By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, June 23, 2009, abstracted from “The efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on plasma homocysteine and malondialdehyde levels of type 2 diabetic patients” printed online in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S., currently affecting 24 million Americans at a cost of $174 billion per year to our healthcare system. Diabetics have a 200-400% increased risk of stroke and double the overall risk of death, compared to those without diabetes of similar age (1).

Of the many health problems diabetes can lead to, from permanent disability to stroke, blindness, chronic kidney disease, and amputations (1), perhaps the most costly is cardiovascular disease (CVD) which currently affects 81 million Americans and costs our healthcare system $448 billion per year (2).

One of the biggest contributors to CVD is inflammation. Despite being "a crucial protective mechanism" (3) to repair tissue, protecting the body against infection, and being a normal reaction by our immune system to help keep us healthy, inflammation can have disastrous health consequences if it persists for long periods of time. As a result, helping those with diabetes maintain healthy inflammation levels can help minimize any further deterioration of health.

Now a new study (4) has found that omega-3 fatty acids may help maintain healthy levels of inflammation. The study involved 81 patients between the ages of 45 and 82 with diagnosed type 2 diabetes for at least 2 years. They were given either an omega-3 supplement providing 1548 mg of EPA and 828 mg of DHA per day or placebo (2100 mg sunflower oil per day) for 2 months. They provided blood samples before and after the study to measure for total/HDL/LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, 2 indicators of inflammation called C-Reactive Protein (CRP) (5) and homocysteine (6), and an indicator of cell oxidative stress called MDA (7).

At the end of 2 months, those in the omega-3 group saw a 21% drop in their homocysteine levels (14.4 to 11.29 micromoles/Liter) compared to only 1% in the placebo group (13.39 to 13.29 micromoles/Liter). No significant differences were seen regarding MDA between the 2 groups as the omega-3 group had a 24% drop in MDA levels (3.04 to 2.31 nanomoles/Liter) compared to 20% in the placebo (2.94 to 2.37 nanomoles/Liter). No significant changes were seen in either groups regarding CRP, cholesterol or blood sugar.

The importance in maintaining healthy levels of homcysteine is that increased levels have been associated with an increased risk of blood clotting (8), which can lead to deep vein thrombosis (9) and is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis (10). For the researchers, “The consumption of omega-3 fatty acid supplements (3 grams/day) for 2 months decreases the levels of homocysteine in diabetic patients with no change in [blood sguar], MDA and CRP levels.”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:

1.  “Number of People with Diabetes Continues to Increase” from the CDC Website www.cdc.gov/Features/DiabetesFactSheet/
2.  “Cardiovascular Disease at a Glance” posted on www.cdc.gov/NCCDPHP/publications/AAG/dhdsp.htm
3.  Gil, Polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory diseases, Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy 56 (2002) (8), pp. 388–396
4.  Pooya S. The efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on plasma homocysteine and malondialdehyde levels of type 2 diabetic patients. Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2009.04.002
5.  “Inflammation, Heart Disease and Stroke: The Role of C-Reactive Protein “ posted on www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4648
6.  “Homocysteine, Folic Acid, and Cardiovascular Disease” posted on www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4677
7.  Nielsen F. Plasma malondialdehyde as biomarker for oxidative stress: reference interval and effects of life-style factors. Clinical Chemistry. 1997;43:1209-1214
8.  M.G. Signorello, A. Segantin, M. Passalacqua and G. Leoncini, Homocysteine decreases platelet NO level via protein kinase C activation, Nitric Oxide 2009; 20 (2): 104–113
9.  “What id Deep Vein Thrombosis” posted on www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Dvt/DVT_WhatIs.html
10.  Antoniades AS. Homocysteine and coronary atherosclerosis: from folate fortification to the recent clinical trials, Eur Heart J 2009; 30: 6-15