Omega 3 Fish Oils May Reduce the Risk for ALS
August 6, 2014 by Dr. Harvey
Filed under Articles of Interest, Blog
I have written about the importance and necessity of taking Omega 3 Fish Oils daily, how they are essential for good heart health, and how they may prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. There is also a great deal of research showing that Omega 3 Fish Oils promote a healthy nervous system. On July 14, a research study was published in the journal JAMA Neurology, that suggests that a diet rich in Omega 3 Fish Oils may help prevent the risk of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative that causes the death of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Motor control is lost and eventual paralysis in the patient occurs. There is no known cause for this disease and currently no known cure. The researchers looked at data from 1 002 082 participants (479 114 women and 522 968 men) in 5 current NIH study groups, looking at the consumption of both alpha linoleic acid (ALA) from plants and Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from fish sources. The data were controlled for several factors including physical activity, age, body mass index, education, and other diseases. The range of Omega 3 intake was between 1.14 to 1.43 g/day for women, and 1.40 to 1.85 g/day for men.
The results showed that there was a link between elevated consumption of Omega 3 Fish Oil and the reduction of onset of ALS. It is hoped that these studies may contribute to a future cure for this disease.
The abstract of the article may be accessed here.
Please contact me if you have any questions or are interested in learning more. The Omega 3 that I prefer working with, due to its high quality, can be found here.
To Your Health!
Dr. Harvey
