[R.B.]

Hi R.B. thanks for your answer but..

1)
"COX 2 products are made on demand as a result of requests received as chemical messengers triggered by a perceived need for inflammatory chemicals "

Do yo know if the demand you refer to above are made ONLY by omega 6 and omega 3 oils ? i.e anything else triggers Cox2 production (chemical messager is the rather vague since all functions in our body are in effect triggered by chemical messages)

Agreed chemical messengers is vague, but if you start to search you will find lots of things trigger production or activation of COX 2. The cells make and activate COX2 in response to lots of things.

The raw Omega 3 and 6 materials are stored in the cell membranes. Cells release Omega 3 and 6 in the ratio they are present in the cells and COX2 gets to work - more 6 in the cell membranes and you are going to get more six products.

So the trigger is not Omega 3 and 6 although there is talk of self fuelling cascades where I guess the ratio of 3 and 6 would either inhibit or encourage a 6 self fuelling cascade - more omega six product triggers more messengers triggers more cox 2 triggers more omega six product.


2)
"Omega 3 also uses COX2 to make its own products [..]
DHA also block the COX2 Omega 6 production line."

Would it be that omega 3 simply 'goes first' and Cox2 activity for omega6 will resume once the omega3 has been transformed. In which case taking more omega3 is not the answer (for downregulation of Co2x) but in fact limiting omega6 is.

Current wisdom as I understand it is Omega 6 gets priority in the line for access to the available COX2 enzyme (although I have seen others suggest it is Omega 3). Omega 6 chemical cascades require less energy that Omega 3 cascades. The greater the 3:6 imbalance towards Omega 6 the greater the priority of Omega 6.

DHA blocks both COX2 production and COX2 activation.

It gets mightily complicated and I struggle but the answer seems to be to balance the Omega 3 and 6 mother fats - which in most western diets means seriously cutting back on omega 6 AND ensure an adequate supply of the long chain Omega 3s which includes DHA.

3)
What is the omega3 product transformed into using Cox2? something not inflamatory unlike the omega6?

Omega 3s are transformed into similar products to the Omega 6s but they have very different roles and are not generally associated with `bad` inflammation. I have not seen a diagram of the family tree and bits here and there suggests they are not much studied. I suggest that they may have a bigger part to play at night and in sleep time repair growth etc. Omega 6s are connected with reproduction which requires some pretty dynamic activity etc, where as the 3s seem to play a more background role.


This is all very complex once you start reading about it as the products of these "simple" fats likley extend into every aspect of body function, and I struggle with it all and just try to give a sketch of what is going on.