Fatty Acids News and Research

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Study continues to support margarine's use in heart-healthy diets

A new study gives the "thumbs up" to soft, trans fat-free margarines in terms of foods that can help reduce the risk of heart disease.

25 Aug 2005

Protein Sirt1 points to new therapies for type 2 diabetes

Opening the possibility of new therapies for type 2 diabetes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a protein called Sirt1 enhances the secretion of insulin in mice and allows them to better control blood glucose levels. Their study appears in the August 17 issue of Cell Metabolism.

18 Aug 2005

Researchers discover that tumors secrete fatty acids which inhibit the cytotoxic T lymphocytes' ability to kill tumor cells

Researchers have discovered that tumors release fatty acids that interfere with the cells that are trying to kill them. Consequently, strategies that reduce the amount of fatty acids surrounding the tumors may give a boost to anti-cancer therapeutics.

11 Aug 2005

South African Department of Health celebrating World Breastfeeding Week

The South African Department of Health will be celebrating World Breastfeeding Week from the 1st August to 7th August 2005. World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) takes place annually from the 1st to 7th August and was created by World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) in 1990.

2 Aug 2005

Omega-6 fatty acids promote the growth of prostate tumor cells in the laboratory

A study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) has demonstrated that omega-6 fatty acids such as the fat found in corn oil promote the growth of prostate tumor cells in the laboratory.

2 Aug 2005

Food subsidies in Poland has led to a drastic drop in deaths from coronary heart disease

In 1991 the Polish government cut subsidies for saturated fats - i.e. from dairy and animal sources. Researchers examined how this affected diet in the general population, and whether there were any changes to death rates from heart disease.

21 Jul 2005

Researchers discover type of "fuel" that the heart uses can contribute to the severity of heart failures

Researchers have determined how metabolic pathways differ between healthy and failing hearts. Normally, a heart derives its energy from a balance of fatty acids and carbohydrates, specifically glucose.

21 Jul 2005

Americans need to eat more fish

The sooner people start eating more fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids like salmon and tuna the better. Having fallen out of favor due to past mercury warnings aimed at pregnant women, new data show that consumers are doing their bodies a disservice if they continue to avoid this food.

19 Jul 2005

Abnormal heart rate variability is partially responsible for depression's effects in heart patients

Scientists have known for years that depression increases the risk of dying in the months after a heart attack, but they haven't understood how depression raises that risk.

13 Jul 2005

Study proves Lorenzo's Oil prevents rare disease in boys

U.S. researchers have confirmed that a treatment called Lorenzo's Oil can prevent the onset of a rare but devastating neurological disease in young boys, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy or X-ALD.

12 Jul 2005

Fish may help prevent heart failure as well as heart attacks

Older people who ate fish once or twice a week had a 20 percent lower risk of developing congestive heart failure during 12 years of follow-up, according to a new study (PDF) in the June 21, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jun 2005

Fish only good for expectant mums if mercury level is low

For years medical experts have argued, as fish can be harmful as well as healthy, and what advice to give people, particularly pregnant women, about how much is safe to eat.

20 Jun 2005

Fish oil not a good idea for heart defibrillator patients

For heart patients who have surgically implanted defibrillators to shock their weakened hearts back into rhythm, fish oil supplements are not a good idea and in fact appear to do more harm than good.

15 Jun 2005

Fish oil does not lower risk of serious heart rhythm abnormalities for patients with implantable defibrillators

Even though previous research has shown that fatty acids from fish oil reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death, patients with implantable defibrillators who took fish oil supplements did not see a reduction in serious heart rhythm abnormalities, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

14 Jun 2005

Modifying your salt intake has the potential to prevent exercise-induced asthma

An Indiana University professor may have uncovered the mechanisms by which high-salt diets can trigger exercise-induced asthma, offering the most complete picture to date of how dietary factors can both aggravate and alleviate the symptoms of this common condition.

9 Jun 2005

Omega-3 combined with propofol may lead to new drugs to treat breast cancer

Omega-3, the fatty acid found in oily fish, could be combined with a commonly used anesthetic to develop drugs to treat breast cancer, according to research published in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

8 Jun 2005

New clue to understanding how fatty acids work in the brain

Scientists in Cambridge have discovered that a brain protein called syntaxin enables fatty molecules, used widely in health supplements, to work in the brain to make it function properly. Lead Scientist, Dr Bazbek Davletov and his colleague Dr Colin Rickman from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK report their findings in the journal Chemistry and Biology.

1 Jun 2005

'Bad' metabolism cloggs up arteries

Scientists are now saying that a 'bad' metabolism may explain why some people who have never smoked and do not have high cholesterol levels suffer from a potentially lethal build-up of plaque in the arteries.

26 May 2005

Direct link between inefficient metabolism and atherosclerosis

An experiment that turned out very differently than expected led scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to the first direct link between inefficient metabolism and atherosclerosis.

26 May 2005

Brain fatty acid levels linked to depression

A group of researchers from Israel has discovered that rats exhibiting the signs of depression have increased levels of the omega-6 fatty acid, arachidonic acid, in their brains. The details of their findings appear in the June issue of the Journal of Lipid Research, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal.

25 May 2005