Study Finds Fish Oil May Reduce Risk Of Breast Cancer

A recent report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, adds to the evidence that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., led by Emily White, Ph.D., a member of the public health sciences division, asked 35,016 post-menopausal women who did not have a history of breast cancer to complete a 24-page questionnaire about their use of non-vitamin, non-mineral “specialty” supplements in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study.

After six years of follow-up, 880 cases of breast cancer were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry.
Regular use of fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, was linked with a 32 percent reduced risk of breast cancer. The reduction in risk appeared to be restricted to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease.

The use of other specialty supplements, many of which are commonly taken by women to treat symptoms of menopause, was not associated with breast cancer risk.

This research is the first to demonstrate a link between the use of fish oil supplements and a reduction in breast cancer. Studies of dietary intake of fish or omega-3 fatty acids have not been consistent.

“It may be that the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil supplements are higher than most people would typically get from their diet,” White said.

However, White cautioned against gleaning any recommendations from the results of one study.

“Without confirming studies specifically addressing this,” she said, “we should not draw any conclusions about a causal relationship.”

Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc.D., professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and an editorial board member of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, agreed.

“It is very rare that a single study should be used to make a broad recommendation,” said Giovannucci. “Over a period of time, as the studies confirm each other, we can start to make recommendations.”
Still, fish oil continues to excite many, as evidence emerges about its protective effect on cardiovascular disease and now cancer.

Harvard researchers are currently enrolling patients for the randomized Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (also called VITAL), which will assess the impact of fish oil supplements and vitamin D on cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The researchers plan to enroll 20,000 U.S. men aged 60 years and older and women aged 65 years and older who do not have a history of these diseases and have never taken supplements.

Recruitment for this National Institutes of Health funded study began in January, and more information can be found at www.vitalstudy.org.

Female Athletes More Susceptible To Injuries Compared To Counterparts

Female athletes experience dramatically higher rates of specific musculoskeletal injuries and medical conditions compared to male athletes, according to exercise physiologist Vicki Harber in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta.

According to her paper, depending on the sport, there can be a two- to sixfold difference in these types of injuries between male and female athletes. That’s because many training programs developed for female athletes are built on research using young adult males and don’t take the intrinsic biological differences between the sexes into account.

Harber has authored a comprehensive guide for coaches, parents and administrators, entitled The Female Athlete Perspective, and published by Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L), which addresses these and other medical issues known to influence women’s participation in sport.

The paper is based on a thorough review of the current literature on the subject, Harber’s extensive knowledge as a researcher in female athlete health and her work in the development of female athletes.

Musculoskeletal injuries, particularly knee and shoulder injuries, are most prevalent, with increased probability of re-injury, said Harber, noting that many of these injuries are preventable. Building awareness about appropriate support for young female athletes and changes to training programs are critical to help them reach their athletic and personal potential, injury-free.

Harber found the risk of the Female Athlete Triad — three separate but interrelated conditions of disordered eating, amenorrhea and osteoporosis — is another area that urgently needs attention for young female athletes.

For female athletes to thrive injury-free, attention must be paid to their proper nutrition to ensure both the athletic performance and healthy reproductive performance associated with bone health and overall wellbeing, Harber found.

For more information, visit: http://www.physedandrec.ualberta.ca/.

Soy Consumption Reduces Risk Of Breast Cancer

Soy foods, which contain isoflavones and antioxidant compounds, have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study in Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study, to examine soy intake’s impact on breast-cancer survival, followed more than 5,000 breast-cancer survivors. 4-year mortality rates were 10.3 percent and 7.4 percent, and the 4-year recurrence rates were 11.2 percent and 8.0 percent, respectively, for women in the lowest and highest quartiles of soy protein intake.

The inverse association was evident among women with either estrogen receptor-positive or -negative breast cancer and was present in both users and nonusers of tamoxifen. Among women with breast cancer, soy food consumption was significantly associated with decreased risk of death and recurrence.

The study was done by researchers from the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee and Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Essence of Life, LLC, a bionutraceutical company based in Mount Kisco, N.Y., has been at the forefront of the movement to promote fermented soy’s health benefits. The company has developed products based on fermented soy and natural spices including curcumin, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon.

