Omega info...All in one Thread.

[jeremy9282]

OMACOR® is a pharmaceutical preparation of highly purified and concentrated omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). A 1 g dose of OMACOR® contains 840 mg of the omega-3 PUFAs docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Preparation of OMACOR® involves a meticulous four-stage purification process that eliminates a range of impurities such as heavy metal residues and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and minimizes the content of saturated fats.


http://www.solvay-omacor.com/patient...618-2-0,00.htm

[jeremy9282]

In Ireland, where I live, OMACOR® is typically prescribed at the rate of 2-4 caps daily.

I am prescribed 4 daily

Since it is of much higher concentration than the stuff typical from Boots or Holland & Barrat then to get the equivalent of 4 daily OMACOR® then one would needs take 9 of the Boots or H&B

Jeremy

[LCrawford67]

I'd never take a fish oil that had to be prescribed. Why would you give big pharma money? There's no need at all for fish oil to have to be a prescription and this is just another way of pharma companies making a buck on natural supplements.

GSK makes their own brand too, Lovaza. I'll stick to what I order that isn't lining the pockets of big pharma.

[pboy]

Well I have a few bottles of the H&B one in my cupboard, I bought them while there was an offer on so I'll use them up before I try anything else. Maybe I could try going up to 9 capsules, although not sure if that can cause diahhrea.

[LCrawford67]

Keep taking them, pboy; there's no reason not to. As I said, call them with your questions and switch brands, if you feel necessary, when they're gone.

[Lucy]

Consumerlab.com does independent testing on supplements, and found CVS brand fish oil to be a good one, inexpensive, and free of contaminents. I think you can pay a fee to have access to consumerlab's reports online, but this info about the fish oil was in a Prevention magazine article. I like nordic naturals ultimate omega lemon flavor because it does not leave any fishy taste and no fish burps.

This was the Prevention article:

http://www.prevention.com/healthyhom...he%20Cheap%202

[jeremy9282]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

I'd never take a fish oil that had to be prescribed. Why would you give big pharma money? There's no need at all for fish oil to have to be a prescription and this is just another way of pharma companies making a buck on natural supplements.

GSK makes their own brand too, Lovaza. I'll stick to what I order that isn't lining the pockets of big pharma.

Good question Laurie

As I said in my earlier post I live in N.Ireland, part of the UK where we have a "national health service" (paid for by our taxes)

It costs us nothing to consult our GP, costs nothing to be seen in an NHS Hospital. In Scotland, Wales & N Ireland it costs us little or indeed nothing to get our prescriptions from the pharmacy .........in England the cost per item is only a few $.

If a person is on disability benefits then all scripts are free throughout the UK

Since we have no choice but to pay tax, indeed personal taxation here is higher than yours in the USA then my question to you is .........why would I NOT get fish oils prescribed?

In addition to the health care professionals supervision of ones treatment with fish oil, one can rest assured thaat the Omacor is of a very high standard of purity, much stronger than Boots or H&B ..........therefore one can take a lower quantity

I have never yet met a person who has taken an upset tummy from Omacor & I do know a lot taking it.

I have however met some people who have obtained fish oils from supermarkets which were rancid

Jeremy

(I have no connection with Solvay the makers of Omacor, nor indeed any connection with any pharma company)

[scotty]

Originally Posted by jeremy9282

Good question Laurie


Since we have no choice but to pay tax, indeed personal taxation here is higher than yours in the USA then my question to you is .........why would I NOT get fish oils prescribed?

In addition to the health care professionals supervision of ones treatment with fish oil, one can rest assured thaat the Omacor is of a very high standard of purity, much stronger than Boots or H&B ..........therefore one can take a lower quantity

Hmmm, because one can't decry the dishonest tactics of the pharmaceutical industry and then embrace their "assurance of quality" and "free" as a reasons for adding to their profits.
Sorry, I don't get this at all, but to each his own.

[pboy]

I got an email back from Holland and Barrett and this is what they say:

The supplier is now providing the total amount. But approximately the EPA is 19%-22% and the DHA is approximately 9%-12%.

I'm not sure what to make of that really!

[jeremy9282]

Originally Posted by pboy

I got an email back from Holland and Barrett and this is what they say:

The supplier is now providing the total amount. But approximately the EPA is 19%-22% and the DHA is approximately 9%-12%.

I'm not sure what to make of that really!

