Fish oil benefits and side effects

A recent email alerting me to a website solely about Fishoil evokes many childhood memories - Scott's Emulsion:

The above photo of a bottle of Scott's Emulsion was uploaded under Creative Commons license to Flickr by Joan Thewlis

I remembered that as a child, I was often sick and my mother frequently sent me to see a doctor who have the same surname as me. That smelly whitish emulsion was what was fed to me by my late mother and I am just wondering if that had any role to play with me getting less frequently sick as I grew up. Surprisingly while so many complained of difficulties in swallowing that so called smelly horrible tasting stuff, I have no problem and even now if I have to take that stuff, I don't think I would have any problem.

Now back to that website about fish oil. I had expected to see a website trying to sell me fish oil, but surprisingly there is none of that commercial stuff other than a unit of AdSense's skyscraper ad. What I found there was a page on cod liver oil and a statement “Just close your eyes, plug your nose, and swallow it!” which is what is often told to generations of children. Well, I am glad no one need to tell me to close my eyes nor nose for I quite enjoy eating that stuff.

There is also a page on fish oil benefits plus another page on fish oil side effects and as expected, mention was made that many of today’s fish can be contaminated with mercury and other toxins.

Natural Remedies versus Alternative Medicine Conventional and this blog

What inspired me to write this post is, among others, a paraplegic blogger who asked me to help him earn from his blog. This paraplegic blogger sustained his very serious injuries because of a horrific car accident. His injuries need immediate emergency surgery, and that is conventional medicine. Now in cases like these, what can natural remedies or alternative medicine do? Perhaps later after surgery have helped him stay alive that perhaps some natural remedies or alternative medicine help him in recovery and live a more normal life.

I now consider natural remedies/alternative medicine and conventional medicine as 2 wings of a bird which complement each other or comes into play when the other is of no help. Even conventional medicine is now paying more attention to natural remedies and conventional medicine. Take nutrition for example. Previously, medical schools just cover nutrition on a cursory level only covered in other fields of conventional medicine. In fact, in many medical schools have now made nutrition a compulsory subject. (Landmark decision on nutrition).

Another thing - vaccines. Now this may get natural remedies and conventional medicine die-hard's all riled up, but one cannot deny that many vaccine helped not only where natural remedies cannot, but actually have eradicated some diseases from this surface of the earth.

So while the URL of this blog is foodasmedicine.blogspot.com and the blog title is Natural Remedies, I will try to present both sides of the coin and write about some conventional medicine for which natural remedies and alternative medicine can help little or not at all or where conventional medicine can supplement natural remedies or alternative medicine.

Related posts:
Conventional medicine, natural remedies, 2 of a pair of wing
Prescription drug addiction - disadvantages of conventional medicine
Gardasil vacine against cervical medicine

Natural remedy ADHD - fish oil supplement?

Fish oil as a natural remedy (food as medicine) for hyperactive, impulsive and disruptive children and teenagers? Scientists based on the premise fish oil from oily fish like salmon and sardines with high content of fatty acids, is brain food and , are testing to see if giving fish oil supplement to children and teenagers with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and other disruptive behaviour (defying parents and teachers, and engaging in fighting, stealing or other anti-social activities) can improve their conduct. The fatty acids are believed to help the brain work properly.

These suspicions seem bolstered by the findings of Prof. Ong Wei Yi, professor of anatomy from the NUS (National University of Singapore) who found from tests on rats given anti-depressant medications release fatty acids from nerve terminals in the brain.

The research team from Singapore and Philadelphia is led by principal investigator Daniel Fung, the Head of the Child and adolescent psychiatry department of the Singapore Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and assisted by Prof. Rebecca Ang of Nanyang Technological University while Adrian Raine, a criminologist from the University of Pennsylvania is conducting the trial in Philadelphia.

The study plan to test 600 patients, aged nine to 16, who have sought treatment from the Child Guidance Clinic which will be divided into 2 groups with half randomly assigned to take four Omega 3 fatty acids fish oil capsules a day for 6 months while the other half will be given dummy sunflower oil capsules (placebo) with only a tinge of fish oil to give it an oily taste.

While the results are not known yet, earlier tests in Britain and Nederlands have shown that aggressive young prisoners and children with coordination disorders behave better after taking fish oil supplement.

Those who took fish oil became more attentive, less hyperactive and less impulsive, among other behavioural and learning improvements.

Source: The Straits Times