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View Full Version : The impact of Omega 3 and Omega 6 on breast cancer


R.B.
12-05-2009, 04:34 AM
There is a long running thread on the impact of Omega 3 and Omega 6 on breast cancer on the main board (currently (2014) 50,000 plus views). The point of the thread is to demonstrate there is considerable evidence of a wide range of mechanisms by which Omega 3 and 6 fats significantly alter the risk of breast cancer occurrence and spread.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=24410


Many of the factors also apply to a whole range of cancers including prostate.

The thread only contains a fraction of the research on the subject.

The revised expanded and very much improved book on Omega 3 and 6 has been rewritten several times and I really must try and get it finished.

On the tooth issue, on my persistent insistence that something was still not right, they finally opened an adjacent area up (Nov 2009) and found further infected bone above another root filling (2nd), despite showing no "clinical" symptoms (inflammation or pain) or clear x-ray evidence, but discomfort from my perspective. It now looks in addition as if my 3rd and last root filling may also have lead to infection (in progress).

Moral: As far as root fillings go get them checked regularly. I now know trials confirm a significant proportion of root fillings fail within in 5 years. (-:

Update 2014 - Ultimately in a search for resolution all 3 root filled teeth were removed, but some problems persisted; subsequently a cutting edge oral facial surgeon identified in about one minute of opening a historic 3D scan that there was an area of infection bone loss in an area of the jaw face above the front tooth (a black hole on the Xray); following removal of the tooth pain in the area inflammation brain fuzz low level anxiety etc has very slowly resolved. Hopefully in time I can have implants.

Moral 2 of the story; infections from damaged root filled teeth can spread to adjacent and more distant bone despite an apparent orthodoxy among many dentists that they do not or are very rare, and may be difficult to detect, except you will know something is not right because it hurts etc !

R.B.

R.B.
12-10-2009, 08:17 AM
Update on main thread

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=24410

"Dietary fatty acids regulate the activation status of Her-2/neu (c-erbB-2) oncogene in breast cancer cells"

R.B.
01-19-2010, 04:11 PM
Evidence Omega 3 DHA may improve the outcome of some chemotherapies.

I have also posted this on the main thread.




Improving outcome of chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer by docosahexaenoic acid: a phase II trial
P Bougnoux,1,2* N Hajjaji,1,2 M N Ferrasson,1,2 B Giraudeau,3 C Couet,1,4 and O Le Floch1,2

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...6/?tool=pubmed

"Several research groups, including ours, have shown that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a lipid of marine algal origin mainly provided by diet, has, experimentally, the ability to increase the efficacy of anti-cancer agents."

"As DHA incorporates into cell membranes, this differential handling of ROS may account for the selectivity of DHA-induced tissue sensitisation by anti-cancer agents in tumour tissues compared with non-tumour tissues. Along this line, the lack of additional toxicity in non-tumour tissues has been consistently documented under conditions in which tumour tissue DHA was sensitised to chemotherapy (Hardman et al, 1999; Kato et al, 2002; Germain et al, 2003; Xue et al, 2007) or radiation therapy (Wen et al, 2003) in rodents.
On the basis of these results, we conducted a pilot phase II clinical trial in metastatic breast cancer patients to investigate the efficacy and safety of adding DHA to an ROS-generating chemotherapy regimen, that is an anthracycline-based regimen (FEC). We found that the combination was safe while retaining significant anti-tumour activity in the sub-population of patients with high plasma DHA incorporation, suggesting that DHA has a potential to specifically chemosensitise tumours."

Becky
01-20-2010, 05:49 AM
Here's a new omega 3 study just from today. States that the reason Omega 3 helps cardiovascularly is that it reduces aging (shortening of the telomeres) and as such, there is more accurate genetic replication (ie: could help prevent cancer as inaccurate replication starts the process)

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/18043

bejuce
01-20-2010, 09:50 AM
So how much of Omega-3s should breast cancer patients consume on a daily basis? I'm now wondering if I should add a supplement to my diet and how much of it I should take. I'd check the threads you posted above for some guidelines.

Thanks for bringing these to our attention!

Becky
01-20-2010, 01:24 PM
I believe that 1-2 grams of DHA should be consumed (therefore, depending on how much DHA is in the brand of fish oil you purchase could be 6-8 capsules a day). I take this much but cut back on days I am eating fatty fish as it is abundant there. I also don't freak out if I forget a dose (as I divide my supplements up during the the 3 meals of the day taking 2 fish oil capsules with every meal).

You should be careful with other supplements that are also blood thinners (aspirin therapy and look at your other herbals - for example, when I first got my ooph almost 5 yrs ago, I had bladder infections alot and took cranberry extract (also a blood thinner) and watched carefully how much of other things I was taking. I no longer take cranberry but have it around just in case.

You do have to be careful on potential side effects of these things because if you take alot of stuff that has the same side effect, you can get slammed.

You also need to let your doctors know what you are doing and have them on your "prescription list" that you carry just in case you land in the emergency room for something - they know what you are on.

PS - Of all the supplements that can be taken I am a true believer of 2. One is Omega 3 supplementation and the other is Vitamin D (we need more than the gov'ts 200-400iu per day. We need much, much more - more in the range of 3000iu to 5000iu per day). These are the super supplements to me. If I only could pick 2 these would be them. If I could only pick 1 it would be omega 3 and I would start a tanning regime to get the Vitamin D!