According to co-founder and CEO Dr. Vijaya Nair, “In order to reap the nutritional and anti-cancer benefits of soy, it must be fermented. The culturing of soy destroys the anti-nutrients in soy that prevent the body from absorbing essential minerals and trace elements.”

The company’s line of Jiva natural nutritional supplements includes a Fermented Soy Nutritional Beverage that is a combination of fermented soy, curcumin and bioperine. This unique phytonutrient formulation has antioxidant properties and includes specific standardized ingredients that interact synergistically to maintain health for both women and men.

“Today’s research has shown that the underlying cause of arthritis, heart disease and cancer is chronic low-grade levels of inflammation in the body,” Nair said. “It turns out that the combination of fermented soy and curcumin is more powerful than either ingredient alone. By combining them we can help prevent and reverse inflammation and its associated health risks.”

Nair’s background includes training in both Eastern and Western medical traditions, including a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. She developed Essence of Life’s line of supplements after conducting extensive clinical research on alternative therapies from Eastern medicinal approaches such as Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine at Columbia University’s School of Public Health.

“It is gratifying to see that the latest research confirms the efficacy of these safe and natural preventative therapies,” Nair said.

For more information, visit: http://jama.ama-assn.org.

University Receives NIH Grant To Study Obesity Characteristics Of Hispanic Women

The University of Texas at El Paso’s (UTEP) College of Health Science has received $99,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study characteristics of metabolically obese but normal weight Hispanic women.

Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Chantal Vella, Ph.D., is conducting the study on young women who may be predisposed to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other serious health problems.

On the outside, these Hispanic women appear to be the picture of health—they are young and of normal weight. It’s what is happening inside their bodies that concerns Vella.

“With these kinds of metabolic disorders, studies usually examine obese, older populations,” Vella said. “Nobody has really focused on young women, particularly young Hispanic women, and why many of them are at risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

It’s a critical issue to study because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among Hispanic women, heart disease accounts for 24 percent of all deaths.

Identifying at-risk women and treating them early, Vella noted, “would have a tremendous impact on quality of life, severity of disease at diagnosis and overall public health.”

Vella’s three-year study, “Characteristics of Metabolically Obese but Normal Weight Hispanic Women,” will add to the body of knowledge being gathered by UTEP’s Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center.

The funds supplement an earlier NIH grant of $333,000.

For more information, visit: http://chs.utep.edu/.

Wine May Provide Radioprotective Effect For Breast Cancer Patients

Drinking wine while undergoing radiation treatment for breast carcinoma may reduce the incidence of skin toxicity in breast cancer patients, according to a study in the August issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Preventing radiation therapy-induced side effects is an important part of a patient’s cancer treatment management. Several medications are available to help protect healthy organs from the effects of radiation, but they are often expensive, have side effects themselves and can provide protection to tumor cells as well as healthy cells.

Researchers at the Department of Oncology and the Center for High Technology Research and Education in Biomedical Sciences at Catholic University in Campobasso, Italy, the Catholic University

Department of Radiotherapy in Rome, Italy, and at the National Research Council’s BioMatLab in Rome, Italy, conducted this study to determine if the natural antioxidants in wine would provide a radioprotective effect in preventing acute skin toxicity in patients undergoing radiation therapy after conservative surgery for breast carcinoma.

The study consisted of 348 patients divided into three groups based on the dose/fractionation schemeused. Patients consuming wine had a lower incidence of Grade 2 or higher acute toxicity than those who did not consume alcohol. Patients who drank one glass of wine per day had a 13.6 percent incidence of skin toxicity versus a 38.4 percent incidence in patients who did not drink wine.

“If wine can prevent radiotherapy-induced toxicity without affecting antitumor efficacy, as we observed, it also has the potential to enhance the therapeutic benefit in cancer patients without increasing their risk of serious adverse effects,” Dr. Vincenzo Valentini, a radiation oncologist at Catholic University in Rome, Italy, one of the study authors, said. “The possibility that particular dietary practices or interventions can reduce radiation-induced toxicity is very intriguing.”

