Posted by Larry Hoover on August 19, 2004, at 10:46:07
In reply to lar heres a place to start...link to partial bibli, posted by joebob on August 17, 2004, at 20:22:56
> i have files on my hard drive that i could send to you, but need more time to find more links
>
> i note that this is horrobin mostly or only in '03, i saw him speak a few years ago when he presented the science behind his positionOK, I don't do names well. I didn't recognize Horrobin....he's the front man for Laxdale, the British chemical house pushing the patented (and expensive) ethyl-eicosapentaenoate. Basically, pure EPA, but in an unnatural form, so it can be patented.
Everything he says trumpeting EPA has to be taken with a grain of salt.
DHA may not be the front man in the EPA and DHA team, but it is probably the muscle. Consider this first abstract, which shows that postpartum depression is massively correlated to DHA concentrations, but is independent of EPA. The next abstract shows that Horrobin is full of BS about the conversion of EPA to DHA....after 16 months at 12-grams/day E-EPA, the DHA levels were not elevated. They should have been elevated above normal, if interconversion readily occurs.
Lar
J Affect Disord. 2002 May;69(1-3):15-29.
Seafood consumption, the DHA content of mothers' milk and prevalence rates of postpartum depression: a cross-national, ecological analysis.Hibbeln JR.
Laboratory of Membrane Biophysics and Biochemistry, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Park 5, Room 150, 12420 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD 20892, USA. jhibbeln@niaaa.nih.gov
BACKGROUND: Mothers selectively transfer docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to their fetuses to support optimal neurological development during pregnancy. Without sufficient dietary intake, mothers become depleted of DHA and may increase their risk of suffering major depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. We postulated that the DHA content of mothers' milk and seafood consumption would both predict prevalence rates of postpartum depression across countries. METHODS: Published prevalence data for postpartum depression were included that used the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (n=14532 subjects in 41 studies). These data were compared to the DHA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and arachidonic acid (AA) content in mothers' milk and to seafood consumption rates in published reports from 23 countries. RESULTS: Higher concentrations of DHA in mothers' milk (r=-0.84, p<0.0001, n=16 countries) and greater seafood consumption (r=-0.81, p<0.0001, n=22 countries) both predicted lower prevalence rates of postpartum depression in simple and logarithmic models, respectively. The AA and EPA content of mothers' milk were unrelated to postpartum depression prevalence. LIMITATIONS: These findings do not prove that higher omega-3 status cause lower prevalence rates of postpartum depression. Data on potentially confounding factors were not uniformly available for all countries. CONCLUSIONS: Both lower DHA content in mothers' milk and lower seafood consumption were associated with higher rates of postpartum depression. These results do not appear to be an artifact of cross-national differences in well-established risk factors for postpartum depression. Interventional studies are needed to determine if omega-3 fatty acids can reduce major postpartum depressive symptoms.
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2003 May;68(5):301-4.
The effects on plasma, red cell and platelet fatty acids of taking 12 g/day of ethyl-eicosapentaenoate for 16 months: dihomogammalinolenic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids and relevance to Inuit metabolism.Horrobin D, Fokkema MR, Muskiet FA.
Laxdale Ltd, Kings Park House, Laurelhill Business Park, Stirling, FK7 9JQ, Scotland, UK. agreen@laxdale.co.uk
A patient with mantle cell lymphoma took 12g/day of ethyl-eicosapentaenoate for 16 months. Compared to reference values, eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acids were elevated in plasma, red cells and platelets but docosahexaenoic acid levels were in the normal range. Arachidonic acid levels were moderately reduced but dihomogammalinolenic acid levels remained in the normal range. In spite of a long chain n-3 fatty acid intake higher than in most Inuit populations, arachidonic acid levels remained considerably higher in this patient than in the Inuit. The implications for understanding of fatty acid metabolism in humans are discussed.
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:377821
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040815/msgs/379430.html