffective and a waste of time and money.

If there was a computer-based program that made it simple to collect the kinds of information discussed here, then all it would take to derive these benefits is a small investment of time and a little dedication from the patient and doctor/practitioner.

The Health Tracking Assistant

The Health Tracking Assistant is a computer-based program that simplifies the process of capturing and reporting personal health information. This unique program represents a giant leap forward in the quest to establish a health information tracking standard. For more information, go to www.thebritteam.com/hta.htm.

A Call to Action

If you would like to help close the "information gap" that I’ve described here, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at:

Scott E Flowers
440-221-0443
seflowers@thebritteam.com

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

TWO NEW Convention Colors For ANMA
Embroidered Polo Shirts

If you have any questions or want to place an order, e-mail me at: webmaster@anma.com or call Julie Morgan at (702) 897-7053 or mail to ANMA, P.O. Box 96273, Las Vegas, NV 89193.

NOTE: BE SURE TO ORDER NOW BEFORE THE CONVENTION TO GET THE SIZE AND QUANTITY YOU WANT. THE BURGUNDY AND FOREST GREEN POLOS WILL DEFINITELY BE VERY LIMITED OR EVEN SOLD OUT AFTER THE CONVENTION.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

ANMA Photo I.D. Membership Cards

ANMA for the fist time, offers a remarkably new Photo I.D. Membership Card. The fresh new card will be in full color (including picture) and double sided. The front side will have the ANMA insignia, photograph, membership type, member I.D. number, and date joined. The back side of the card is bestowed with ANMA’s Code of Ethics. In addition, the Photo I.D. card is laminated for long lasting durability. The new Photo I.D. Membership Card cost is $20.00 and shipping is free of charge. For more information or to place an order, please call 702-897-7053 or e-mail us at webmaster@anma.com.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Bras Still Cause Breast Cancer:
Are Your Patients Dressed To Kill?

 By: Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer

When we first announced our theory and research linking breast cancer with the wearing of bras, we were laughed at, ridiculed, or simply ignored. "How can a foundation garment lead to disease? Absurd. It’s too simplistic. There is no scientific evidence."

That was back in in 1995, when our book Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras (Avery/Penguin Putnam 1995; ISCD Press 2002) was published. We had expected an open-minded, if not enthusiastic reception to our research showing that bras are the leading cause of breast cancer. We were naive. Breast cancer is more than a disease. It is a cultural phenomenon.

Dressed To Kill described our 1991-93 Bra and Breast Cancer Study, examining the bra wearing habits and attitudes of about 4,700 American women, nearly half of whom had had breast cancer. The study results showed that wearing a bra over 12 hours daily dramatically increases breast cancer incidence. Bra-free women were shown to have about the same incidence of breast cancer as men, while those who wear a bra 18-24 hours daily have over 100 times greater incidence of breast cancer than do bra-free women. This link was 3-4 times greater than that between cigarettes and lung cancer!

Our theory explaining these findings is that the bra, an elastic garment designed to alter breast shape, applies constant pressure to the soft breast tissue, compressing and constricting lymphatic vessels. Evidence of this constriction are the red marks and indentations in the skin left behind by the bra. Since the role of the lymphatics is to flush out toxins and debris from the tissues, impairment of lymphatic flow can lead to the toxification of the breast tissue. These toxins include endogenous toxins resulting from the consequent tissue hypoxia, as well as exogenous toxins that contaminate our food, water and air in our petrochemically polluted world. Many of these toxins are carcinogenic. The bra concentrates these in the breast by preventing the lymphatics from flushing them away.

Of course, this means that the cause of breast cancer is not the bra, per se, but the toxins that the bra concentrates in the breast tissue due to lymphatic impairment.

Interestingly, when you look at the worldwide statistics on breast cancer, it is clear that it is only a problem in cultures where bras are worn. No bras, and men and women have about the same low incidence of breast cancer. And the bra link also explains various breast cancer risk factors, as we discuss in Dressed To Kill.

