Please note the word drug is in quotes. I am not suggesting it is a drug in the pharmaceutical sense and of course no sane person would ever suggest in this era of censure that fish oil has drug like properties or any properties that compete with preexisting drugs.
Silly me I used to think that ageing was sacro sanct from the alphabet agencies since there is no ICD code and it is repeatedly denied that aging is disease by some of the most respected and erudite medical minds in the country.
Then the FTC took action against TA Sciences for false claims*. The guise was primarily the claims in one of their studies that showed improved bone mass. I was not privy to those discussions but second source info told me that was the bugaboo and it makes sense given that there is a drug out there for said condition.
Never mind that side effects may include osteonecrosis of the jaw and other bones. Ironic that the drug to prevent bone loss in the hip may cause it in the jaw no? In terms of studies it appears that the studies done by TAS were insufficient to prove efficacy even though they were done by good and reputable scientists.
Perhaps “more studies were needed”. Never heard that before! I would have asked how many but I can only guess the answer would have been “more than you did!”
So is aging a disease or isn’t it. The above response in all its glory suggests that its not nice to fool with mother government. Or is that who’s your daddy?!
In either case the bottom line is this: I am not making medical claims, mitigating claims, diagnosing claims but I am guessing I may still have the right to report the data as it is published.
I guess I will find out soon enough!
A recent study by one of my favorite scientists Maria Blasco showed the relationship between inflammatory Omega 6 content in red blood cells and white blood cell telomere length.
So, in a sense this study combines a bunch of my favorite topics- Omega 3 and its opposing relationship to Inflammatory Omega 6 fats (nuts vegetables, processed oils and foods) and another favorite, telomere length.
Maria pioneered what is now known as TAT, the best telomere length measurement out there www.lifelength.com several years ago.
This study shows that white blood cell telomere length is dependent on the red blood cell content of Omega 6 inflammatory fatty acids.
Now if this sounds confusing it should not be, especially if you are a regular reader of my writings.
If not or if you’ve forgotten here are a few facts to clarify the issue:
- The ratio of Omega6 to Omega 3 fats often called the “Land’s ratio” after Dr Bill Lands the man who pioneered it uses red blood cells as a source of how much Omega 6(inflammatory) and Omega 3 (anti-inflammatory) you have in your body.
- This test was developed for commercial use after it was found there was a high correlation between red blood cell fatty acid content and tissue fatty acid content. The Land’s ratio takes that into account. Note: most companies that sell this test omit the reference to DR Lands. I know the man as a great scientist and I refuse to ignore the source of this test.
- Telomere testing as developed by DR Maria Blasco (another great scientist I am pleased to call a friend) uses white blood cells to measure telomeres because they are easy to obtain by a simple blood draw.
- Please note I am not longer affiliated with DR Dave’s Best or its products. My web site and the only source for my product line is www.thelongevityedge.com. I attempted to make this well-known but was prevented from doing so by legal issues.
- The reason white blood cells are used for telomere testing and not red blood cells is that telomeres “live” in the nucleus of the cell and red blood cells have no nuclei.
- Dr. Lands found that tissue fatty acids correlate very well with red blood cell fatty acids in Omega 6/3 ratios. Dr Blasco and others found a correlation between white blood cell telomere length and other tissues in the body*
- The white blood cell is a primary arbiter of the Immune System, and the immune system is instrumental in organizing the protection of the body from damage due to infections of all kinds, toxins of all kinds, cancer cells that develop, and healing damaged tissues. As such it may be the most important system in the body in determining how the body ages!
- Dr Blasco’s study has effectively merged the two concepts of essential fatty acids and telomere testing and showed a direct effect of inflammation to telomere shortening at a cellular level. Others have shown the effects at a clinical level.
- Many articles state telomeres are directly related to aging and disease and that their measurement is critical. This is in spite of Harvard scientists saying it is not really useful. That is the typical party line which I personally think is wrong! I think it is useful and I think you can affect changes in telomere length and those changes have a good chance of improving your health and perhaps your life span.
Taken in context I would argue that since higher levels of Omega 3 in your body displace Omega 6 inflammatory fats from their shared (Omega 3 and 6 use the same pathways metabolic pathways, and that the Omega 6/3 ratio must must must = 100% that having higher Omega 3’s will always result in lower Omega 6’s. For instance, if you have 30% Omega 6 you will have 70% Omega 3 and you will be in an “anti-inflammatory state” unless you have some super weird metabolic disorder!
This would suggest that having a higher Omega 3 is good for your telomeres as Dr. Farzeneh Farr showed clinically several years ago. Now Dr Blasco has equated it directly to your cells!
Dr Dave
* Then there was the infamous Suzanne Summers infomercial which was interpreted to be misleading because it looked like a news piece. Can’t do that unless maybe you are some other mainstream TV doctor whose show is basically one giant infomercial sponsored by a list of “trusted sponsors”.
Frankly I don’t see how that is any different but I don’t work for the government.
Great blog! You’re the man.