Posted by Larry Hoover on April 9, 2003, at 21:19:57
In reply to Re: how many blood tinners can you combine? » Larry Hoover, posted by pelorojo on April 9, 2003, at 19:32:05
> By bleeding disorder, are you including hemorrhagic strokes? There's (relatively speaking) alot of hype about the overthinning issue on various web sources and I've wondered about this question myself.
I've spent a lot of time trying to assess the risk of marine oils with respect to bleeding, and I can't find much more than suppositions, and secondary references. I have yet to find reliable primary data which show that hemorrhage is more likely in the Inuit eating a traditional diet than in other peoples. Estimates of Inuit omega-3 intake lie somewhere between 20 and 28 grams/day. Direct tests of bleeding time and clotting ability, also including administration of aspirin, show no differences between Inuit and a matched Western population.
What has been confused for hemorrhagic stroke is probably an inbred genetic trait favouring the formation of cerebral aneurysms, and other artery wall defects. The Inuit also have an inbred genetic predisposition for occlusive heart disease, but you wouldn't know it because their traditional diet nearly totally prevents that from occurring. Only the introduction of the "modern" Western-style diet has made this predisposition a fatal reality.
Here's a recent abstract detailing the genetic risk of aneurysm. The trait was first reported 25 years ago, about the same time the hemorrhagic stroke thing took hold. Guess which one got all the publicity?
Neurosurgery 2003 Feb;52(2):357-62; discussion 362-3
Familial aggregation of intracranial aneurysms in an Inuit patient population in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland).Lindgaard L, Eskesen V, Gjerris F, Olsen NV.
University Clinic of Neuroanaesthesia, The Neuroscience Center, Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Copenhagen, Denmark.
OBJECTIVE: The incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and intracranial aneurysm (IA) has been reported to be higher in Greenlandic Inuits than in Caucasian Danes, but the rate of familial aggregation in Inuits is unknown. METHODS: This study retrospectively compared the rate of familial aggregation of SAH and IA (at least one first- or second-degree relative with presumed SAH and/or IA) in 120 Inuit patients from Greenland admitted to the Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1978 to 1998 with a diagnosis of ruptured IA with that in 1,037 Caucasian Danes admitted from 1978 to 1983. RESULTS: Inuit patients had a much higher rate of familial history of SAH (23.1%) and of IA (9.6%) than Danish patients (4.3 and 1.6%, respectively). In both populations, familial SAH was associated with lower age at the time of aneurysm rupture. Danish patients with familial SAH showed a higher rate of middle cerebral artery aneurysms (40 versus 26% in sporadic SAH). In Inuit patients with familial and nonfamilial SAH, 42 and 38% of the aneurysms originated from the middle cerebral artery. The overall rate of multiple aneurysms was highest among Inuits, and in both populations, it was increased in the presence of a positive family history. CONCLUSION: The rate of a positive family history of presumed SAH and IA is high among Inuits who present with SAH compared with Caucasian Danes who present with SAH. This finding, coupled with a higher rate of multiple aneurysms and younger age at presentation, suggests a potential genetic influence among Inuit families.
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:217377
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030407/msgs/218039.html