For more information, visit: www.astro.org.

Strong Links Between Mothers’ Diets And Health Of Their Children

The report “Early Nutrition and Lifelong Health,” published this month by the British Medical Association Board of Science, looks at the evidence that the diets of women of reproductive age, and those of their fetuses and young children, are significant factors in influencing the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, brittle bone disease and even some forms of cancer and mental illness, later in those children’s lives. 

Lead author Professor Mark Hanson, director of the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease at the University of Southampton, said, “Society and public health organisations need to pay much greater attention to these issues if the rising epidemic of these diseases is to be prevented. Tackling the diseases once children reach adulthood is often too late. By taking steps to improve maternal nutrition we could save many people from a lifetime of ill health.” 

The research was funded in part by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Hanson’s co-authors are Professor Caroline Fall, Dr. Sian Robinson and Dr. Janis Baird of the MRC Epidemiology Research Centre at the University of Southampton.

Their report raises concerns about diets in the UK, but also in developing countries in many parts of the world. According to the authors, unbalanced nutrition, whether too much or too little or of poor quality, can have long-term effects.

In the UK, for example, many have diets low in certain nutrients although they have access to plentiful food.The numbers of women who breastfeed their infants is still too low, they say, with many women starting to breastfeed, but then stopping too soon, and many infants being fed inappropriate foods at the weaning stage.

“The nutritional transitions occurring in many developing societies will have major effects on diets between generations, and this will increase the risk of chronic disease dramatically,” continued Hanson.”It’s not only women who need to be careful about they quality of their food intake. Prospective fathers should also eat well and steps need to be taken to ensure that young people understand the importance of good nutrition as part of their lifestyle choices.”

The report suggested that the medical profession can help by advising people about the importance of good nutrition, especially before and after they have children and by promoting breastfeeding and appropriate early foods for babies.

More advice could be given to people with young children about the importance of a balanced diet for those children and more support could be given to women to help them start breastfeeding and to continue with it.

The report is available at: http://www.bma.org.uk/health_promotion_ethics/child_health/

Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea Linked To High Fat Diets And Decreased Physical Activity In Women

A new study shows that unrelated to obesity, people with severe sleep disordered breathing (SDBs) consume a more unhealthy diet, which may be a factor contributing to greater cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. These findings were most evident among women.

Dr. Stuart Quan, division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, said, “We found that persons who had severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) ate a diet that was unhealthy with increased intake of cholesterol, fat and saturated fatty acids.”

Findings showed that, on average, all participants with extremely severe SDB, or those with respiratory disturbance index (RDI) above 50 disruptions per hour, consumed 88.16 more milligrams of cholesterol per day compared to people who have less severe OSA. On average, women participants with severe SDB consumed 21.96 more grams of protein, 27.75 more grams of total fat and 9.24 more grams of saturated fatty acids. These results remained significant after controlling for body mass index (BMI), age and daytime sleepiness.

Results indicated that among the 320 participants, increasing RDI severity was associated with greater consumption of cholesterol, protein and trans-fatty acids. There also was a trend towards greater ingestion of total saturated fatty acids and total fat, but not carbohydrates, sucrose or dietary fiber. With the exception of cholesterol, these associations occurred primarily in women. The mechanism producing the higher dietary consumption of unhealthy nutrients in persons with extremely severe SDB appears to exaggerate behaviors already observed among obese women, said researchers.

Compared with the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines, participants “ate less than the recommended proportion of calories from carbohydrate and more than recommended from total and saturated fat.”

It is unlikely that sleep deprivation or obesity explain the results of the study. It has been suggested that fatigue and sleepiness, as well as sleep deprivation influence dietary intake via alterations in neuroendocrine control of feeding behavior; however, controlling for Epworth Sleepiness Scale score did little to affect our results and in bivariate analysis, total sleep time was not associated with alterations in dietary intake.

