Fish Oil and Brain Trauma

[circular]

Interesting stuff, though I think fish oil is now connected with prostate cancer in men (?), and who knows what other adverse effects could come from such high doses, esp in 4s:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/18/health/fi ... ?hpt=hp_c2

[Julie G]

Wow, first I'd ever heard of a high dose fish oils intervention What a blessing that it worked. As a parent, I'd also be willing to try anything in that situation. Omega 3 transport (as it relates to ApoE4) has been strongly on my mind lately, Circ. Your link came at a great time.

I recently stumbled upon this paper discussing that very topic-
Lipid homeostasis and apolipoprotein E in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease
http://www.jlr.org/content/46/5/949.full.pdf

Excellent discussion & summary of research regarding the inefficiency of ApoE4 in lipid transportation and the importance of maintaining a healthy Omega 3:6 balance, as well as minimizing carbs to prevent oxidation. I always shoot for a 1:1 ratio on my Omegas- but rarely to ever achieve it By carefully working with a Chronometer, I've learned I'm averaging about 1:4...work in progress.

[Gilgamesh]

Great articles -- thanks!

Whenever someone posts an article here, I look it up on PubMed (probably can do the same thing at Medscape and other sites???) and click on "Cited by...". One gets a list of potentially useful articles that are (depending on the date of the first posted article) possibly more up to date.

Lots of articles cite your article, J. One that's chock full of useful (though technical) info:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3518784/

GB

[SpunkyPup]

did you notice Dr Barry Sears PhD was consulted and he is the expert on omega3's and I have been recommending his book Toxic Fat..

he uses mega doses of fish oils to reduce inflammation.

now it is even possible that high dose fish oil like 6g/day works for some E3/4's reducing Lp(a) which I heard about but it can also change lipid profiles for the worse.

well looking up studies in this case you found one that tells us we need more studies which we already know. but research moves on to other areas.

[Julie G]

Excellent paper, G. Thanks for sharing. Newer interventions using carbon-13 tracer studies are elucidating the mechanisms behind E4's apparent lack of responsiveness to fish oil. There is little doubt that our less efficient/more perilous transport leads to impaired delivery, homeostasis & metabolism. I remain convinced, however, that our brains have the same or even a greater need for Omega-3s than other ApoE genotypes. I am hopeful that more work will reveal HOW we can benefit.

In the meantime, I am still t-r-y-i-n-g by supplementing with a relatively small dose of DHA (500-600mg.) I alternate between fish and plant sources. I'm using the UCLA protocol and taking it on an empty stomach with curcumin and my NRF2 activation supplement (also heavy in curcumin) to try to mitigate oxidation. Dietarily, all of my proteins (and many plant sources) are rich in Omega-3's. I'm aiming for a 1:1 balance of my Omegas, but usually end up around 4:1. My daily intake varies from 3-11 grams.

he uses mega doses of fish oils to reduce inflammation

I'm with you there, Spunky. By working on balancing my Omegas over the past year, I have experienced a dramatic reduction in wide-spread inflammation. I no longer need any prescription medication to control my mast cell activation- HUGE. There is no doubt that there are anti-inflammatory benefits beyond AD prevention...and little reason to believe that our brains don't receive the same anti-inflammatory benefit.

P.S. Just to keep the site clean (and easy to navigate;) I'm going to add both links to the existing fish oil thread.