Omega 3’s and prostate cancer
(bottom line; this recent one wasn’t a very impressive study, and their press release overstated the findings; but omega-3’s have no proven clinical advantage in preventing dementia, reducing cancer, reducing all cause mortality, or reducing cardiovascular disease, thus I wouldn’t recommend them anyway.)
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/07/09/jnci.djt174.full
http://www.fhcrc.org/en/news/releases/2013/07/omega-three-fatty-acids-risk-prostate-cancer.html
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1357266
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/97/3/531.long
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005379.pub3/abstract
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202260
Plain packs (bottom line, plain packaging is associated with smokers liking them less and being more likely to want to quit)
http://www.bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/7/e003175
NHS Health Checks – the references for these are at the bottom on that ‘summer of death’ blog
http://margaretmccartney.com/2013/07/15/the-summer-of-death-for-public-health/
If you are interested in seeing what benefits you may get from statins, play around with this from q-intervention
Blood ‘sell off’
initial media stories
http://news.sky.com/story/960130/exclusive-lazard-to-lead-nhs-sale, and http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/07/15/tories-plan-to-sell-off-nhs-blood-supplier/, and this http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/is-there-no-limit-to-what-this-government-will-privatise-uk-plasma-supplier-sold-to-us-private-equity-firm-bain-capital-8718029.html
origins of Plasma Research UK
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo021218/wmstext/21218m04.htm
Blood and Transplant service statement on CJD
http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/current_issues/joint_statement_on_blood_safety.html
January 2013 statement from Dan Poulter
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-on-plasma-resources-uk-ltd
Reflection from Lucy Reynaulds
Blog from Anthony Cox
Hi Margaret,
Really pleased to hear you on inside health pointing out that omega-3 supplements appear to do no good. It has been a bug bear of mine that people are urged to up their omega-3 and oily fish intake. I have an allergy to fish since birth and have been an ethical vegetarian for 20+ years so have never consumed any fish based fatty acids (without throwing them up within 30 minutes!) and yet I am an apparently healthy 48 year old.
I’ve done some reading around and even studies that appear to show improved health by consuming oily fish are only showing the effects of replacing meat (typically red) with something less ‘harmful’. They don’t control for alternative dietary interventions – such as treatment as usual vs increased fish vs increased tofu or lentils.
If you know of evidence refuting this view I’d really like to see it.
Keep up the good work.
Best,
Roger