According to Quan, the physical activities findings in the study were unexpected. “All of us suspect that patients with sleep apnea engage in less recreational activity. This was confirmed in the study,” said Quan. “However, the findings were explained entirely by obesity. We thought that because sleep apnea patients are sleepy they would engage in less physical activity even after accounting for the effect of obesity.”

It is well known that obese people are more likely to consume diets high in fat and cholesterol. The persistence of these results even after controlling for BMI suggests that a high RDI has an independent effect on dietary intake. Researchers of this study suggest that independent of sleep duration, OSA may affect levels of appetite-regulating hormones. Also, sleep disruptions related to OSA may in some way increase the craving for fatty foods.

OSA, which is a form of SDB is characterized by repetitive episodes of complete or partial airway obstruction during sleep is currently estimated to affect 18 million Americans. OSA is associated with alterations in leptin and ghrelin, which are important in appetite regulation. It has been demonstrated that sleep deprivation, a common occurrence among people with OSA, is associated with increased body max index (BMI) and increased cravings for carbohydrates. The change in hormones results in leaves that may increase appetite and thus impact dietary intake, the researchers said.

To investigate the relationships between dietary intake, physical activity, OSA, sleep and obesity, the study used data from a subset of the Apnea Positive Pressure Long-Term Efficacy Study (APPLES), a randomized, double-blinded, two-arm, sham-controlled, multicenter, six-month, intent-to-treat study of continuous positive airway (CPAP) efficacy on neurocognitive function in OSA.

The study included 320 participants – 263 from the University of Tucson in Arizona and 57 from the St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. More than half of the participants were obese. In addition to receiving polysomnography (PSG) studies and neurocognitive assessment, participants were asked to complete detailed dietary and physical activity questionnaires prior to the initial diagnostic PSG and at the end of the four-month clinical APPLES examinations.

For more information, please visit: www.aasmnet.org.

Flaxseed Oil Carries High Risk Of Premature Birth

A study has found that the risks of a premature birth quadruple if flaxseed oil is consumed in the last two trimesters of pregnancy. The research was conducted by Professor Anick Bérard of the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Pharmacy and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center and Master’s student Krystel Moussally.

In Canada, 50 percent of pregnant women take prescription medication. Yet many of them prefer to use natural health products during the pregnancy. “We believe these products to be safe because they are natural. But in reality, they are chemical products and we don’t know many of the risks and benefits of these products contrarily to medication,” said Bérard.

Bérard and Moussally set out to conduct one of the largest studies ever undertaken on by analyzing data from 3354 Quebec women. The first part of the research established that close to 10 percent of women between 1998 and 2003 used natural health products during their pregnancy. Before and after pregnancy they were respectively 15 and 14 percent to use these products. The increase means that about a third of women consuming natural health products stopped during the pregnancy.

The most consumed natural health products by pregnant women are chamomile (19 percent), green tea (17 percent), peppered mint (12 percent), and flaxseed oil (12 percent). Bérard and Moussally correlated these products to premature births and only one product had a very strong correlation: flaxseed oil.

“In the general population, the average rate of premature births is 2 to 3 percent. But for women consuming flaxseed oil in their last two trimesters that number jumps up to 12 percent,” said Bérard. “It’s an enormous risk.”

The correlation existed only with flaxseed oil, yet women consuming the actual seed were unaffected. Even if more studies must be undertaken to verify these results, Bérard recommended caution when it comes to consuming flaxseed oil.

For more information, Please visit: www.umontreal.ca.

Pregnant Women With Bulimia Have More Anxiety And Depression, Study Found

Women who are bulimic during pregnancy have more symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to pregnant women without eating disorders. A new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) shows that they also have lower self-esteem and are more dissatisfied with life and their relationship with their partner.

The findings come from a population study of psychosocial factors in bulimia (bulimia nervosa) during pregnancy. Bulimia in pregnancy can have serious consequences for both mother and child. The study includes more than 41 000 pregnant women who responded to a questionnaire from the Norwegian Mother and Child Study (MoBa) from the NIPH.

