Eating Fish 'Reduces Artery Damage In Smokers'

Ananova ^ | 1-6-2003

[blam]

Eating fish 'reduces artery damage in smokers'

Eating fish can help reverse the artery damage caused by smoking which leads to heart attacks and strokes.

Scientists have found that one serving of fish may be enough to stop arteries hardening in smokers while vitamin C is also beneficial, as is a drug used to treat gout.

Researchers gave 15 smokers supplements of taurine, an amino acid which exists naturally in all kinds of fish - not just the "oily" varieties thought to be the most healthy.

Taurine lessened a harmful effect caused by smoking which causes blood vessels to lose their flexibility.

The condition, known as endothelial dysfunction, means that arteries are not able to dilate as they should. It is one of the earliest signs of atherosclerosis, the narrowing of arteries which is a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.

A team of Irish scientists measured endothelial function by applying tourniquets to the forearms of smokers and non-smokers but only in the latter group did the tourniquet stimulate blood vessels in the arm to dilate.

However, there was no difference between the two groups when smokers were given a supplement of 1.5 grammes of taurine per day, the amount found in one serving of fish.

The scientists, who have published their findings in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, are cautious not to recommend eating fish as an antidote to smoking.

Professor David Bouchier-Hayes, from Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, said: "We're not trying to find a therapeutic treatment for smoking, because we believe that the best therapy for smokers is to stop smoking. Nonetheless, smokers provide a good clinical model for treatment of endothelial dysfunction."

The researchers found that vitamin C had a similar, though less pronounced, effect on the blood vessels of smokers while an American study reported in Circulation shows the drug allopurinol - used to treat gout - improves smokers' endothelial function.

Story filed: 21:02 Monday 6th January 2003

[Little Bill]

Crab knuckes and shrmp on the Gulf Coast, my idea of heaven.

[Glenn]

I hate fish, ate it once, three years old, never ate it again, the smell of fish makes me want to barf.

Scientists have found that one serving of fish may be enough to stop arteries hardening in smokers

You had your serving. What's the problem?

[A Navy Vet]

No, just take 1000mg of fish oil supplement a day, or the taurine supplement.

[Little Bill]

Only if you are a frog, the Italians eat every thing with red wine.

[Jeff Chandler]

I realize that I'll be a social outcast for taking red wine with fish

I believe the rule of thumb is "white wine with whitefish, red wine with redfish". I'm not sure what to drink with blue fish.

[ErnBatavia]

Is that why lesbians often chain smoke without the attending health problems?

As one who's recently wrapped up some 25 years in the fish biz, I can attest that you have found the link!

[SamAdams76]

I drink red wine with everything too. I don't pay any attention to the fancy folk who try to dictate what wine goes with what food. I just don't like white wine. I like my wine full-bodied with a hearty taste and lots of tannins.

[Little Bill]

I love your taste in food, as to smoking think of it this way. When you are in a really stressful situation and you want to kill someone, stand back, have a smoke, think, and then react, works for me, smelly as it is.

[RLK]

Fish must be cooked correctly. That's the secret. The oil or whatever must be hot enough so that it will not penetrate into the fish. Some of the best breakfasts I haver ever eaten were at the runchs at Walter Reed Hospital where they served perch.

[Little Bill]

My old man said the same thing when I was a kid, Montana 1950, I was three, "..wait but three days and you shall smell it (Him)...." The Bard knew what he was talking about.

[BallandPowder]

Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!

How about smoked trout? We caught our limits at Montauk last spring and smoked a dozen over a fire at a vouz we went to... Tasted great and were a great conversation starter while smoking... We could always tell who liked fish!! Swarmed like flies!

[struggle]

You only have a problem if you come to Japan. Fish Galore.

[Little Bill]

I was in the 249th General Hospital in Japan for a while, years ago. The place reminded me of NYC with funny writing.

[Doc Savage]

Hey, here's a revolutionary thought. If you didn't smoke you wouldn't have to eat fish to reverse the arterial damage. Duh!!!!

Or how about this. Let's have a California jury award a year's supply of cod to a smoking plaintiff instead of three hundred million dollars! Duh?

No weak-willed individuals unable to think for themselves who took up smoking because it was "so-cool!" and are no addicted to $35 cartons need reply. I already know your arguments: it's my right!, it doesn't cause cancer, and it's "so-cool!"

Hey, no problemo! It's your life. Enjoy!

[billhilly]

OK, don't have it your way!

[struggle]

yeah, well if you ever wanna die from fish, try the wonderful funazushi. fermented cod on rice.... yummm...

[blam]

"A meta-analysis found that homocysteine levels in blood are not so strongly correlated with heart attacks as was once thought. A better indicator may be ill will: being hostile predicted future heart disease better than high cholesterol, cigarette smoking or boby-mass index."

Journal Of American Medical Association, October 23,2002.

[ValerieUSA]

My Mom (with a bad heart) just won't eat fish unless it is battered and deepfried and served with gallons of tartar sauce.

[Protagoras]

I can do shrimp, shell fish, and crab, but not lobster, do I have a problem?

The rest of us don't, more for us.

But have you ever heard of smoked fish? Well, people should stick to tobacco, the fish are hard to light.

[PJ-Comix]

Some of the best breakfasts I haver ever eaten were at the runchs at Walter Reed Hospital where they served perch.

Psst! A little secret here. You can eat at any major Veterans Hospital very inexpensively. And the meals are great. No sales tax. And you don't have to be a patient or on the hospital staff to eat there. The Vets Hospital in W. Palm Beach on Military Trail & Blue Heron is probably the BEST in the country as far as cafeteria decor with its great design and skylight above.