Health Topic

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There is a reason bees protect it and bears love it, honey is not only delicious but used for healing. A spoonful of honey will coat your throat and soothe the sore during the cold season and added to tea it is used as a sweet yet healthy way to put you at ease. Honey has been used as a staple in diets as far back as biblical times and it was known to be used as currency during the Roman Empire. A new study suggests honey may be good for those suffering from sinusitis—an inflammation of the sinuses that could be a result of bacterial, fungal, allergy or viral infections—also known as rhinosinusitis including an inflammation of the nose.

The findings from this new study were to be presented this week at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation’s annual meeting. Canada’s University of Ottawa conducted the study and it’s co-author Dr. Joseph G. Marsan wasn’t surprised at the natural bacteria fighters in honey that they found, “Honey has been used in traditional medicine as a natural anti-microbial dressing for infected wounds for hundreds of years.”

The researchers investigated the activity of honey on bacteria-laden communities called “biofilms,” responsible for a lot of chronic infections, including sinusitis. Biofilms are known to reject the prescription antibiotics and over the counter remedies most used by patients with sinus symptoms. Dr. Marsan explains that popular antibiotics are blocked by bacteria clumped together in biofilms even though the reason is unknown, “Certain bacteria…have found a method of shielding themselves from the activity of anti-microbials by living in substances called biofilms, which cannot be penetrated...”.

Marsan and his team found that only certain honeys contain the bacteria-killers needed to successfully manage the inflammatory aspects of these chronic infections, "Our study has shown that certain honeys, namely the Manuka honey from New Zealand and the Sidr honey from Yemen, have a powerful killing action on these bacterial biofilms that is far superior to the most powerful anti-microbials used in medicine today”. Although they were able to isolate the different types of honey that provided anti-bacterial effects, the researchers still have to bring these superhero honey formulas out of the Petri dish and into clinical trials using lab animals and later on actual patients.

A chronic sinus infection lasts at least a few months, with over 31 million people in the United States alone undergoing nonstop courses of treatment from pills to antibiotics to nasal sprays, and even a process called irrigation in which a mixture of salt water is poured up the nose into the sinuses in order to provide at least some relief. While dealing with cold symptoms nonstop and none of those options working long term, surgery is sometimes the course of action to alleviate the pain. With this new evidence of honey helping where all the others fail to kill the bacteria, scientists say their methods of treating patients won’t be very different from their usual ways.

An ear, nose and throat resident at the University of Ottawa, Dr. Talal Alandejani says when honey is approved for antibacterial use for sinus sufferers, they will try the familiar idea of irrigation but substitute the salt water mixture, "we'll use an irrigation needle. This is not new….Probably in the non-medical world it sounds weird, but we've been irrigating with antibiotics already, so it's the same equipment . . . we’re just going to use honey in it."

While we await approval for animal testing and further approval for the wide use on humans as an alternative to drugs and surgery, the researchers don’t know yet what exactly in the honey is causing the desired effect, but no one is complaining. The upside is that I haven’t seen any bears with post-nasal drip lately and that makes honey a little sweeter.l

[Antonio Andolini]

Here's a new reason to look forward to the switch back to standard time Sunday morning: it may lower heart attack.

Heart attacks decrease by 5 percent the first Monday after the time change, and by 1.5 percent over that week, according to an analysis in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. The findings are based on 20 years of data from a Swedish registry of nine million residents.

The springtime transition todaylight saving time poses more of a health hazard: Heart attacks increase by 5 percent over the first week after clocks are pushed back an hour, spiking by 10 percent on that Tuesday, epidemiologists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found.

The reasons aren't clear, but study co-author Imre Janszky suspects that changes in sleep may play a role. Although there is little data on the cardiovascular effects of the kind of short-term sleep deprivation that occurs over the average five days it takes to adjust to moving clocks ahead in spring, chronic sleep deprivation is associated with increases in blood pressure, heart rate, blood clotting, and C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation associated with deadly heart attacks, Janszky says.

The time clock transition causes "a complex disruption of our body rhythms," Janszky says, "so there are plausible reasons for sleep deprivation as a trigger for heart attack."

One more reason to suspect sleep deprivation as a culprit: the incidence of heart attacks shifted around the time change only among Swedes under 65, the official retirement age there. Research published in 2005 by Dutch scientists showed that heart attacks are more common on Mondays, possibly because of the stress of beginning the work week—and the readjustment to getting up early.