While more research is clearly needed to further study this link, we believe it is prudent medicine to recommend women abstain from bra wearing as a precaution. There is no reason for wearing a bra, apart from fashion. The human body was not designed with a flaw that requires modern lingerie for correction. Like the absurd and destructive fashion of foot binding in China, women in the West bind their breasts. Surely, we believed, once women understood how this practice is threatening their health and lives, they will stop wearing bras.

However, it wasn’t that simple. Women are cultural beings, and in this culture female identity and body image are tied in with breast shape and size. Bras help define a woman’s sense of self. Changing bra wearing habits is akin to changing one’s self image.

Dictating that image are the garment and fashion industries that define acceptable breast shape and the clothing women must wear that require that shape. And for those who cannot fit the mold, plastic surgeons are standing by to help women better fit their clothes.

And while nobody would say they want women to get breast cancer, the fact is that the culture has become invested in this disease. That is the nature of a culturogenic disease. It becomes embedded in our way of life. The bra industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. And billions of dollars are spent each year researching and treating this disease. Ironically, ending breast cancer can cause financial hardship for many people.

We have become a breast cancer culture. As a result, our information was seen as a threat to that culture. Sometimes a disease is less threatening than change.

But then something happened that we had not foreseen. Some courageous women who had heard our message tried going bra-free and reported their experiences to us. Within weeks, if not days, most of these women experienced a profound change in their breast health. Breast pain and tenderness virtually ended. Cysts that had needed regular aspirations disappeared. We began to realize that fibrocystic breast disease, common in bra-wearing cultures, should be called "tight bra syndrome".

It all made perfect sense, of course. The bra was causing secondary lymphedema of the breasts due to constriction of the lymphatics. The accumulated fluid caused increased tissue pressure with associated pain and tenderness, and eventually developed into cysts. While the fibrous tissue that develops in long standing cysts takes more time to resolve, relieving the pressure by eliminating the bra allowed the cysts to drain, alleviating the pressure and discomfort. (This also explained why many women have breast myalgia near the time of their menstrual period. Estrogen levels are elevated at this time, increasing overall body fluid retention and increasing breast size. However, women typically wear the same size bra all month long, making it particularly tight at these times, increasing breast pain. Once bra-free, this syndrome usually stops.)

The results are fast, impressive, and transformative. It was this link with fibrocystic breast disease that helped keep our bra-cancer theory alive. While it didn’t prove the cancer connection, it did show that the bra was damaging the breasts, adding support to our claims.

We then did a follow-up study to our first US study. This time we went to Fiji, where half the population is bra-free. We approached the Health Ministry and asked for their assistance. Once we told them our theory, they exclaimed, "That explains why our working women are now getting breast cancer! They are the ones who wear bras!" Over the next few months we went from village to village and obtained over 20 case histories of breast cancer. All were in women who wore bras. We found that, given women from the same village (genetically related), with the same diet, the ones who developed breast cancer were the ones who wore bras.

We began getting support from naturopaths, chiropractors, massage therapists, and some allopaths. But the allopathic authorities were not willing to consider the issue, and, as you know, they control the media and the government medical agenda, (another culturogenic cause of various diseases). To date, the American Cancer Society states on its website, "Internet e-mail rumors and at least one book have suggested that bras cause breast cancer by obstructing lymph flow. There is no scientific or clinical basis for that claim." And they don’t have any interest in doing research into this claim, either.

Meanwhile, a recent Japanese study (J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2002 Jan;21(1):67-74) has shown that bras impair the autonomic nervous system. It concludes, "Our data indicate that the higher clothing pressures exerted by a conventional brassiere have a significant negative impact on the ANS activity, which is predominantly attributable to the significant decrease in the parasympathetic as well as the thermoregulatory sympathetic nerve activities. Since the ANS activity plays an important role in modulating the internal environment in the human body, excess clothing pressures caused by constricting types of foundation garments on the body would consequently undermine women’s health." Two other studies from Japan found similar results.

