Fish Protects Against Cancer and Heart Disease

[Guest guest]

July 2002 Column

By Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

 

Fish Protects Against Cancer and Heart Disease

 

In March, 2002, a group of Swedish scientists discovered a

relationship between eating fish and preventing cancer. Women who

ate six to eight ounces per week of fatty fish, such as herring and

alaskan salmon, had forty percent less cancer of the endometrium

(uterus) than those who ate just lean fish or no fish at all. " Our

results suggest that the consumption of fatty fish, but not other

types of fish, may decrease the risk of endometrial cancer, " they

wrote .

 

The researchers speculated that the omega-3 oils found in fatty fish

were protective. Other kinds of cancer may be similarly prevented.

Last year, an article in The Lancet showed that men who regularly

ate moderate to high amounts of fish had about half the chance of

developing prostate cancer than those who didnÕt. " Fish consumption

could be associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer, "

scientists reported (Lancet 2001;357:1764-1766).

 

 

Protecting the Heart

 

Eating fish may also decrease the risk of a heart attack. Last

November, American scientists published a huge survey of men in

Shanghai, China. Older men who ate at least 7 ounces of fish or

shellfish per week had 59 percent fewer fatal heart attacks than

those who ate less than two ounces (Am J Epidemiol 2001;154:809-16).

Two recent articles in top journals have confirmed these claims. The

first was a study of 22,000 male doctors. Researchers compared

physicians who had died of sudden heart attacks to others who

maintained normal hearts. In particular, they compared bloodstream

concentrations of omega or n-3 fatty acids, which are primarily

found in fish oils. The men who had the highest levels of omega-3s

had only one-fifth the risk of sudden death as those who had the

lowest levels. (N Engl J Med 2002;346:1113-1138).

 

A second study, published in the Journal of the American Medical

Association, looked at the health records of 85,000 female nurses.

Researchers found that the more frequently a woman ate fish, the

less likely she was to suffer a heart attack or to die of heart

disease. Those who ate fish once a week had a 30 percent lower risk

of heart attack or death as those who never ate fish (JAMA

2002;287:1815-1821).

 

My recommendation is to eat six to eight ounces of fatty fish per

week. That said, I realize there are difficulties in doing so.

Healthful fish has become difficult to procure. In January, 2001,

the FDA cautioned pregnant women, and those of childbearing age, not

to eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tile fish. All of them

are contaminated with methyl mercury, an extremely dangerous form of

mercury, which can cause birth defects. Lactating women and small

children were also advised to steer clear of these fish. What these

four fish have in common is that they are at the top of the oceanic

food chain.

 

" These long-lived, larger fish that feed on smaller fish accumulate

the highest levels of methyl mercury, " said the FDA, " and therefore

pose the greatest risk to the unborn child. "

 

The FDA further advises these women " to select a variety of other

kinds of fish, including shellfish, canned fish, smaller ocean fish

or farm-raised fish " (FDA Consumer Advisory, March 9, 2001). The

FDAÕs position is that, although childbearing women and young

children should avoid these fish, it is safe for all others: " Most

people have no reason to limit their fish consumption. " This is

strange, considering the vast data on methyl mercuryÕs harm to

adults as well as children.

 

According to MaineÕs Natural Resources Council, the safest fish are

haddock, cod, hake, flounder, pollock, Atlantic salmon, herring,

smelts, clams, shrimp, scallops, lobster (except the tomalley, which

can contain dioxin) and canned " light " tuna (safer than

canned " white " tuna). The safest freshwater fish are brook trout,

yellow perch and landlocked salmon. (Avoid salmon that has been

treated with antibiotics or dyed with artificial colors.)

 

 

G Is For Garlic

 

In April, the number of medical publications on garlic topped 1,500,

over 250 of which are related to cancer. Garlic and its cousins

(onions, chives, scallions and leeks) are probably the most

intriguing of all vegetables. Garlic lowers cholesterol, reduces the

risk of heart disease, fights infection and boosts immunity. And, as

if that werenÕt enough, the data is strong for the prevention of

cancers of the digestive system, including the esophagus, stomach,

colon and rectum. The NCI is sponsoring a huge clinical trial on

garlicÕs ability to prevent stomach cancer. But why wait years for

the results of this clinical trial? You canÕt go wrong if you eat

garlic, along with other foods of the allium family.

 

Parts of China have the misfortune to be among those places with an

inordinately high rate of cancer of the stomach and esophagus.

Scientists at the Nanjing Cancer Institute compared the incidence of

several cancers among thousands of those who ate lots of allium

vegetables versus thousands who ate little or none (Jpn J Cancer

Res. 1999;90:614-21). ( " Lots " in this case means at least once per

week while " little " means less than once per month.)

 

Scallions and onions may be even more powerful than garlic in

preventing some cancers. It is a good idea to incorporate all of

these foods into your weekly, or even daily, diet. I keep them all

handyÉscallions with ginger and garlic on a piece of broiled fish,

sweet, red or Vidalia onions chopped up for a tuna or mesclun salad,

chives for a scoop of cottage cheeseÉthere are numerous

possibilities. If you do cook these vegetables, do so with a light

touch. Always put garlic in last when you are cooking and let it get

just soft enough to eat, never mushy.

