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Cancer Treatment and Prevention with Omega 3 Oil

Essential Fatty Acids can help in the treatment and prevention of some types of cancer. UK researchers have demonstrated that Omega 3 oil supplements cannot only stop, but in many cases reduce the weight loss and wasting associated with some types of cancers.

The condition, known as cachexia, is particularly common in those suffering from pancreatic cancer. The study at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary found that Omega 3 oil supplements 'if taken in sufficient quantity .... results in net gain of weight, lean tissue and improved quality of life'. The study noted, however, that the Omega 3 supplements did not increase the life expectancy of the patient.

A study published in The Lancet in 2001 which followed 6,000 Swedish men for up to 30 years, found that those whose diets contained Omega 3 rich oily fish, such as mackerel and herring, reduced their risk of prostate cancer by two thirds.

A study of breast cancer patients at the UCLA School of Medicine (reported in the August, 1997, Journal of the National Cancer Institute), found that Omega 3 fish oils inhibited mammary tumour growth.

It's thought that Omega 3 oils work against cancer in several ways; they reduce the amount of linoleic acid that tumours withdraw from the bloodstream, denying them a much needed nutrient; Omega 3 fatty acids compete with Omega 6 fatty acids for enzymes that are needed for the creation of cancer promoting metabolites.

Cancer cells die if they sustain sufficient free-radical damage and Omega-3 fatty acids make cancer cells more vulnerable to free-radical attack.