Why is this research coming from Japan and not the U.S.? Japan has not been a bra wearing culture, until recently. In fact, Japan has been the only first world culture that has been relatively spared breast cancer, because traditional Japanese attire did not include the bra. Now, however, the Japanese have adopted the West’s obsession with breasts and bras, leading to increased breast cancer rates there.

Also interesting is a study done in the year 2000 by two breast cancer specialists in the UK for a television documentary. The study followed 100 women with fibrocystic breast disease as they went 3 months bra-free. The results were astounding, and nearly created a panic. The documentary, "Bras--The Bare Facts", made international news in the British Commonwealth, but was completely ignored in the U.S.

It takes personal integrity and a commitment to health for women and the men in their lives to stand up to the culture and say no to the bra. Fortunately, ending the bra habit is really easy and gives immediate health benefits. All women really need is the encouragement.

The naturopath treating a patient for breast disease needs to keep in mind the cultural issues that compel women into wearing bras, as well as the fact that the bra habit is addictive, physically and emotionally. You may want to discuss the issue with the patient’s partner, as well, since men are often the reason why women wear bras in the first place. In fact, it would be ideal to offer women a support group while they break the bra habit. Some women fear harassment at work, or feel naked in public without a bra. They need to express these concerns with other women who have realized the health benefits of being bra-free, and have learned that these culturally programmed fears are really unfounded.

Women may also want to participate in our international Breast Cancer Prevention Project, which is online at our website, www.SelfStudyCenter.org. In addition, we are offering naturopathic physicians intensive weekend training courses in the identification and treatment of various culturogenic diseases at our Lifestyle Research Center in Hawaii. At the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease (ISCD), we have made several profound and extremely important research discoveries that you should know about, and that might help you prevent, treat and cure certain diseases by removing the lifestyle cause.

For more information, we can be reached at:

P.O. Box 1880, Pahoa, Hawaii 96778
Phone: (808) 935-5563
or from our website at www.SelfStudyCenter.org

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Should We Attribute Potential Pro-arrhythmic Properties to Omega-3 Fatty Acids or Only to Fish Oil?

Over the years, numerous animal and human studies have evaluated the effect of polyunsaturated fatty acids on cardiovascular health and have attributed these effects on their potential antiarrhythmic properties. The outcomes measured in these studies were incidence of ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, or cardiovascular specific mortality. The materials (nutrients) investigated in these trials were long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (lc-PUFAs), mainly eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) or docosahexanoic acid (DHA). However, the form of delivery of lc-PUFAs varied between trials from a simple fish or seafood meal consumption to a supplementation with pure free fatty acids or pure fatty acid esters or fish oil. Nevertheless, the effects revealed in these trials, although controversial, have all been generalized and attributed directly to omega-3 fatty acids regardless of the delivery vehicle. The question that arises here is if this generalization is scientifically valid or does the carrier of EPA and DHA play a role of its own on these benefits.

In order to respond to this question a simple review of the published literature is an essential first step. A Medline search of peer-reviewed medical journals was performed of the term "arrhythmia" related to any one of the terms "omega-3", "eicosapentanoic acid", "EPA", "docosahexanoic acid", "DHA", "fish", "seafood" or "fish oil" until the second week of June 2005. This search revealed 47 studies between the years 1985 and 2005. Of these, 4 were animal studies, 15 human trials, 2 basic research on cellular cultures and 26 literature reviews. We have excluded the 26 reviews and have focused on the 15 actual research articles.

Considering the strength of evidence of the type of study and the study design, animal and basic research studies are considered as only suggestive of potential benefits on humans. For the purpose of this review given that there are only two different study designs used for the 15 human trials, the strength of evidence is rated on a scale of 1-4, with 1 being the lowest strength and 4 being the highest. Nested case controls rank 1, prospective open-label design ranks 2, and randomized controlled trials (RCT) are rated with 4 points. Of the 15 human trials 1 was a prospective nested cases control, 6 were prospective open-label studies and 8 were RCTs.