Hi Pboy

Thats quite typical for products from the like of H&B, Tesco Boots ASDA(Walmart) useful ingerdients range about 30 -35%

The one I'm prescribed (Omacor) has about 85 to 90%

Jeremy

[pboy]

Once I run out of my supply I will get some better ones.

A question to all who take omegas:

Have you noticed a difference in taking them, be that cognitive, mood, anxiety?

[Healing]

Can fish oil help guard against schizophrenia?

By Anne Harding – Mon Feb 1, 2010, 4:20 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Taking fish oil may help prevent full-blown psychotic illness in at-risk adolescents and young adults, a study released today hints.

These at-risk individuals may have weak or transient psychotic symptoms, and already show schizophrenia-like brain changes, Dr. G. Paul Amminger of The University of Melbourne in Australia, a researcher on the study, told Reuters Health. But while psychiatrists now know how to identify these individuals, he added, they don't know what to do with them. "At the moment there's no state-of-the-art guideline (on) how to treat those people."

Prescribing antipsychotic medications may be helpful, Amminger added, but these medications have serious side effects, and can also be stigmatizing. "For young people they don't want to commit themselves to a treatment which they might need to take for the next five to ten years," he said. Furthermore, only about a third of people at high risk for psychotic disorders will go on to develop full-fledged mental illness in a given year.

There's considerable evidence that abnormal fatty acid metabolism may contribute to the development of schizophrenia, Amminger and his team note in the Archives of General Psychiatry. To investigate whether omega-3 fatty acids might help prevent psychotic illness, they randomly assigned 81 at-risk individuals, 13 to 25 years old, to take 1.2 grams a day of omega-3s in fish oil capsule form or a placebo for 12 weeks and then followed them for another 40 weeks.

The researchers included people who met at least one of the following three criteria: having low-level psychotic symptoms; having transient psychotic symptoms; or having a schizophrenia-like personality disorder or a close relative with schizophrenia, along with a sharp decline in mental function within the past year.

Seventy-six of the 81 study participants, or 94 percent, completed the trial, Amminger noted, which underscores the safety and tolerability of fish oil.

At one year, 5 percent of the study participants taking omega-3s had developed a psychotic disorder (2 of 41 people), compared to 28 percent of those on placebo (11 of 40). People taking fish oil also showed significant reductions in their psychotic symptoms and improvements in function, while they were at no greater risk of adverse effects than people taking placebo capsules.

The effect of fish oil capsules, Amminger noted, was similar to that seen in two trials of antipsychotic drugs in at-risk individuals.

There are a number of mechanisms through which omega-3s could protect the brain, Amminger said; they are a major component of brain cells. They are also key to the proper function of two brain chemical signaling systems, dopamine and serotonin, which have been implicated in schizophrenia. Fish oil also boosts levels of glutathione, an antioxidant that protects the brain against oxidative stress.

Trials of medications for treating mental illness typically don't include people younger than 18, Amminger noted, while starting minors on these medications is "always very difficult, and always quite controversial."

But if future research bears out the current findings, he added, fish oil promises to offer a safe way to help prevent psychosis in at-risk people, and could also potentially be used to prevent or delay the onset of chronic depression, bipolar illness, and substance abuse disorder -- all of which are far more common than psychotic illness.

He and his colleagues are now planning a multicenter trial of fish oil for the prevention of psychotic illness in 320 at-risk people.

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, February 2010.

[Mixter]

I am taking alots of it and it seems to really help me!

But Krill oil seems to be superior! Working even better...

[intuitivegal]

A question to all who take omegas:

Have you noticed a difference in taking them, be that cognitive, mood, anxiety?

My demons have been high anxiety, agrophobia, non-motivated, inability to do anything for extended periods of time, insomnia (taking two hours to fall asleep and waking 4-6 times during the night, and then not being able to fall back to sleep), brain fog, limited short term memory, horrible carb cravings (chips, beer, ice cream, cookies). I don't notice a whole lot of difference with the omegas. In the past I've taken Carlsons.

I hope you don't mind me posting here but, I have, however, found (for me) l-glutamine along with coconut oil to be beneficial for all of the above. Plus a compounded progesterone creme from Sabre Sciences. And lecithin granules (for the acetylcholine).

This is not the only protocol I use though. I feel that I have a lot of the above symptoms somewhat under control with my diet and supplements. The l-glutamine has made a difference for me in sleep. Been able to fall to sleep much faster (15 - 30 minutes) and stay asleep. Waking only 1-2 times/ night and able to fall back to sleep.