"Our results suggest that this shortness of sleep contributes to the increased risk on Monday—except for that Monday [after the switch to standard time] when we have that extra hour we can use for sleep," Janszky says.

SciAm
New England Journal of Medicine

برای مشاهده محتوا ، لطفا وارد شوید یا ثبت نام کنید

so I wont go to bed late anymore

[obituary]

The health risks associated with weight gain are well known, but when you are pregnant it takes on a whole new significance. While it’s true that you are “eating for two,” eating twice as much usually results in excessive weight gain, meaning you will have more difficulty losing the weight after the baby is born. It also means an increased risk of having a large baby. According to a new study, gaining 40 pounds or more during pregnancy almost doubles the risk of having a baby that weighs 9 pounds or more, posing health risks to both mother and child. Bigger babies can mean riskier births, including vaginal tearing and bleeding, and often the need for a Caesarean section. For the baby there is a risk of getting stuck in the birth canal, often leading to broken collar bones. Heavier babies are also prone to obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life, the study authors said.

For the study, researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon looked at 41,540 pregnant women who gave birth to singleton babies in Hawaii, Oregon and Washington from 1995 through 2003. Patient medical records and birth certificates were used to determine the mother’s weight and the baby’s birth weight. All mothers-to-be also underwent glucose screening for gestational diabetes, which is a known risk factor for having a heavier baby. More than 20 percent of those who gained more than 40 pounds gave birth to large babies, compared to less than 12 percent of those who gained less than 40 pounds. Of those who both gained more than 40 pounds and suffered gestational diabetes, 29.3 percent had big babies, while the odds for women with normal glucose levels and who gained less than 40 pounds were only 9.3 percent. “More than one in five women gain too much weight during pregnancy and only 5 percent have gestational diabetes,” said the study’s lead author Teresa Hillier, M.D., an endocrinologist and senior investigator at the Kaiser Center.

The study concludes that women should be careful about their weight during pregnancy. Current guidelines issued by the federal Institute of Medicine in 1990, which are now being re-evaluated, advise that an underweight mother (BMI below 19.8) gain 28 to 40 pounds; women with normal weight (BMI of 19.8 to 26.0) gain 25 to 35 pounds; and overweight women (BMI above 26) gain 15 to 25 pounds during pregnancy. But, surprisingly, a third of the women surveyed in an unrelated study said they received no advice about gestational weight gain from their health care providers. “Providers should do a better job about counseling,” Dr. Hillier said. “They need to pay attention to weight, and focus on healthy weight gain.”l
But Hillier also cautioned, “Not gaining enough (weight during pregnancy) is a risk for the baby as well. The focus should be eating healthfully: low-fat dairy, protein, lots of fruit and vegetables, also, under the guidance of a physician, getting moderate amounts of exercise.”

The study was published in the November issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.l

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The chronic disorder known as fibromyalgia is characterized by extensive muscle pain lasting for at least three months coupled with heavy fatigue. Other symptoms include problems with cognitive function and memory and concentration, as well as sleep disturbances and stiffness. The condition affects between two and four percent of the world’s population with most of the victims being women.

Until now, fibromyalgia has been labeled the “invisible syndrome” as it could not be diagnosed through lab tests or X-rays. But a group of French researchers have recently detected abnormalities in the brains of those suffering from the condition.

Dr. Eric Guedj, the study's lead author and a researcher at Centre Hospitalier-Universitaire de la Timone in France explained, “We showed in our study that the functional abnormalities observed were mainly related to disability.” Previously, researchers have suggested that the pain associated with fibromyalgia was actually the result of depression. However, Guedj said that the abnormalities found in the brain scans done during the study were unrelated to anxiety and depression levels.

The research included 20 women who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 10 healthy women who were free of the condition, serving as a control group. The 30 women were asked to answer questionnaires regarding their levels of pain and disability, as well as levels of anxiety and depression. In addition, the research group performed brain imaging on the women known as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).

The brain scans revealed that the women with fibromyalgia had blood flow abnormalities or "brain perfusion" that the healthy women did not. It was also discovered that these abnormalities are directly connected to the intensity of symptoms and an increase in blood flow was found in the area of the brain that distinguishes pain severity.

Prior studies that included brain imaging have shown that the affected areas of the brain involve pain processing and emotional responses to pain. Dr. Guedj and colleagues believe that, as a result, the new findings indicate that fibromyalgia is a disorder of central pain processing in which pain sensations are heightened.

