Stressful Events May Increase BC Recurrence Rate

[R.B.]

This trial make the point effectively.

RB



1: Biofactors. 2000;13(1-4):41-5.Click here to read Links
Anti-stress effects of DHA.
Hamazaki T, Itomura M, Sawazaki S, Nagao Y.

Department of Clinical Application, Institute of Natural Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan. hamazaki@ms.toyama-mpu.ac.jp

DHA is abundant in the brain. Deficiency of DHA changes behavior in animals. The purpose of the present studies was to clarify the effect of DHA intake on hostility and plasma catecholamines. In study 1, forty-one students took either DHA-rich oil capsules containing 1.5-1.8 g DHA/d (17 females and 5 males) or control oil capsules containing 97% soybean oil plus 3% fish oil (12 females and 7 males) for 3 mon in a double blind fashion. They took a psychological test (P-F Study) at the start and end of the study. Study I started at the end of summer vacation and ended in the middle of mental stress of final exams. In the control group, hostility measured by P-F Study was significantly increased at the end of the study as compared with that measured at the start (+58%), whereas it was not significantly changed in the DHA group (-14%). In a similar double blind two-mon study (study 2), we measured plasma catecholamines and cortisol of students (3 females and 4 males for the DHA group and the same numbers for the control) at the start and end of the study. In study 2 the students were under a continuous stress of final exams that lasted for two mon throughout the whole study period. The plasma cortisol did not change in either group, but the norepinephrine concentration was significantly decreased in the DHA group (-31%), whereas it stayed at the same level in the control group. These effects of DHA intake may be applied to people under psychological stress.

PMID: 11237197 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Sandy in Silicon Valley]

Hi,

As far as I could understand, there isn't any connection between the research about stressful events and the two physiological/chemical response articles cited by R.B. Of those two articles, the first, by Julian Lieb, an author who writes about bipolar disorder, is about lithium and other mood chemistry-altering drugs. It is largely theoretical, and not based on experimental research, but rather, from what little I can tell, appears to be anecdotally-and-petrie-dish-based.

The second study, of DHA "biofactors", is so small a study (41 subjects in all) as to be virtually insignificant, and in fact, no P= (significance) levels are given for any of the data. Plus, it seems to me a very tenuous line to extrapolate generalizations of scientific knowledge between these 3 studies.

I'm not dismissing that there may be some deeply embedded commonality among long-term trauma or more recent/current "stressful" life experiences (the one I loved was "living with a MIL"!) and their effects on bcmets recurrence rates, bipolar disorder drugs, and DHA manipulations of mood, but if these phenomena have anything clear in common, it is NOT demonstrated in these three articles, IMO.

(((hugs)))
Sandy in Silicon Valley

[R.B.]

The body is so complex you are never going to prove these links in the same way as you will never prove smoking is bad for you. The is a great deal of indicative evidence smoking is bad fro you but not absolute proof in the sense you can isolate smoking from every other variable.

I know this is hard to believe but IMO there is growing evidence for stress and chemical factors.

I cannot argue a very complex subject in two or three paragraphs.

I have read very fairly on this subject and you will just have to take my word or go and spend many hours searching and reading that there are links at a chemical level that are capable of accounting for links between chemicals involved in the fats pathways and stress.

There is masses of experimental research on fats and neurological conditions. It is not conclusive but it is growing in weight and quantity.

The lithium trial says "As prostaglandins are the most heavily studied eicosanoids in the context of mood and immunity I will focus on them in this article." "There is objective evidence that prostaglandins regulate the physiology of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)."

"The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) is a complex set of direct influences and feedback interactions between: the hypothalamus, a hollow, funnel-shaped part of the brain; the pituitary gland, a pea-shaped structure located below the hypothalamus; and the adrenal or suprarenal gland, a small, paired, pyramidal organ located at the top of each kidney. The fine, homeostatic interactions between these three organs constitute the HPA axis, a major part of the neuroendocrine system that controls reactions to stress and regulates various body processes including digestion, the immune system, mood and sexuality, and energy usage." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypotha...y-adrenal_axis

The student trial says "the norepinephrine concentration", which relates to stress. This effect has been observed in other trials. "Norepinephrine is released when a host of physiological changes are activated by a stressful event." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norepinephrine There are a number of trials that make the link to stress reduction occuring where DHA intake rises.

RB

[R.B.]

Thanks for starting this thread.

Questions make me go off and look for answers and so all always useful.

I do not mean to be strident but it is hard when you can see patterns building that have serious health implications but cannot communicate what you see.

Some have been banging the omega six drum for decades. William Lands in one such pioneer.

RB

[R.B.]

Impressive results for EPA in Bipolar disorder.

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/...full/159/3/477

[Sandy in Silicon Valley]

R.B. -

Please explain what the article on research re: Omega-3 supplementing anti-depression and anti-bipolar medication has to do with breast cancer and Herceptin...

Thanks,
Sandy in Silicon Valley

[R.B.]

Why the thumbs down?

A search on this site on depression produced 234 hits.

Depression links to anxiety neural function etc. Omega three plays a key role in neural function.

Neural function links into the fats pathways and endocrine functions.

Omega three reduces the risk of breast cancer.

RB