A recent fish oil study shows that it puts men at a much higher risk for dangerous prostate cancer.
U.S. scientists have confirmed a 2011 study that showed that the prostate cancer risk is much higher among men who consume omega-3 fatty acids, AFP reports.
According to research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, there is a 71 percent higher risk for high-grade prostate cancer for men who eat fatty fish or take fish-oil supplements. High-grade prostate cancer is more fatal than other types.
"We've shown once again that use of nutritional supplements may be harmful," Alan Kristal, researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and senior author of the paper said according to AFP.
It is not clear why omega-3s are strongly linked to a greater risk for prostate cancer, but the study shows that they play a part in the formation of tumors. These researchers found similar findings in 2011 which linked high blood concentrations of DHA to a more than double risk of high-grade prostate cancer.
Another study in Europe also found the link between fish oil and prostate cancer.
"The consistency of these findings suggests that these fatty acids are involved in prostate tumorigenesis and recommendations to increase long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake, in particular through supplementation, should
consider its potential risks," the US study said according to AFP.
The recent study was based on randomized specimens in a controlled trial to determine if selenium and vitamin E would reduce the risk for prostate cancer.
The study, called SELECT (the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial), showed that vitamin E raised the risk while selenium had no impact.
In the July 11 study, researchers studied 834 men who had prostate cancer and compared them to 1,393 randomly chosen from the SELECT trial. The study showed that those with high blood concentrations of the fatty acids EPA, DPA and DHA had a 71 percent higher chance for developing high-grade prostate cancer.
The low grade prostate cancer risk was also higher by 44 percent for those who had high fatty acid levels.
The nature of the study does not make it possible to determined whether the higher blood levels were due to taking omega-3 supplements or eating fish. However some say the findings should suggest that supplements may do more harm than help.
"In general, there is nothing that has been proven to actually limit the risk of prostate cancer," Franklin Lowe, associate director of the department of urology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, said. He did not take part
in the study. "For the most part, doctors do not recommend this stuff because it is unclear what the true benefits are for most of the supplements that people take."
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