D.
Fri, Jun-29-07, 17:16
Increasing intake of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA,
found in popular fish-oil supplements, may protect against
blindness resulting from abnormal blood vessel growth in the
eye, according to a study published online by the journal
Nature Medicine on June 24. The study was done in mice, but a
clinical trial at Children's Hospital Boston will soon begin
testing the effects of omega-3 supplementation in premature
babies, who are at risk for vision loss. Here's more from this
report about Omega 3 Fish Oil supplementation:
"Abnormal vessel growth is the cause of retinopathy of
prematurity, diabetic retinopathy in adults, and "wet"
age-related macular degeneration, three leading causes of
blindness. Retinopathy, affecting about 4 million diabetic
patients and about 40,000 premature infants in the United
States, is a two-step disease that begins with a loss of
blood vessels in the retina (the nerve tissue at the back
of the eye that sends visual signals to the brain).
Because of the vessel loss, the retina becomes
oxygen-starved and sends out alarm signals that spur new
vessel growth. But the new vessels grow abnormally and are
malformed, leaky and over-abundant. In the end stage of
the disease, the abnormal vessels pull the retina away
from its supporting layer, and this retinal detachment
ultimately causes blindness.
The researchers, led by Lois Smith, MD, PhD, and Kip
Connor, PhD, of Children's Hospital Boston's Department of
Ophthalmology and Harvard Medical School, and John Paul
SanGiovanni, ScD, of the National Eye Institute (NEI),
National Institutes of Health, studied retinopathy in a
mouse model, feeding the mice diets that emphasized either
omega-3 fatty acids (comparable to a Japanese diet) or
omega-6 fatty acids (comparable to a Western diet).
Mice on the omega-3 diet, rich in DHA (docosahexaenoic
acid) and its precursor EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), had
less initial vessel loss in the retina than the
omega-6-fed mice: the area with vessel loss was 40 to 50
percent smaller. As a result, the omega-3 group had a 40
to 50 percent decrease in pathological vessel growth.
"Our studies suggest that after initial loss, vessels
re-grew more quickly and efficiently in the omega-3-fed
mice," says Connor, the study's first author. "This
increased the oxygen supply to retinal tissue, resulting
in a dampening of the inflammatory 'alarm' signals that
lead to pathologic vessel growth."
Because omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the
retina, a mere 2 percent change in dietary omega-3 intake
was sufficient to decrease disease severity by 50 percent,
the researchers note. Validating their findings, results
were virtually identical in mice whose omega-3 fatty acid
levels were increased through genetic means.
"If omega-3 fatty acids, or these anti-inflammatory
mediators, are as effective in humans and they are in
mice, simple supplementation could be a cost-effective
intervention benefiting millions of people," says Smith,
the study's senior investigator. "The cost of blindness is
enormous."
Aside from fish-oil supplements, the most widely available
source of omega-3 fatty acids is coldwater oily fish (wild
salmon, herry, mackerel, anchovies, sardines). The
compounds can also be made synthetically from algae or
other non-fish sources.
Its hard to believe, but some doctors are still not
recommending Fish Oil supplements to their patients, as the
research continues to pile up that quality fish oil
supplements (pure, free from mercury contamination) can be one
of the most important supplements you take each day. (This
post from "Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider" - Google for the
full report).
D.
found in popular fish-oil supplements, may protect against
blindness resulting from abnormal blood vessel growth in the
eye, according to a study published online by the journal
Nature Medicine on June 24. The study was done in mice, but a
clinical trial at Children's Hospital Boston will soon begin
testing the effects of omega-3 supplementation in premature
babies, who are at risk for vision loss. Here's more from this
report about Omega 3 Fish Oil supplementation:
"Abnormal vessel growth is the cause of retinopathy of
prematurity, diabetic retinopathy in adults, and "wet"
age-related macular degeneration, three leading causes of
blindness. Retinopathy, affecting about 4 million diabetic
patients and about 40,000 premature infants in the United
States, is a two-step disease that begins with a loss of
blood vessels in the retina (the nerve tissue at the back
of the eye that sends visual signals to the brain).
Because of the vessel loss, the retina becomes
oxygen-starved and sends out alarm signals that spur new
vessel growth. But the new vessels grow abnormally and are
malformed, leaky and over-abundant. In the end stage of
the disease, the abnormal vessels pull the retina away
from its supporting layer, and this retinal detachment
ultimately causes blindness.
The researchers, led by Lois Smith, MD, PhD, and Kip
Connor, PhD, of Children's Hospital Boston's Department of
Ophthalmology and Harvard Medical School, and John Paul
SanGiovanni, ScD, of the National Eye Institute (NEI),
National Institutes of Health, studied retinopathy in a
mouse model, feeding the mice diets that emphasized either
omega-3 fatty acids (comparable to a Japanese diet) or
omega-6 fatty acids (comparable to a Western diet).
Mice on the omega-3 diet, rich in DHA (docosahexaenoic
acid) and its precursor EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), had
less initial vessel loss in the retina than the
omega-6-fed mice: the area with vessel loss was 40 to 50
percent smaller. As a result, the omega-3 group had a 40
to 50 percent decrease in pathological vessel growth.
"Our studies suggest that after initial loss, vessels
re-grew more quickly and efficiently in the omega-3-fed
mice," says Connor, the study's first author. "This
increased the oxygen supply to retinal tissue, resulting
in a dampening of the inflammatory 'alarm' signals that
lead to pathologic vessel growth."
Because omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the
retina, a mere 2 percent change in dietary omega-3 intake
was sufficient to decrease disease severity by 50 percent,
the researchers note. Validating their findings, results
were virtually identical in mice whose omega-3 fatty acid
levels were increased through genetic means.
"If omega-3 fatty acids, or these anti-inflammatory
mediators, are as effective in humans and they are in
mice, simple supplementation could be a cost-effective
intervention benefiting millions of people," says Smith,
the study's senior investigator. "The cost of blindness is
enormous."
Aside from fish-oil supplements, the most widely available
source of omega-3 fatty acids is coldwater oily fish (wild
salmon, herry, mackerel, anchovies, sardines). The
compounds can also be made synthetically from algae or
other non-fish sources.
Its hard to believe, but some doctors are still not
recommending Fish Oil supplements to their patients, as the
research continues to pile up that quality fish oil
supplements (pure, free from mercury contamination) can be one
of the most important supplements you take each day. (This
post from "Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider" - Google for the
full report).
D.