Fish oil is a major dietary source of the polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA is important for growth and functional development and for information processing in the brain. It has been shown to have positive effects on hypertension, arthritis, depression, heart disease, some cancers and age-related disorders such as Alzheimers.
Following her research into DHA, postgraduate student Samantha was one of just 10 young investigators to be presented with an award at the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) 2004.
Samantha, who is based in the University's School of Pharmacy, said: "Around 50 to 60 per cent of brain dry weight consists of lipids and approximately 20 per cent of the brain membrane lipids consist of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The most abundant omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in the brain is DHA.
"With the ageing process, there is a deterioration in the central nervous system, deterioration in memory, increased inflammation and increased oxidative stress and level of cholesterol in the brain. This is accompanied by a decline in the levels of DHA in the brain.
"By increasing the dietary intake of DHA, we hoped to increase the levels of DHA in the brain, and this would hopefully have positive impact on the deficits associated with ageing."
An eight-week study revealed that having a diet supplemented with DHA resulted in the levels of DHA in the brain increasing, whilst the levels of cholesterol decreased. Researchers concluded that DHA reversed the age-related deficits associated with inflammation and stress.
Samantha was awarded a certificate and 120 for her research, under the category of Young Investigators Awards for the top 10 papers presented by young (PhD students) researchers.
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The researchers also found that Together, prehypertension and residual hypertension accounted for 4.7 percent of hospital admissions per 10,000 adults aged 25 to 74 years, 9.7 percent of nursing home admissions, and 13.7 percent of deaths. Prehypertension alone accounted for 3.4 percent of hospitalizations, 6.5 percent of nursing home stays, and 9.1 percent of deaths, the authors write.
Our results confirm the substantial public health consequences of prehypertension, the researchers conclude. If prehypertension were eliminated, hospitalizations, nursing home admissions, and premature deaths could decline substantially.
In an accompanying editorial, Martha L. Daviglus, M.D., Ph.D., and Kiang Liu, Ph.D., of the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago write, In this issue of the ARCHIVES, Greenlund et al and Russell et al report findings and projections from national samples on the consequences of prehypertension. Greenlund and colleagues find that approximately one third of adult Americans have prehypertension and that this adverse blood pressure level is accompanied by unfavorable levels of other major cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Not unexpectedly, Russell et al, using a statistical model relating coronary heart disease risk factor levels to rates of hospitalization, nursing home confinement, and death in U.S. adults aged 25 to 74 years, estimate that elimination of prehypertension and residual hypertension would result in noticeable percent decreases in these events, the editorialists write.
Although interest in population studies triggered by a new classification for a major cardiovascular disease risk factor is certainly timely and important, the key message of these findings is not new, they write. Concern about the effects of intermediate levels of a single risk factor may obscure the fundamental point: the national policy on cardiovascular disease prevention must focus on prevention and control of all risk factors simultaneously and on lifestyle approaches from conception, infancy, childhood, and youth on to reduce population cardiovascular disease risk to endemic, rather than current epidemic, levels, conclude the editorialists.
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