Day: 08/20/2010

Recurrent Headaches in Teens Linked to Unhealthy Lifestyle

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Adolescents who smoke, are overweight, or are inactive face increased risk for recurrent headaches, according to a cross-sectional study in Neurology.

Nearly 6000 teenagers in Norway completed headache interviews and lifestyle questionnaires and underwent clinical examinations. After adjustment for confounders, smoking conferred a 50% increased risk for recurrent headache (migraine, tension-type, or nonclassifiable); overweight, a 40% increased risk; and physical inactivity, a 20% increased risk. The more unhealthy lifestyle factors a teen had, the greater the risk.

Editorialists note that given its design, the study could not determine whether smoking, overweight, and inactivity are headache risk factors, exacerbating factors, or trigger factors. Still, they conclude that the report “sets the stage for lifestyle interventions” for headache disorders in adolescents.

Fish Oil Improves Metabolic Syndrome

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Healthy Fats Improve Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels in Metabolic Syndrome, Study Finds
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Aug. 18, 2010 — A diet rich in omega-3 fish oil or healthy monounsaturated fats found in oils such as olive and canola may be beneficial for people with metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors known to increase risk for heart attack and diabetes. Features of metabolic syndrome include high blood pressure, insulin resistance, high cholesterol levels, and abdominal fat. The new findings appear in the September issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

In the study, 117 people with metabolic syndrome were placed on one of four special diets for 12 weeks:

  • A diet high in saturated fat
  • A diet high in monounsaturated fat
  • A diet low in fat and high in complex carbs such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables
  • A low-fat diet high in complex carbs that was supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids

All of the diets contained similar amounts of calories.

Participants’ blood was tested before and after a meal at the beginning and the end of the study. All the participants showed similar levels of blood cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides before the study began. After the 12-week study period, however, people who ate diets rich in monounsaturated fat or low-fat, high complex carbs and omega-3 fatty acids had lower triglycerides than their counterparts who were placed on the other two diets.

Study participants whose diets were low in fat and high in complex carbs, a diet sometimes used for weight loss, displayed spikes in cholesterol and triglycerides after their meal. The addition of omega-3 fatty acids, such as found in fish oil, however, seemed to mitigate these effects, the study showed. Fish oil has been shown to reduce triglycerides and improve other cardiovascular risk factors.

Now, the researchers write, “it would be interesting to extend out studies beyond 12 weeks to confirm the longer-term effects of dietary fat interventions on cardiovascular risk factors in metabolic syndrome.”

Fish oil may reduce breast cancer risk

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Researchers in the Public Health Sciences Division found regular use of fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, is associated with a 32 percent reduction in breast cancer risk. The findings—the first to demonstrate such a link—were published in the July issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

The research, led by Dr. Emily White and funded by the National Cancer Institute, adds to the growing evidence that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease.

The study asked 35,016 postmenopausal women who did not have a history of breast cancer to complete a 24-page questionnaire about their use of nonvitamin, nonmineral “specialty” supplements.

After six years of follow-up, 880 cases of breast cancer were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry. The reduction in risk appeared to be restricted to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease.

The use of other specialty supplements, many of which are commonly taken by women to treat symptoms of menopause, was not associated with breast cancer risk.

Studies of dietary intake of fish or omega-3 fatty acids have not been consistent.

“It may be that the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil supplements are higher than most people would typically get from their diet,” said White, who is also a professor and associate dean of the University of Washington’s School of Public Health.

White cautioned against gleaning any recommendations from the results of one study.

“Without confirming studies specifically addressing this, we should not draw any conclusions about a causal relationship,” she said.

Co-authors include Drs. Theodore Brasky, Johanna Lampe and John Potter, all of PHS, and former Center researcher Dr. Ruth Patterson, now at University of California, San Diego.