The National Fibromyalgia Association estimates that about 10 million Americans suffer from fibromyalgia. Although the cause of fibromyalgia is not known, it is believed that it may be linked to physical trauma. Treatments target improved function and pain relief.

According to Dr. Patrick Wood, senior medical adviser for the National Fibromyalgia Association, this new study supplies “further evidence of an objective difference between patients with fibromyalgia and those who don't have the disorder.”

The researchers acknowledge that a major limitation of the study was the small number of participants. In addition, although fibromyalgia is usually assessed with general pain scales like the ones used in the study, they plan to discuss whether or not these scales are appropriate for use in this type of research.

The findings were published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.l

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There has been an alarming increase in the number of children in the United States who are taking medication for chronic diseases. The growing problem of childhood obesity is apparently the culprit for health issues arising among the nation’s youngsters.

At the top of the list is the number of children who are now on medication for type 2 diabetes, a condition that has been linked to obesity. Six out of 10,000 children, a number that has more than doubled from 2002 to 2005, indicates that at a minimum of 23,000 privately insured children in the U.S. now take diabetes medications. In addition, there have been substantial increases in prescriptions for asthma and high cholesterol as well as for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Other medications on the rise for children include prescriptions for high blood pressure and depression. This shocking information comes from the results of new study published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Study co-author Dr. Donna Halloran, an assistant professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University stated, “Across all the medication classes we looked at, the rates of use increased—sometimes dramatically.” She went on to explain, “This is particularly concerning given that several of these diagnoses have been linked to obesity—diabetes, hypertension, depression, asthma.”

According to Emily Cox, study co-author and manager of outcomes research at Express Scripts Inc., in St. Louis, “We've got a lot of sick children.” She also said that although type 2 diabetes has been an adult onset in the past, children as young as the age of 5 are now being treated for the condition with prescription drugs.

The researchers analyzed the use of medication prescribed to almost 4 million U.S. children from 2002 to 2005. The information came from pharmacy claims and eligibility information for youngsters enrolled with Express Scripts, which serves thousands of client groups, employers, and insurance carriers, among others.

Significant increases were seen for prescriptions given to children between the ages of 5 and 19 over the four-year period. The doubling of the type 2 diabetes medication usage stemmed from a 166 percent increase in occurrences of the disease among girls ages 10 to 14 coupled with a 135 percent increase in occurrences among girls ages 15 to 19.

Other findings of the study included a 46.5 percent increase in the use of drugs to treat asthma, a 40.4 percent increase in the use of drugs to treat ADHD and a 15 percent increase in the number of prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering medications. In addition, the research team found moderate increases in the use of medications for high blood pressure and antidepressants.

The ratio of prescription increases was found to be much higher in girls than in boys with the use of drugs to treat type 2 diabetes increasing by 147 percent among girls, compared to only 39 percent among boys, while the use of drugs to treat ADHD increased 63 percent among girls and only 33 percent among boys. Similarly, the use of antidepressants rose 7 percent among girls with only a 4 percent increase among boys.

According to Cox, “Whether the increased use of medications is a good thing really depends on your perspective. Most people who would look at these numbers would indicate that these are worrisome trends.” She explained that there is a need to understand what is driving these increases, as they are only symptoms of underlying problems. Cox also noted that as the number of obese children increases, the number of children with chronic diseases is also increasing.

Both Cox and Halloran agree that although treatment for the medical conditions is a good thing, yet the concern is whether doctors are more likely to use drug therapy over diet and exercise. According to Cox, it is not known if there's a link between obesity and ADHD or asthma, but a tie-in between depression and obesity would make sense.

Halloran recommends that children eat more fresh fruit and avoid consuming salty fast foods and high-calorie sodas. In addition, children should increase their physical fitness activities. She also advises parents to talk more to teachers if they suspect their children have attention deficit or hyperactivity problems.l

[obituary]

A recent study presented at a joint meeting of the American Society for Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America confirmed what parents have long suspected—toys in the pediatrician’s waiting room could be exposing children to cold viruses. One in five of the toys sampled tested positive for rhinoviruses or influenza B, according to the researchers. And even more concerning is that cleaning the toys provided only modest germ-killing effect.

For the study, Dr. Diana Pappas, of the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital and her colleagues took 20 swab samples from toys in a four-pediatrician office on three different occasions during the fall and winter of 2006 and 2007. They tested for viruses common at the given time of year; rhinovirus in October, January and March, respiratory syncytial virus in January, and influenza A and B in March. They also collected 15 swabs from the toys in the sick waiting area before and after they were cleaned.

Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the researchers found viral RNA on 12 of the 60 toys sampled, three of which were from a “new toy grab bag,” that had been searched through by many children while selecting a toy. Six of the toys from the sick-child waiting area were contaminated with virus and two contaminated toys came from the well-child waiting room. Toys from exam rooms were not found to have viral RNA on them.

Although nurses wiped down the toys twice a week using germicidal wipes, six of the 14 toys tested before cleaning had rhinovirus RNA and four of the toys still did after cleaning. Two toys that were not contaminated before cleaning became contaminated afterwards. “Cleaning the toys per office protocol with a commercially available disinfectant cloth only minimally decreased the presence of viral remnants, from 40 to 26 percent,” said Dr. Pappas. “What was really discouraging was that two toys that tested negative before they were cleaned were positive afterward. We don’t know how, but the virus is somehow being transferred.” She also cautioned that the presence of viral RNA does not necessarily mean the toys are infectious.

Parents who are concerned about germs in the pediatrician’s office also need to be worried about them at home or on play dates, according to a separate study by Owen Hendley, M.D., also of University of Virginia Children’s Hospital and a researcher on both studies. Dr. Hendley was involved in a study two years ago that showed cold viruses could linger on surfaces in hotel rooms for 24 hours after an infected guest leaves, waiting to be picked up by the next unsuspecting guest. His new study involved 30 adults who were beginning to show signs of the common cold. Nasal secretions from 16 of the participants tested positive for rhinovirus by PCR, but rhinovirus was detected via culture in just seven of them.

The sixteen who had tested positive were then asked to identify 10 places in their homes they had touched in the preceding 18 hours, which the researchers subsequently tested for the presence of rhinovirus. Of the 160 surfaces sampled, 66 (41 percent) tested positive. The most commonly infected surfaces included door knob (6 of 18), refrigerator door handles (8 of 14), television remotes (5 of 10), and bathroom faucets (8 of 10). However, the biggest germ hotspots turned out to be salt and pepper shakers; all three tested were positive.

Dr. Hendley also wanted to know whether an infectious virus could be transferred to fingertips, where it could then make its way to the mouth or nose and cause infection. To find out, the researchers asked six of the infected participants to flip a light switch, touch a number on the phone keypad, and hold a telephone handset—all of which had been contaminated with the participants’ own mucus. An hour after they touched the surfaces, 22 percent of the samples taken from the fingertips contained rhinovirus. However, after a day, the number fell dramatically to just 3 percent, and after two days, there were no traces of rhinovirus detected. “I was pretty happy that the infectivity of the virus decays over time,” said Dr. Hendley. “But if you come home and turn on a light switch that (a cold sufferer) just shut off, you’ll have a pretty good chance of catching it.”

The researchers say there is no evidence to support that wiping down household surfaces gets rid of rhinovirus. Their recommendation for protecting yourself from infection is the same advice that has been passed down for generations: wash your hands frequently during cold and flu season, especially before touching your eyes or mouth

[obituary]

Can you imagine your whole day revolving around where the nearest restroom is? Overactive Bladder syndrome (OAB) suffers may have frequent sudden urges to urinate even when their bladders aren’t full, which may lead them to constantly being aware of the nearest restroom. It seems OAB can affect up to one in every six Americans.

Overactive bladder sufferer’s lives are affected in so many ways. Imagine being a school teacher, school bus driver, or public transportation driver and suffering from OAB. You may no longer be able to continue working in your current career, if able to work at all, due to OAB, unless proper treatment is found. Adults suffering from OAB will soon have a new drug option available. The United States FDA recently approved a new prescription drug, Toviaz (generically known as fesoterodine fumarate), to treat overactive bladder symptoms in adults.

Topiaz is a German drug manufactured by Schwarz Pharma and distributed by Pfizer Inc. Its recent FDA approval was based on results from two studies, each lasting over a twelve week period. 554 patients were involved in the studies, and they either took a 4-milligram dose, an 8-milligram dose or a placebo tablet daily. Toviaz reduced OAB symptoms significantly compared to the placebo. The new drug works to reduce symptoms, such as urinary frequency, the urge to urinate, and sudden urinary incontinence, by relaxing the smooth muscle tissues of the bladder, according to the FDA.

