News summary

Help for statins?

Researchers in the US say plant stanols improve the reduction of LDL cholesterol in people taking statins. Dr Anne Goldberg, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says “[Plant stanols] are now part of the [dietary] recommendations to help lower cholesterol, but trying to increase the amounts of them can be a little bit difficult. The ones that are available right now tend to be complex in fat.” Her research was funded by Lifeline Technologies, which is planning to market the tablets containing the stanols.
HealthScout

Closer look at cholesterol and fat

A study at Stanford University in the US concludes that fatty foods should be replaced with nutritious fare and not simply with fat-free alternatives. In a comparison between two low-fat diets – one plant-based and one based the convenience foods typical of the American diet – researchers found that a plant-based diet leads to greater reductions in LDL cholesterol. Over the course of four weeks 59 men and women on a vegetarian-style diet saw their total cholesterol fall by an average of 18 mg per dcl of blood and their LDL drop by 14. Those on the comparison diet showed an average drop of 9 and 7 respectively. The researchers say their findings indicate that existing advice to cut cholesterol by eating less fat is an over-simplification.
Reuters Health Online

Omega-3 and behaviour

Dietary supplementation with omega-3 and other fatty acids appears to reduce the educational and behavioural problems of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), according to scientists at Oxford. Dr Alexandra Richardson and a colleague say it can make a marked difference to symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, similar to that usually achieved by stimulant medication. Dr Richardson and Dr Paul Montgomery studied 117 children aged between 5 and 12 with DCD, and found the results supported those of an earlier pilot study by Dr Richardson, involving children with dyslexia and attention deficit-type symptoms. She says, “Our research in this area as mainly focused on the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and seafood because they are absolutely essential for brain development and function, but are often relatively lacking from modern diets in developed countries. It is now very important to see whether the same results could be achieved with dietary interventions in other children with behaviour problems attending mainstream schools.”
Reuters Health Online

Vitamin “may undo harm caused by smoking”

It is possible that vitamin C supplementation could be used to counteract some of the harmful effects on unborn babies of their mothers’ smoking. The Oregon Health & Science University team has found that in unborn monkeys air flow in the lungs, which is reduced by pre-natal exposure to nicotine, can be restored where the mother takes vitamin C. Researcher Dr Michael Gravet says the data suggest that vitamin C may be an important tool in reducing the consequences of smoking. However, the supplementation does not appear to counteract health effects such as abnormal brain development and decreased body weight.
BBC News Online

Type of fish affects health benefits

Scientists in the US have found that the effect of eating fish on certain heart criteria varies depending on how it is cooked. They say tuna and baked and grilled fish are better than fried fish when it comes to heart rate, systemic vascular resistance, left ventricle mass, and stroke volume. Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, points out that the oil containing beneficial fatty acids is not found in the white fish most commonly used in frying. “There are different types of effects from different types of fish meals,” he says. “Fried fish is not associated with blood levels of fatty acids. Fried fish tends to be neutral or even harmful.”
Med Page Today

Fatty acids “reduce arrhythmia”

The risk of dangerous arrhythmia in bypass patients can be reduced by more than 50 per cent through the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, according to scientists in Rome. The benefit to patients with pacemakers may be even greater, they say. There were no major differences between the two groups of patients in the incidence of nonfatal post-surgery complications or in post-surgery deaths, say researchers at San Filippo Neri Hospital, in Rome. Meanwhile a team at the Ospedale S Giacomo has found that in people with pacemakers and a history of atrial arrhythmias treatment with omega-3 fatty acids results in a dramatic reduction, which is reversed when treatment is halted.
HealthScout