tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post3288511701043114762..comments2023-07-15T04:39:59.759-07:00Comments on Genomics, Medicine, and Pseudoscience: Fish oil salesmenSteven Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549957293973146438noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-10354990758353449012010-11-07T00:59:35.279-07:002010-11-07T00:59:35.279-07:00Anthony, nice can of worms you opened. One reason ...Anthony, nice can of worms you opened. One reason I think worth investigation would be the very large increase of processed foods in our diet, more fatty meats available at every turn. When we evolved we had to run to get some meat and did not sit around all day with a fast food store (restaurant or grocery fast food) every 100 ft. Also we ate much more vegetation and fiber than today. But a really significant reason: an especially huge imbalance of omega 3 to 6 ratio. This is an important consideration with Omega 3 bennies and we are getting too much 6, because it is infused into our foods through things like corn(rich in omega 6) being artificially added to almost every food in the grocery store (except the outside, healthier aisles). Great question.....don't stop investigating. I attend a class on this , so I learned a lot lately.Al Virginia Beachhttp://www.koolcashback.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-3393705397858566692010-10-25T04:25:59.007-07:002010-10-25T04:25:59.007-07:00Evolution only requires us to live long enough to ...Evolution only requires us to live long enough to breed and raise our children to self-sufficiency. We want to live longer than that (most of us, that is). So we are searching for ways, through diet, exercise, or other means - to live longer.Steven Salzberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16549957293973146438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-22701669330084288522010-10-24T19:59:50.767-07:002010-10-24T19:59:50.767-07:00Why is it we're all suddenly hopelessly defici...Why is it we're all suddenly hopelessly deficient in omega 3? Were we really eating so much flax, walnut, and coldwater fish throughout our development?<br /><br />I won't say that the studies for the health benefits of fish oil or omega 3 are bunk but I don't understand how it's been mysteriously missing from our diets for so long.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07985862681505895843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-67195913137301557112010-10-24T19:45:42.371-07:002010-10-24T19:45:42.371-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07985862681505895843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-91947462198016607032010-08-18T18:12:27.074-07:002010-08-18T18:12:27.074-07:00Actually, it's not "ironic" that the...Actually, it's not "ironic" that the Chinese still use snake oil. <br /><br />Pointless, yes, but not ironic. Much like gsk's pointless underwater lab complete with fake scientists staring into scopes. This kind of ad should be banned.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-205441411514567802010-07-26T14:31:00.370-07:002010-07-26T14:31:00.370-07:00nickloman - thanks for the clarification on resten...nickloman - thanks for the clarification on restenosis. There are many studies of fish oil and I didn't want to try to summarize them all (or even a few). My main point is that Glaxo has cleverly created a "drug" from a supplement, allowing them to cash in, with the help of professionally-produced advertisements. Fish oil probably does have benefits if you eat it instead of less healthy oils (such as palm oil, for example), but no one needs to buy Lovaza to get those benefits.Steven Salzberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16549957293973146438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-66676023648937420122010-07-26T06:13:20.195-07:002010-07-26T06:13:20.195-07:00I agree with the sentiments of the article but fee...I agree with the sentiments of the article but feel I have to correct your definition of restenosis. This meta-analysis focuses on patients with high cardiovascular risk who have undergone interventional procedures. Restenosis refers to subsequent narrowing of a coronary artery which has previously been opened by balloon angioplasty or stenting.<br /><br />And I'm really not surprised fish oils don't help much in this risk group.<br /><br />Otherwise, keep up the good work!Nick Lomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12121179953421841062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211371452778645597.post-17449079578231370542010-07-24T14:58:08.107-07:002010-07-24T14:58:08.107-07:00You can also lower triglycerides by taking a stati...You can also lower triglycerides by taking a statin.<br /><br />I just want to clarify that that meta-analysis was in patients at high risk of cardiovascular events. So the results do not apply to all patients, only to those at high cardiovascular risk. Even though the reduction in total mortality was not significant, the Bayesian confidence interval pretty much ends at one, which means that there is a high probability that there is at least a small reduction in total mortality. I was puzzled as to why heart attacks and strokes were not endpoints, but I only read the abstract so that may be explained in the paper.<br /><br />I agree with you that OTC fish oil pills or eating oily fish are probably just as good as the prescription product.<br /><br />Although fish oil lowers triglycerides, I don't know whether lowering triglycerides with fish oil has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. You would have to do a trial of people with high trigs who are also on a statin, since statins are standard of care for people at high cardiovascular risk, and see whether the fish oil added any benefit to the statin.Marilyn Mannnoreply@blogger.com