Posted on 01/28/2021 10:57:16 AM PST by Red Badger
Researchers with the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) and collaborators at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and in Orange County, CA, have published the first direct evidence that higher omega-3 blood levels may reduce risk for death from COVID-19 infection. The report was published in the journal Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids on January 20, 2021.
There are several papers in the medical literature hypothesizing that omega-3 fatty acids should have beneficial effects in patients with COVID-19 infection, but up until now, there have been no published peer-reviewed studies supporting that hypothesis.
This study included 100 patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 for whom admission blood samples had been stored. Clinical outcomes for these patients were obtained and blood was analyzed for the Omega-3 Index (O3I, red blood cell membrane EPA+DHA levels) at OmegaQuant Analytics (Sioux Falls, SD). Fourteen of the patients died.
The 100 patients were grouped into four quartiles according to their O3I, with 25% of the patients in each quartile. There was one death in the top quartile (i.e., 1 death out of 25 patients with O3I>5.7%), with 13 deaths in the remaining patients (i.e., 13 deaths out of 75 patients with O3I<5.7%).
In age-and-sex adjusted regression analyses, those in the highest quartile (O3I >5.7%) were 75% less likely to die compared with those in the lower three quartiles (p=0.07). Stated another way, the relative risk for death was about four times higher in those with a lower O3I (<5.7%) compared to those with higher levels.
“While not meeting standard statistical significance thresholds, this pilot study – along with multiple lines of evidence regarding the anti-inflammatory effects of EPA and DHA – strongly suggests that these nutritionally available marine fatty acids may help reduce risk for adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Larger studies are clearly needed to confirm these preliminary findings,” said Arash Asher, MD, the lead author on this study.
Agreeing with Dr. Asher, cardiology researcher and co-developer with Dr. Harris of the Omega-3 Index, Clemens von Schacky, MD, (CEO, Omegametrix GmbH, Martinsried, Germany, and not involved with the study) said, “Asher et al have demonstrated that a low Omega-3 Index might be a powerful predictor for death from COVID-19. Although encouraging, their findings clearly need to be replicated.”
Omega-3 expert James H. O’Keefe, Jr., MD, (Director of Preventive Cardiology, Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, MO, and also not involved with the study) observed, “An excessive inflammatory response, referred to as a ‘cytokine storm,’ is a fundamental mediator of severe COVID-19 illness. Omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) have potent anti-inflammatory activities, and this pilot study provides suggestive evidence that these fatty acids may dampen COVID-19’s cytokine storm.”
The FARI research team is currently seeking funding to expand upon these preliminary observations. Individuals and organizations that want to support this research are encouraged to visit FARI’s donations page.
Reference: “Blood omega-3 fatty acids and death from COVID-19: A Pilot Study” by Arash Asher, Nathan L. Tintle, Michael Myers, Laura Lockshon, Heribert Bacareza and William S. Harris, 20 January 2021, Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids. DOI: 10.1016/j.plefa.2021.102250
The Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) is a non-profit research and education foundation. FARI was founded in order to accelerate discovery of the health effects of fatty acids, most notably, the long chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. FARI researchers and scientists will focus single-mindedly on publishing high-quality research studies on the multiple relationships between fatty acid levels and human (and animal) health outcomes. These studies will improve the ability to predict risk for disease, and more importantly, suggest ways to reduce risk by changing our diets and/or supplementation regimens.
Um, don’t Chinese people generally eat plenty of fish?
Italians too?
Doesn’t seem to have helped them much.
Dr. Henry is the Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia,the first woman in this position.
She is also an associate professor at the University of British Columbia.
She has a background in epidemiology and is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine.
She is also from PEI.
The Wisdom of Dr. Bonnie Henry
1. We may have to live with COVID-19 for months or years. Let’s not deny it or panic.
Let’s not make our lives useless. Let’s learn to live with this fact.
2. You can’t destroy COVID-19 viruses that have penetrated cell walls, by drinking gallons of hot water you’ll just go to the bathroom more often.