 

 

Antibacterial Effects

 

It was Louis Pasteur who first described the antibacterial effect of

onion and garlic juices. In World War II garlic was called " Russian

penicillin " because it was the main antibiotic available on the

Eastern Front. It kills both gram-positive and gram-negative

bacteria. Garlic is effective even against antibiotic-resistant

strains. It even kills Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a kind of

bacteria that is implicated in the cause of some stomach cancers and

ulcers.

 

 

H Is for Herbs

 

It has not been a good year for herbs. Late last month, the Food and

Drug Administration (FDA) issued a consumer advisory linking the

herb kava to liver damage. In January, researchers claimed that the

widely used herb ephedra (ma huang) was related to strokes, heart

attacks and deaths. St. JohnÕs wort was recently said to interfere

with the birth control pill, warfarin, digoxin and theophylline. Not

surprisingly, total herbal product sales declined 21 percent in

2001. The biggest losers were St. John's wort (down 40.5 percent),

Ginkgo biloba (down 35.3 percent) and ginseng (down 32.8 percent).

 

In the face of this barrage of bad publicity, I wish to affirm the

usefulness of herbs.

 

Most herbal products are safe and can be quite effective for a

variety of ailments. According to a recent survey, 31.6 percent of

patients used herbal remedies and 59.2 percent used other dietary

supplements.

 

I think it is something of a small miracle that in the face of the

barrage of advertising and media hype for prescription drugs, herbs

manage to hang on.

 

Despite their very different positions in the marketplace, drugs and

herbs are historically related. In fact, many drugs are derived from

herbs. In cancer, examples include Taxol (derived from the yew

tree), vincristine and vinblastine (from the periwinkle), etoposide

and teniposide (from the mayapple), and many others. Modern

chemotherapy would be inconceivable without its plant-derived

agents.

 

But there is an essential difference between prescription drugs and

herbal teas and formulas. All of the plant-derived cancer medicines

were isolated and synthesized in a laboratory, patented by

pharmaceutical companies, and packaged as profit-making prescription

drugs.

 

Herbal medicine exists in a humbler world. Across the planet,

billions of people still gather herbs in the field or grow them in

their garden.

 

Increasingly, Americans seek out packaged herbs at health food

stores and co-ops. Knowledge of what seems to work is passed by word

of mouth or through writings designed for the layperson. T

 

he cost of herbs is low and although there are profits to be made,

there is little incentive to classify most herbs as drugs, since

plants in the public domain cannot be patented. Herbs are the

underappreciated stepchildren of allopathic medicine.

 

 

Are Herbs Dangerous?

Most of the widely reported serious adverse effects of herbs result

from their misidentification. In reality, fatalities resulting from

misidentification of herbs are few and far between. According to the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about half a dozen

people die in the US each year after ingesting some poisonous plant

that was misidentified as an edible herb. During 1989Ð1992, the

American Association of Poison Control Centers recorded a total four

deaths attributed to ingestion of poisonous plants, about one per

year. In Germany, where 65 percent of the residents use herbs, such

deaths are equally rare.

 

There have been no reported deaths from botanical medicine since

they instituted their regulatory system in 1978.

 

The Germans have a sensible system of safeguards and when they

discover a possible danger they take the product off the market.

 

In America, we act as if the end of the world were at hand. Every

report of real or potential damage is accompanied by condescending

lectures.

 

Yet these lecturers say nothing about the danger of pharmaceuticals.

 

According to an article in the Journal of the American Medical

Association, approximately 106,000 deaths occur each year in US

hospitals because of adverse reactions to prescription drugs used as

directed (JAMA. 1998 Apr 15;279(15):1200-5).

 

And so, while herbal medicine is not without potential problems, it

is much safer than synthetic drugs.

 

The challenge today is to scientifically validate the traditions of

herbal medicine. This requires researchers who possess both a

mastery of the tools of science, especially clinical trials, and a

deep appreciation of the richness of the worldÕs many herbal

traditions. One such researcher is Debu Tripathy, MD, of the

University of California, San Francisco. He has said, " We are trying

toÉapply the principles of scientific investigation to an area of

medicine that has thrived for centuries in the absence of a lot of

data to support it " (Oncology Times, April 2002). He and his

colleagues have now studied 71 Chinese herbal extracts, 19 of which

show promise against lung, pancreatic, prostate and lymph cancer

cell lines. One of the most promising, Scutellaria barbata, or

skullcap, has now entered clinical trials.

 

 

A Tragic Accident

 

Ray Rosenthal, MD, a prominent researcher of CAM treatments, died on

Wednesday, April 17, after being involved in a traffic accident in

his home state of Hawaii. He veered his bicycle to avoid hitting

some pedestrians and was run over by a boat trailer. For the last

four years Ray had himself been a lymphoma patient and was

researching a book about Wolfgang Scheef, MD, of Bonn, Germany, the

innovative oncologist whom he credited with saving his life.

 

Last summer, I had the pleasure of spending a week with Ray at a

conference in Helsingor, Denmark. He was a delightful person,

knowledgeable about all aspects of cancer. Here is a picture that I

took of him at the time. I think it shows some of his joyfulness.

 

It is ironic that Ray survived his cancer only to die in a traffic

accident. He was on his cell phone with a friend at the time and was

describing the wonderful day he was having. But his last words

were, " You never know in life...there are no promises. " He would

agree that the time to live your life is now, since you never know

what fate has in store. Ray was an exceptional physician and person

and will be sorely missed.

 

 

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

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