Fish Oil Study 2013 Links Omega-3 to Prostate Cancer
While Omega-3 has been linked to lowering blood pressure and regulating blood clotting, making it an essential requirement to our diets, a new study reveals that an excess amount of fish oil could lead to an increased risk for prostate cancer in men.
Fish Oil tablets are commonly taken to increase the amount of Omega-3 in one's diet. However a new study claims that taking too many fish-oil supplements or eating too much fatty fish could result in increased risk for prostate cancer.
"These anti-inflammatory omega-3s were associated with a 43 percent increased risk for prostate cancer overall, and a 71 percent increased risk in aggressive prostate cancer," study lead author Theodore Brasky, a research assistant professor at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus, who was at Hutchinson at the time of the study, said according to Medicine Net.
Aggressive prostate cancer is considered "high risk." Once diagnose, aggressive prostate cancer spreads quickly and can often be fatal. The increased risk study follows other recent studies which have unveiled that Omega-3 fatty acids may not be as effective at preventing heart disease as it was previously believed.
"We are getting to the point where we don't see a lot of benefit for heart disease. Some of the enthusiasm for these fats has been premature," Brasky said.
"These fatty acids have been promoted as a blanket anti-chronic disease fatty acid," he added. "But nutrition is more nuanced, as is disease occurrence. It's about time we stop talking about foods as good or bad and no gray area."
Following a healthy life style however, could help men reduce the risk of prostate cancer. In a third study conducted this July with 2,000 men, there were "clear inverse associations" between reduced prostate cancer risk and men who followed physical health guidelines. Those guidelines can be found in detail here.
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