Toviaz will be available by prescription only, as an extended release tablet to be taken once daily in early 2009. The new drug will be available in 4 or 8 mg dosage strengths. It is recommended for patients to start with the lower dose and increase to the larger dose only if needed, depending on individual patient’s response to the lower dose and tolerability. The drug should not be prescribed to patients with severely decreased liver function and those with narrow-angle glaucoma that is out of control.

Based on research, Toviaz may cause some side effects including constipation, dry mouth and a few cases reported dry eyes, and trouble emptying the bladder. There are several treatments for Overactive Bladder Syndrome, such as bladder retraining, diet modification, drugs, neurmodulation and as a last resort, surgery. The other drug treatments already on the market used to treat OAB syndrome include Sanctura by Allergan and Oxytrol by Watson Pharmaceutical’s.

George Benson the Deputy Director of the Division of Reproductive and Urologic Products, at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said, "Patients who suffer from overactive bladder face quality of life issues that can hamper their ability to enjoy life to its fullest," but there is help on the way. "This new drug will provide an additional treatment option to help them manage problems with an overactive bladder."l

[obituary]

Scientists have long been on the search for a new fat-burning medication and it looks like they have found a new candidate that could help keep extra weight off, even on a high-fat diet. The new medication, which is in development, mimics a health-boosting compound that is found in red wine and may prove to be a powerful weapon in the fight against diabetes and obesity.

A new study conducted on mice showed that GlaxoSmithKline drug SRT1720 was approximately 1,000 times more potent than resveratrol in activating an enzyme that helped the mice burn more energy and lower their glucose and insulin levels. So far, this experimental drug has only been tested on mice, but when the mice got a high daily dose of the drug for around three months, they didn’t even gain weight on a diet that was high in fat. However, a lower dose of the drug was not as effective.

The researchers reported that the mice that were fed a high-fat diet were tricked into switching their metabolisms to a fat-burning mode that would normally take over when their energy levels are low.

Peter Elliot, the vice president at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (the Glaxo unit that developed the medication), said, “We are activating the same enzymes that are activated when people go to the gym. That is why we believe the profile for this drug is very safe.” When the mice were given the high dose of the drug they gained strength and endurance, and did not develop insulin resistance, which is a condition that precedes type 2 diabetes.

Resveratrol is found in large amounts in red wine and grapes and is believed to provide numerous heath benefits, including the prevention of heart disease. A previous study from the same team showed that it lowered insulin and glucose in diabetics. The incident of cancer and heart disease among the population that consumes a great deal of red wine is dramatically less than those that don’t, even if they may also have a diet that is high in fat. Resveratrol has been demonstrated to promote the formation of new dendrites in the brain. Resveratrol and the other bioflavoniods and polyphenols are present in large amounts in bark of grape vines, twigs, and leaves. In turn, red wine, which is fermented with the skins of the grapes, twigs and seeds, etc., tends to contain a much larger amount of the beneficial substances than white wine which is fermented only from the pressed juice of the grape.

The natural compound has also drawn much interest from some companies and scientists, including GlaxoSmithKline, which this year paid approximately $720 million dollars for Sirtris in a deal that allowed them to acquire a number of developmental medications for a range of diseases.

A Phase I trail conducted has shown that the treatment is safe and very well-tolerated and the company is planning on beginning a wider Phase II trail with patients with diabetes in 2009, according to Elliot, who led the study.

Resveratrol has been shown to make mice live a longer life and stay healthier. In the researcher’s study of mice that were diabetic, they found that the experimental medication helped lower their insulin and blood sugar levels to normal levels within just a few weeks with no harmful side effects.

It has also been shown to lower cholesterol and helped the mice on the medication lose a modest amount of weight compared to the mice that were given a placebo, Elliot stated. The mice that were on the medication were also able to exercise twice as long.

SRT1720 is still a long way from being ready to use in people, but there is already a low-tech way of preventing weight gain and also benefiting the bones, heart and the rest of the body. This is the timeless combination of an active lifestyle and a healthy diet.l

[obituary]