TanyaRD
01-21-2010, 06:37 AM
Becky,
I am in total agreement with you in regards to the 2 most important supplements. I am a firm believer in "Food First" because in many cases the synergy of food cannot be replicated in supplement form. That has been proven time and time again in research. Individual nutrients in cell line studies often demonstrate benefit but rarely replicated in human studies (or at least very difficult to prove). Unless a person has perfected their diet there need be little focus on supplementation, EXCEPT for Vit D and Omega 3s. Both are very difficult to achieve adequate dose in food and both extremely important in cancer and overall health and wellness. You are wise to provide caution in regards to the blood thinning. Thank you.

1rarebird
03-02-2010, 09:24 AM
It sure would be nice if one the supplement companies would produce a combo Vit.D3 and Omega 3 capsule for us. All these pills we take are sometimes hard to keep track.

Jackie07
08-24-2010, 12:23 AM
WebMD has a full article on Omega 3 today. Thought I'd attach the link here:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/good-fat-bad-fat-facts-about-omega-3

R.B.
08-24-2010, 01:51 PM
Thanks Jackie07

It is wonderful to see the concept of balancing the Omega 3s and 6s gaining more acceptance.

Some of the other info could be better put. In particular plant based oils can be converted to the long chain fats, but many people are not very good at it. Evidence is emerging some population groups - Celts fair haired blue eyed redheads, Innuit, and others who were maybe shoreline dwellers - are possibly genetically at risk of being maybe 30% less good at conversion. Many common dietary factors and deficiencies also significantly inhibit conversion. Some health conditions like diabetes inhibit conversion. Some viruses can affect conversion. As a result you cannot automatically assume an intake of plant based Omega 3 will end up being made into the EPA and DHA you need.

Also if you select fish at low risk of mercury pollution you can safely eat much more than 2 portions a week. The benefits far outweigh the risks.

Women can make more EPA and DHA because they need it for all sorts of reasons, including supporting a more sophisticated brain and nervous system, which endows them amongst other things with better sensory perception. Women can convert plant based Omega 3 to EPA and DHA 10 times better than men likely because of oestrogen. This would be another reason why those who are low in oestrogen should ensure they get adequate DHA and EPA as well as the plant based Omega 3.

Jackie07
08-24-2010, 11:40 PM
Army of Women has listed several clinical trials related to Omega 3 Fatty Acid:

http://www.armyofwomen.org/current

Jackie07
08-26-2010, 09:48 AM
A follow-up article posted today on WebMD:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/omega-3-dha-9/fish-with-omega-3-fatty-acids?ecd=wnl_hlc_082610

R.B.
08-26-2010, 02:47 PM
^ Thanks Jackie

That is a very useful article and addresses many of the issues I raised. It would be nice if the next article looked at some of the functional differences between the short and long chain fats. (-: Maroon and Bost's book "Fish Oil The Natural AntiInflammatory" is very helpful, and gives a doctor's perspective. Maroon at the time the book was written was Vice-Chairman of the Dept of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh, and neurosurgeon to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bost worked in the same field and department.

R.B.
01-18-2011, 12:26 PM
Bump

I have added some new material (-: to the link

R.B.
04-15-2011, 10:23 AM
Bump (-:

There are new links on the main thread since I last bumped the thread. (-:

Jackie07
06-07-2011, 11:23 AM
WebMD posted this one today about Omega-fatty-acids:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/omega-fatty-acids?ecd=wnl_chl_060711

Jackie07
07-12-2011, 02:37 PM
WebMD's new slide show on Omega 3 foods:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/omega-3-dha-11/default.htm

R.B.
10-09-2011, 09:09 AM
It is great news that the US army is starting to look seriously at the Omega 3:6 issue.

They have a real ability to make things happen, the economic clout to change company food production methods, and a massive educational ability.

Joe Hibbeln is a very articulate persuasive intelligent motivated respected specialist in the field at the NIH, who has taken the Omega 3:6 issue / wider nutrition to the US military and persuaded them to look at it seriously.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-09-20/army-studies-fish-oil-reduce-suicides/50483074/1

R.B.
04-08-2012, 04:40 AM
Bump - main link undated

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=24410

R.B.
07-05-2014, 03:25 AM
Bump - the main link on the HER2 board has been updated.

AlaskaAngel
11-25-2014, 08:42 AM
clinical trial, omega-3 plus aspirin, for postmenopausal patients:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02062255

(re: blood thinners, see Becky's post above as well and her comments.)

A.A.

'lizbeth
11-25-2014, 09:14 AM
RB, I was reading about your dental challenges in the beginning.

Like most I had to put off expensive dental care for years until the decay was close to the root in several teeth and I had to have 5 crowns. Expensive.

I did resist getting a root canal and was toughing it out. I still had discomfort on that side and thought a root canal was still in my future. Then I found out I had orthodontic benefits on my dental insurance and just got invisalign. The weird thing was the office manager was showing me my video on how it worked for my teeth and pointed out the teeth on that side were lower and the ones on the other side higher. Go figure, I had never noticed. Now that my bite is changing the discomfort is going away.

Sometimes the problem can be hidden, and sometimes it is in plain site.

Okay, I'll go buy some Sockeye Salmon for my Omega 3s.

R.B.
09-18-2018, 01:50 AM
Bump - I have not updated this for a while as updated occasionally on the main board to keep every thing in the same place