3. Washing hands and maintaining a two-meter physical distance is the best method for your protection.
4. If you don’t have a COVID-19 patient at home,
there’s no need to disinfect the surfaces at your house.
5. Packaged cargo, gas pumps, shopping carts and ATMs do not cause infection.
If you wash your hands, live your life as usual.
6. COVID-19 is not a food infection. It is associated with drops of infection like the ‘flu.
There is no demonstrated risk that COVID-19 is transmitted by food.
7. You can lose your sense of smell with a lot of allergies and viral infections.
This is only a non-specific symptom of COVID-19.
8. Once at home, you don’t need to change your clothes urgently and go shower!
Purity is a virtue, paranoia is not!
9. The COVID-19 virus doesn’t hang in the air for long.
This is a respiratory droplet infection that requires close contact.
10. The air is clean, you can walk through the gardens and through parks
(just keeping your physical protection distance).
11. It is sufficient to use normal soap against COVID-19, not antibacterial soap.
This is a virus, not a bacteria.
12. You don’t have to worry about your food orders.
But you can heat it all up in the microwave, if you wish.
13. The chances of bringing COVID-19 home with your shoes is like being struck
by lightning twice in a day. I’ve been working against viruses
for 20 years — drop infections don’t spread like that!
14. You can’t be protected from the virus by taking vinegar,
sugarcane juice and ginger! These are for immunity not a cure.
15. Wearing a mask for long periods interferes with your breathing
and oxygen levels. Wear it only in crowds.
16. Wearing gloves is also a bad idea; the virus can accumulate into the glove
and be easily transmitted if you touch your face.
Better just to wash your hands regularly.
Immunity is greatly weakened by always staying in a sterile environment.
Even if you eat immune boosting foods,
please go out of your house regularly to any park/beach.
Immunity is increased by EXPOSURE TO PATHOGENS,
not by sitting at home and consuming fried/ spicy/sugary food and aerated drinks.
Be smart and stay informed! Live life sensibly and to the fullest.
Be Kind, Be Calm and Be Safe!
Sincerely, Dr. Bonnie Henry
I think this is also worth forwarding to your friends and family.
Tell that to my wife. She is paranoid of it. She now makes me take off my shoes at the door and put them outside on the porch..................
Thanks.
(Just to clarify, every size is single serving size after a few medicinal beers)
LOL!
I don’t know about Italians, but the Chinese? Look at where their fish comes from!.....................
True, probably full of mercury, pcbs, and god knows what else, but still there must be some Omega-3 in there among the goop somewhere.
Almost always, if you scratch under the study, you learn the doses of EPA DHA are too small to do anything.
Eat sardines! A can or two a week is all you need.
I do that too!.................... People don’t come near me, so that’s an added bonus!..................
No. There's studies out there showing that nicotine is also protective. I doubled my pipe smoking after I saw that one.
Otherwise, I, too, supplement with vitamin D3 (10K IU daily), zinc (50 mg elemental daily), and melatonin (which I was already taking, 10mg at bedtime; sleep like the dead, but don't die).
i am going to go get the pickled herring today to see if I can handle it. I may have to mask it with eggs and cream cheese
I use Ritz crackers.
Everything’s better when it sits on a Ritz!...................
Smoked sprats from Latvia are great. A little soy sauce, lemon juice, rolled up in flat bread. Great!
i learn all kinds of things on these food threads
I never heard of Sprats.
wow..almost 60 bucks for a can of Sprats
https://www.amazon.com/Latvian-Smoked-Riga-Sprats-Pack/dp/B00DJGEDLY
oh..that is for 24 cans...LOL
Looks like my heavy salmon diet is going to pay off. Oh, and already getting and surviving the Chinese Commie Bug back in Feb.
Very interesting, uncle. Thanks.
We knew this. Just like HQC, Vit D3, Zinc and Vit C. Of course, all these were bad during orange man times.
Interesting. Thanks!
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