Vitamin C could be useful in the fight to end cancer after all. According to a new U.S. study that was published on Monday, using high dose injections of vitamin C on mice greatly reduced the rate of tumor growth.
The American scientist, Linus Pauling, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954, introduced the idea that vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, could be used to help treat cancer in the 1970s. This notion was initially considered controversial and subsequent studies failed to show the benefit of vitamin C, but these studies involved vitamin C being given orally.
The new research team, consisting of researchers at the U.S. government's National Institutes of Health, used injections of the vitamin C to enable a greater concentration to get into the system instead of the previous oral method. They used laboratory mice to implant three types of aggressive cancer cells: glioblastoma brain tumors, ovarian, and pancreatic. The mice that were given the high-dosage injections of the vitamin C experienced tumor growth only about half that of the similar mice that did not receive the injections.
The lead researcher from the study, Dr. Mark Levine of the NIH'S National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, said the key finding from this study is that the vitamin C used as a drug appears to have some promise in treating some types of cancers. The researchers believe that the elevated amounts of the vitamin C generate hydrogen peroxide in the body and it acts against cancer cells. Levine said that the hydrogen peroxide can lead to death of some cancer cells, but it doesn't seem to kill the normal cells. Whey that is, the researchers still do not know. These findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Levine also stated that a recent clinical study that he was involved in, in Canada, showed that similar doses of the vitamin C could be injected into humans with very few side effects. "The thing that's realistic here is that the concentrations that are effective, or similar concentrations, can be achieved in humans," said Levine. The next reasonable step would be to begin conducting studies that test whether this works in humans. "I think we're pretty close to being ready to do that."l

[obituary]

The popularity of fish oil supplements has been growing exponentially over the past several decades. As more studies tout the benefits of the supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids for heart health, as well as arthritis and depression, there are more of the products on the market than the average consumer can or is willing to analyze. Enter ConsumerLab.com and its new report on fifty fish oil supplements and fortified foods.

The Nutrition Business Journal reported that dietary supplements containing omega-3's sold to the total of approximately $35 million in 1995. Ten years later, the 2005 sales number was at $359 million, and the number had increased to $489 million in 2006. If the trend dictates, the number in 2008 will likely be well over the $500 million mark. For such a booming business, it is only appropriate that consumers and medical professionals alike have a comprehensive study that examines the supplements and foods associated with omega-3 and looks at amounts of EPA and DHA (two principal polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish), product purity, and freshness.

ConsumerLab.com has done just that. The private company is based in New York and is known for being a leading provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of health and nutrition products. In this case, researchers compared a total of 50 products, including dietary supplements, food and beverages, 23 of which were selected by ConsumerLab.com and 27 of which were included at the request of their manufacturers through the Voluntary Certification Program. Some products were several of the most popular on the market, such as Vitamin Shoppe, Yoplait, Nature Made, and Nature's Bounty, and others were store brands like Origin from Target and Spring Valley from Wal-Mart.

The results of the study were multi-fold. Most importantly, all of the products tested were found to have safe levels of mercury, lead, and PCB's (a type of carcinogen). In addition, all were found to have the amounts of EPA and DHA that their labels maintained, though those levels ranged from 16 milligrams to 1000 milligrams, depending on the product.

On the other side of the coin, it was discovered that one capsule-Kirkland Signature Enteric Coated Fish Oil-released its oil too early into the human body and thus failed its test, becoming the one of only two products not approved by ConsumerLab.com. The other product that did not meet appropriate standards for approval was Lipiderm International Veterinary Sciences, a pet supplement that contained only 25% of the alpha-linolenic acid required and 593% of the linolenic acid needed. It should also be noted that some food products claimed to provide percentages of the "daily value" of omega-3's, which is a false claim as there is no determined daily value, but this did not warrant an approval failure in those products, which included Tropicana, Silk Soymilk, Yoplait Kids Yogurt, and Aristo nutrition bars.

The levels of EPA and DHA ranged from 8% concentration to 79% of the liquid content of the products, and it varied greatly among the items tested. While higher concentrations are not necessarily better, the intake amount matters when it comes to the frequency and quantity taken. Every person's requirements are different and unique, but to get the highest concentration from the smallest serving size of the product, the only three products rating very high in that category were OmegaBrite, VitalOils, and Minami Nutrition. Rating very low were Mega Smart for Kids and Lipiderm International Veterinary Sciences for pets.

Overall, the research provides the public with guidelines for supplements and food or beverage items that may work in conjunction with a proper diet to provide the omega-3's being sought. It also helps doctors, nutritionists, and other medical professionals with a tool to gauge exactly what each patient needs and can handle.

With fish oil supplements being touted as having positive effects on cardiovascular health, reducing inflammation in those with diseases like arthritis and Crohn's disease, lessening the effects of depression and other mental disorders, aiding in the treatment of asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome, cystic fibrosis, osteoporosis, and reducing the risk of prostate and colorectal cancers, it is easy to see why their popularity continues to rise. Therefore, the ComputerLab.com study is imperative to help analyze the growing market.l