Of the 4 animal and 2 basic research studies, 4 studies used pure free fatty acids (EPA and DHA) and 2 used fish oil^7,35,42-44. They all showed an antiarrhythmic effect suggesting a potential similar benefit on humans. Among the human studies, the nested case control trial showed a possible protective effect of fish consumption on mortality due to cardiovascular disease⁴¹. Of the 6 prospective open label trials, two evaluated the effects of fish oil on indicators of arrhythmia. In one, the results were inconclusive showing an insignificant effect on heart rate variability but no effect on the length of QTc-interval and the second demonstrated a reduction of tachyarrhythmia^2,18. One study suggests a protective effect of intravenous administration of free fatty acids on ventricular tachycardia⁹. The remaining 3 trials proved a beneficial effect of fish consumption by reducing atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia, or mortality due to cardiac death^5,14,45.

However the results of the 8 RCTs, which are accepted as the gold standard in clinical research, differ from the previously mentioned trials. Beneficial effects were demonstrated in 3 of the 8 trials while a negative effect was proven in the remaining five. Analytically, seafood consumption was shown to reduce the incidence of cardiac arrest, fatty acid esters reduced heart variability, and fish oil reduced the incidence of sudden deaths due to cardiovascular disease^16,25,46. The remaining 5 studies all showed a proarrhythmic effect of fish oil by evaluating arrhythmia, premature ventricular complex, heart rate variability, and cardiac death^{3,12,15,39,40}. It is interesting to note that 5 of the 6 (83%) randomized controlled trials that directly evaluated the effect of fish oil supplements on indicators of arrhythmia proved a proarrhythmic effect which contradicts the consistent cardioprotective or antiarrhythmic findings of free fatty acids, fatty acid esters, or consumption of seafood or fish.

In attempt to understand this discrepancy it is important to review causes of arrhythmia that may be related to fish oil supplementation versus omega-3 fatty acids alone. The main possible causes are coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, LDL-oxidation and increased accumulation of mercury^48-63. Lipid oxidation and mercury accumulation can be avoided by selecting the transport vehicle of EPA and DHA, the source of fatty acids, the antioxidant potency, as well as the susceptibility of the omega-3 supplement to oxidation. EPA and DHA are contained in fish oil as triglycerides, which act as carriers of these fatty acids in the human digestive system and eventually the lymph and blood stream. Evidence suggests that consumption of fish oil triglycerides may increase the rate of fatty acid oxidation primarily through up-regulation of the gene expression of peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation enzymes^48-63. LDL oxidation is believed to increase atherosclerosis through high serum LDL levels inducing LDL particles to migrate into subendothelial space. The process by which LDL particles are oxidized begins with lipid peroxidation, followed by fragmentation to short-chain aldehydes. At the same time, lecithin is converted to lysolecithin, a selective chemotactic agent for monocytes, which become macrophages that ingest oxidized LDL. The new macrophage becomes engorged with oxidized LDL cholesteryl esters and becomes a foam cell. Groups of foam cells form a fatty streak, the earliest indication of atherosclerosis^65,66.

Contrary, when phospholipids are the transport vehicle of EPA and DHA, the possibility of oxidation is significantly reduced. The association between phospholipids and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids highly facilitates the passage of fatty acid molecules through the intestinal wall, increasing their bioavailability and ultimately improving the omega-3: 6 fatty acid ratio^66,67. A recent study demonstrated in vivo PUFA bioavailability depends on several factors, such as the type of lipids in which they are esterified, their physical state; i.e., lipid solution or colloidal particle systems, and the presence of co-ingested lipids⁶⁶. In vivo PUFA absorption was evaluated by fatty acid analysis of thoracic lymph of duct-cannulated rats after intragastric feeding of dietary fats⁶⁷. Evidence has shown that oral essential fatty acid supplementation in the form of phospholipids is more effective than in the form of triglycerides in increasing concentrations of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in liver and brain^66,67. DHA is better absorbed when delivered by liposomes than by fish oil (relative lymphatic absorption equal to 98% and 61% after liposome and fish oil administration, respectively). The best bioavailability of DHA delivered by liposomes is revealed by an increase in DHA proportions in both lymphatic triglycerides and phospholipids, compared to fish oil diet^66,67.

