thorinn@diku.UUCP (Lars Henrik Mathiesen) (12/30/86)
In article <835@aecom.UUCP> werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) writes: > While I'm at it, let me talk about Fish Oils. The claims of >these new wonder supplements (that is omega-6 fatty acids) is that they >lower serum cholesterol. They don't. The Eskimos have a high serum >cholesterol. What they lack is the expected mortality rate from >cardiovascular disease that generally goes with a high serum cholesterol. >There's a subtle difference there, and I thought I'd point it out. >-- > Craig Werner (MD/PhD '91) > !philabs!aecom!werner > (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) > "If I don't see you soon, I'll see you later." I just read in the paper that some researchers, Danish I think, have found that the mechanism of the lowered mortality is something like this (please excuse the terminology, as I read this in a Danish paper): One of the components of the blood plate clotting factor is made from some fatty acid, and if eicosapentaen{ic?} acid is present, the resulting clotting factor is less efficient, thus giving a smaller risk of blood clots, but at the same time making wounds bleed much longer -- this was already known by the Norse in Greenland, who noted that the Skraelings bled even after death! It would seem to me that the same effect could be achieved with any other "blood thinning" agent - like Aspirins?! But of course fish oil contains many other good things, e.g. vitamin D. Before the advent of vitamin pills, the common way of preventing ricketts[sp?], i.e. calcium deficiency in children, in Scandinavia, was a daily spoonful of cod liver oil. By the way vitamin D is toxic in large doses, and this is the reason why Greenland Eskimos never eat the liver of the polar bear - it's so full of vitamin D concentrated from the fish the bear eats that it's poisonous to humans. -- Lars Mathiesen, DIKU, U of Copenhagen, Denmark ..mcvax!diku!thorinn Institute of Datalogy -- we're scientists, not engineers.
werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (01/02/87)
> other good things, e.g. vitamin D. Before the advent of vitamin pills, the > common way of preventing ricketts[sp?], i.e. calcium deficiency in children, > in Scandinavia, was a daily spoonful of cod liver oil. By the way vitamin D is > toxic in large doses, and this is the reason why Greenland Eskimos never eat > the liver of the polar bear - it's so full of vitamin D concentrated from the > fish the bear eats that it's poisonous to humans. > -- > Lars Mathiesen, DIKU, U of Copenhagen, Denmark Yes, Vitamin D is toxic in large doses, but the Vitamin that's concentrated in sufficient quantity in polar bear liver to kill is the another fat-soluble vitamin, Vitamin A, not Vitamin D. -- Craig Werner (MD/PhD '91) !philabs!aecom!werner (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) "Sometimes you have to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place."
chiaraviglio@husc2.UUCP (lucius) (01/06/87)
In article <2917@diku.UUCP>, thorinn@diku.UUCP (Lars Henrik Mathiesen) writes: > . . .By the way vitamin D is > toxic in large doses, and this is the reason why Greenland Eskimos never eat > the liver of the polar bear - it's so full of vitamin D concentrated from the > fish the bear eats that it's poisonous to humans. Don't you mean Vitamin A? Maybe both. (I know both are toxic in large doses, but which one (or both) are present in toxic doses in polar bear liver? -- I remember reading it was Vitamin A.) -- -- Lucius Chiaraviglio lucius@tardis.harvard.edu seismo!tardis!lucius Please do not mail replies to me on husc2 (disk quota problems, and mail out of this system is unreliable). Please send only to the address given above.
thorinn@diku.UUCP (01/15/87)
In article <1091@husc2.UUCP> chiaraviglio@husc2.UUCP (lucius) writes: >In article <2917@diku.UUCP>, thorinn@diku.UUCP (Lars Henrik Mathiesen) writes: >> the liver of the polar bear - it's so full of vitamin D > Don't you mean Vitamin A? Ok, ok. I probably mean vitamin A. I've `known' this for app. 15 years, so it may have mutated (:-) to vitamin D because that's what cod livers contain. But I was so sure :-( -- Lars Mathiesen, DIKU, U of Copenhagen, Denmark ..mcvax!diku!thorinn Institute of Datalogy -- we're scientists, not engineers.