Higher incidence of physical and sexual abuse

Out of more than 41 000 pregnant women, 96 (0.2 %) met the criteria for broadly defined bulimia (bulimia nervosa) in the first trimester of pregnancy. Sixty-seven of the women reported that they had also had bulimia six months before pregnancy, while 26 had developed bulimia after becoming pregnant. It is unknown whether these women had bulimia earlier in life.

Women with bulimia reported lower self-esteem and less satisfaction with life and their relationship with their partner. In addition, they reported a higher prevalence of symptoms associated with anxiety and depression.

Women with bulimia reported a higher prevalence of life-long physical abuse, sexual abuse and major depression compared with others, said Cecilie Knoph Berg at the Division of Mental Health at the NIPH. Women who had bulimia six months before pregnancy but who were symptom-free in the first trimester, experienced higher self-esteem and satisfaction with life compared to other women with persistent symptoms.

Bulimia was measured six months before pregnancy and in the first trimester of pregnancy by completing the questionnaire in the first trimester.

Knoph Berg is the author of “Psychosocial factors associated with broadly-defined bulimia nervosa during early pregnancy: Findings from the Norwegian mother and child cohort study” which is published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

For more information, please visit: www.fhi.no/english.

Soy Affects Brain And Reproductive Development, Study Said

Two hormone-like compounds linked to the consumption of soy-based foods can cause irreversible changes in the structure of the brain, resulting in early-onset puberty and symptoms of advanced menopause in research animals, according to a new study by researchers at North Carolina State University.

The study provides insight in determining how these compounds can cause reproductive health problems, as well as in providing a key building block for how to treat these problems.

The study showed that the actual physical organization of a region of the brain that is important for female reproduction can be significantly altered by exposure to phytoestrogens – or plant-produced chemicals that mimic hormones – during development. Specifically, the study found that the compounds alter the sex-specific organization of the hypothalamus – a brain region that is essential to the regulation of puberty and ovulation. The study also showed that the phytoestrogens could cause long-term effects on the female reproductive system.

While the study examined the impact of these compounds on laboratory rats, neurotoxicologist Dr. Heather Patisaul – who co-authored the study – said the affected “circuitry” of the brain is similar in both rats and humans. Patisaul is an assistant professor in NC State’s Department of Zoology. Her co-author is Heather Bateman, a doctoral student in the department.

Patisaul said this finding is extremely important because, while the changes in brain structure cannot be reversed, “if you understand what is broken, you may be able to treat it.” Patisaul said she is in the process of evaluating the effects of these compounds on the ovaries themselves.

Patisaul said that this study is also “a step towards ascertaining the effects of phytoestrogens on developing fetuses and newborns.” Patisaul added that these phytoestrogenic compounds cross the placental barrier in humans and that, while many people are concerned about the effects of man-made compounds on human health, it is important to note that some naturally occurring substances can have similar effects.

In the study, the researchers exposed newborn rats to physiologically relevant doses of the phytoestrogens genistein and equol, and then looked at reproductive health markers in the rats throughout their adulthood. The neonatal stage of development in rats is comparable to the latter stages of pregnancy for humans, Patisaul says. Genistein is a phytoestrogen that is found in various plants, including soybeans and soy-based foods. Equol is a hormone-like compound that is formed when bacteria found in the digestive system metabolize another phytoestrogen. However, only approximately a third of humans have the necessary bacteria to produce equol.

The study showed that both genistein and equol result in the early disruption of the rats’ estrus cycle – which would be corollary to early onset of menopause in a human. The study also showed that genistein caused the early onset of puberty. The disruption of the estrus cycle could stem from problems with the brain or the ovaries, so the researchers decided to determine if the compounds had any effect on brain development or function.

Patisaul explained that the brains of both female rats and female humans have a region that regulates ovulation. “That part of the brain,” Patisaul says, “is organized by hormones during development – which is the neonatal stage for rats and during gestation for humans.” Patisaul says the new study shows that the female brain is “critically sensitive” to genistein and equol during this crucial stage of development – and that this may indicate that the brain is also especially sensitive during this period to all phytoestrogens and possibly other man-made chemicals, such as bisphenol-A.

For more information, please visit: www.ncsu.edu.

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