Werner et al demonstrated that essential fatty acids in the form of phospholipids were superior to essential fatty acids as triglycerides in significantly decreasing the saturated fatty acid ratios of liver triglycerides and phospholipids (each P < 0.05), significantly reduces LDL-oxidation (P < 0.05), while significantly increasing the phospholipid concentrations of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.05).⁶⁷ The results of a human randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of Neptune Krill Oil, a phospholipid carrier of EPA and DHA with naturally attached carotenoids, demonstrate a superior effectiveness for the management of hyperlipidemia and a significant reduction of LDL (P = 0.000).⁶⁸

The effect of fish oil on cardiovascular disease is tempered by the presence of methylmercury in many fish⁵⁴. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised pregnant women and women who may become pregnant not to eat swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, shark, or fish from locally contaminated areas⁶⁹. A study in Finland showed an excess risk of myocardial infarction associated with the concentration of mercury in hair and with the intake of fish, which was apparently contaminated with mercury⁵⁴.

The findings of this review can be summarized as follows:

A.  Fish oil supplements have been evaluated at 8 of the 15 human trials:

• 2 prospective open-label studies of which one was inconclusive 1 showed a benefit

• 6 randomized controlled trials of which 6 showed a negative or proarrhythmic effect and 1 a positive beneficial effect

B.  Six studies, 1 randomized control and 5 prospective open-label, evaluating fatty acid administration or fish or seafood consumption all showed a beneficial antiarrhythmic effect.

C.  Potential causative factors for arrhythmia and specific to fish oil are:

• Increased LDL-oxidation

• Higher concentration of mercury than simple fish consumption

D.  Possible solutions:

• Alternate transport vehicle of EPA and DHA from triglycerides to phospholipids which will:

• Increase bioavailability of EPA and DHA

• Reduce serum LDL and LDL-oxidation

• Increased awareness of mercury levels in supplements

In response to our initial question, the results of the present review suggest that we should attribute potential pro-arrhythmic properties to omega-3 fatty acids but specifically to fish oil? EPA and DHA have been proven to have cardioprotective and mainly antiarrhythmic properties as long as a safe and stable carrier is chosen. Evidence has shown that the safest and most effective carrier of EPA and DHA are phospholipids^66-68.

REFERENCES

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Friday, Saturday, Sunday July 28, 29, 30, 2006

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

A Call For Validated Research Papers
Dealing With Alternative/Naturopathic Health Care 

? Are you a Natural Health Care Professional with a Research paper or Article that you would like to publish?

? Are you a Naturopathic or Natural Health Care student with an excellent class project / or thesis?

? Are you an instructor teaching the most current natural healthcare skills?

The ANMA Monitor is a widely distributed newsletter to healthcare professionals and naturopathic students. If you would like to submit an article, or know of someone that would be interested, now is the time to do so!

You are invited to submit an article or case study to be featured in the ANMA Monitor.

The ANMA Monitor is published quarterly by ANMA, P.O. Box 96273, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193 (702) 897-7053. Deadlines for articles and advertisements are November 20, March 20, June 20, and September 20 . Please submit articles on a IBM compatible 3.5" disk or by e-mail to webmaster@anma.com, clearly identified as an article for the ANMA Monitor. The editor reserves the right to edit any portion of an article before publishing. The editor also reserves the right to refuse articles which he deems inappropriate for this publication.

We appreciate those who have already sent in articles.

Take advantage of this opportunity to be in print!